Poems poems POOOOEEEMMMMSSSS!!!!!!!!!

Hi. I found poems. :)

We're reading Walt Whitman in English, and honestly I didn't expect to like him much at all. I usually really don't like free verse, but these were like... wow.

The first one really made me think of Romans 1:20-- "For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse." It's actually just one stanza of a massive fifty-two stanza poem called "Song of Myself."


"Song of Myself" Stanza 31

I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey work of the stars,
And the pismire is equally perfect, and a grain of sand, and the egg of the wren,
And the tree-toad is a chef-d'oeuvre for the highest,
And the running blackberry would adorn the parlors of heaven,
And the narrowest hinge in my hand puts to scorn all machinery,
And the cow crunching with depress'd head surpasses any statue,
And a mouse is miracle enough to stagger sextillions of infidels.

I LOVE that image. "A mouse is miracle enough to stagger sextillions of infidels." So awesome.


This next one is just AMAZING. Oh. I love it. I'll let you read it first and then I'll geek out.


"A Noiseless, Patient Spider"

A noiseless patient spider,
I mark'd where on a little promontory it stood isolated,
Mark'd how to explore the vacant vast surrounding,
It launch'd forth filament, filament, filament, out of itself,
Ever unreeling them, ever tirelessly speeding them.

And you O my soul where you stand,
Surrounded, detached, in measureless oceans of space,
Ceaselessly musing, venturing, throwing, seeking the spheres to connect them,
Till the bridge you will need be form'd, till the ductile anchor hold,
Till the gossamer thread you fling catch somewhere, O my soul.

Ok. The awesome thing about this is that one of Whitman's main themes is equality and unity and the connections that keep society together and keep the country running. So this is about stretching out to find the other people your little soul filaments are going to catch on. They're not gonna connect with everyone, but you gotta keep looking until they do. And that's just kinda awesome to me. And the imagery is beautiful.

Well, yeah. That's all. I like poetry. Thanks for wastin' your time reading this. :)

<3