Leaves of Grass

Leaves of Grass (Original 1855 Edition)
Walt Whitman
92 Pages
Read in 15 days

A child said, What is the grass? fetching it to me with full hands;
How could I answer the child?...I do not know what it is any more than he
...I guess the grass is itself a child...the produced babe of the vegetation

Walt Whitman

Over and over we flatten the clover
Shocked me too the things we used to do on grass
It would shock you too the things we used to do on grass

"Grass" Andy Partridge (XTC)

I think every picture of Walt Whitman that I have seen is one of an old man with long white beard and kind eyes...The truth is that Whitman (self) published Leaves of Grass when he was 36 years old. And I have to be honest, he was a little randy back then...don't know how he matured in his later years, but if he was a department-store Santa (as he looks like on my cover), don't think I would sit on his lap.

No, it's not that bad, but he definitely wasn't subtle (especially for 1855) with his words: "I hear the trained soprano...she convulses me like the climax of my love-grip." Hello!

In the end, Leaves of Grass, to me, is a collection of thoughts that use nature as a starting point but not only praise nature, but the human's place in it (and the beauty we bring):

I think I will do nothing for a long time but listen,
And accrue what I hear into myself...and let sounds contribute
toward me.
I hear the bravuras of birds...the bustle of growing wheat...gossip
of flames...clack of sticks cooking my meals.
I hear the sound of the human voice...a sound I love,
I hear all sounds as they are turned to their uses...sounds of the city
and sounds out of the city...sounds of the day and night

Whitman said that he intended the book to be small enough that it could be carried in a pocket so that people could read it in the open air. I have to admit I loved reading this book in the back yard with the sound of our fountain, the birds chirping, and cicadas buzzing. Even as I type this, I am aware of the night sounds outside the window.

Perhaps that is why I found the book so excellent...after reading the meditations from Whitman, I find that I become more aware of my surroundings and try to take a minute to absorb all that is around me.

I know that I will reread this book for many years to come.

"I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journeywork of the stars..."

Up next...Persepolis.