Wednesday, March 25, 2015

Your Very Flesh Shall Be a Great Poem




This is what you shall do: love the earth and sun and the animals, despise riches, give alms to every one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and labour to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience and indulgence towards the people, take off your hat to nothing known or unknown, or to any man or number of men, go freely with powerful uneducated persons, and with the young, and with the mothers of families, read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life, re-examine all you have been told at school, or church, or in any book, dismiss whatever insults your own soul; and your very flesh shall be a great poem, and have the richest fluency, not only in its words, but in the silent lines of its lips and face, and between the lashes of your eyes, and in every motion and joint of your body.

Walt Whitman, 1855 Preface to Leaves of Grass 
at

11 comments:

  1. Ms. MoonMarch 25, 2015 at 9:13 AM

    Is there anything ever written in the English language which is more beautiful or filled with wisdom?
    Thank you, Elizabeth for putting that in front of my eyes today.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ElizabethMarch 25, 2015 at 1:26 PM

      I agree, and I sort of always forget about that giant of a man Walt.

      Delete
  2. MaryLou ConnollyMarch 25, 2015 at 10:55 AM

    I LOVE this. Thank you so much for posting. I've been restless and questioning a lot of things of late and just reading this made me at once peaceful and inspired.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ElizabethMarch 25, 2015 at 1:26 PM

      Me, too, Mary Lou. I hope to see you this weekend!

      Delete
  3. livMarch 25, 2015 at 12:49 PM

    You serve beauty up on a flowered plate today, Elizabeth. Thank you so much for sharing that. It salved a recent wound that I didn't know what to do with and it gave me peace also.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ElizabethMarch 25, 2015 at 1:26 PM

      Thank YOU, liv. The way you phrase things is so beautiful.

      Delete
  4. eMarch 25, 2015 at 1:59 PM

    This is just what I needed to read...Thank you.

    ReplyDelete
  5. TaraMarch 25, 2015 at 4:18 PM

    how his writings restore me! Going to his stomping grounds in Yosemite next month -- I always bring his writings along for extra inspiration. you can sit in the meadow, next the the river, in the tall grass, and see his ghost poking about with a walking stick.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Lindsay RoseMarch 25, 2015 at 6:40 PM

    Agree with Ms. Moon, when I read Walt I think that's it, what else needs to be said? Thanks for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Kenneth LillyMarch 26, 2015 at 6:19 AM

    Darn...thought it said 'Porn'...guess the flesh thing made me think that. My eyes are awful first thing in the morning, especially in the Spring.

    ReplyDelete
  8. LeslieMarch 27, 2015 at 8:21 AM

    sigh….

    ReplyDelete