Emerson, Whitman, and Thoreau were three very brilliant writers. They all inspired many people to look at life and everything this universe has offered us a little differently. The writter had the biggest impact on me was Whitman. Even though I didn't understand his vocab very well, his ideas hit me the hardest. I almost felt a connection in how he celebrated himself. I think we all should celebrate ourselves and just ourselves. This quote,
"Trippers and askers surround me,
People I meet, the effect upon me of my early life or the ward and
city I live in, or the nation,
The lastest dates, discoveries, inventions, societies, authors old and new
My dinner, dress, associates, looks, compliments, dues,
The real or fancied indifference of some man or woman I love,
The sickness of one of my folks or myself, of ill-doing or loss or lock of money, or
depressions or exaltations,
Battles, the horrors of fratiricidal war, the fever of doubtful news, the fitful events;
These come to me days and night and go from me again,
But they are not the Me myself,"
made a lot of sense to me. I think it's saying that all of the realities and material things in life are not what makes you, you. I agree with him on this 100%. We need to stop worrying about all those "things" and start noticing ourselves and how great we are without them.
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Ivan,
ReplyDeleteNice post (thanks--I enjoyed reading over this one). Clearly, given your preference for Whitman, you ought to make his views (and perhaps even the poet himself) central to the essay we'll be working on this week. You could, for example, literally bring Whitman forward (have him join you for a day in Telluride, or here at THS). Or, you could use the way he "celebrates himself" as a springboard to launch yourself in to a discussion of whether or not this sort of self-promotion is acceptable in contemporary society.