In which I explore the works that contributed to my vision of being an American.
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Tag Archives: Walt Whitman
My Early Literary Civics Lessons
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Oh Captain My Captain", “Nancy Hanks", American Twins of the Revolution, Clansman, Declaration of Independence, July 4th, Lucy Fitch Perkins, Rosemary Benét, Thomas Dixon Comments closed
Hope in Blooming Lilacs (Whitman)
For all the damage Trump & Co. are doing, Whitman, writing after the death of Lincoln, reminds us of American resilience.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged “When Lilacs in the Dooryard Bloom’d", Abraham Lincoln, cycle of life, Rebecca Solnit Comments closed
To Ljubljana, with Love
A Life in Literature: Our second visit to Slovenia and how Walt Whitman became associated with my 15 minutes of fame.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "Oh Captain My Captain", Riders of the Purple Sage, Slovenia, Zane Grey Comments closed
Whitman: Resist Much, Obey Little
Walt Whitman called for people to “resist much, obey little.” Good advice for those living under an authoritarian government.
Classics to the Rescue in Dark Times
In Trump’s first 100 days, Jill Lepore turned to 100 classics to survive.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "1914", "Fears in Solitude", "Nightingales Are Drunk", "Nose", "Story of the Bad Little Boy", "With Antecedents", Aesop, Antigone, classic literature, Dante, Eclogue II, Edith Wharton, Figure in the Carpet, Frogs Who Demanded a King, Grimm Brothers, Hafez, Henry James, Homer, Inferno, Jill Lepore, Jonathan Swift, Mark Twain, Matsuo Basho, Modest Proposal, Nikolai Gogol, Odyssey, Reckoning, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Six Servants, Sophocles, Virgil, Wilfred Owen, Yoshido Kenkō Comments closed
Whitman Celebrates a Diverse America
America’s strength as always lain in its diversity, as Walt Whitman well knew. “I Sing America” is a great poem to read on July 4th.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "I Hear America Singing", American diversity, July 4th Comments closed
Margaret Atwood on the Cicada Love Song
Atwood’s “Cicadas” depicts the sexual urges that drive the insect.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged cicadas, D. H. Lawrence, James Joyce, Margaret Atwood, sex Comments closed
Holding America to Its Ideals
Whitman and Hughes, together, remind us of the American promise.
Posted in Uncategorized Also tagged "I Hear America Singing", "I Too Sing America", independence day, July 4th, Langston Hughes Comments closed
Whitman: Ballots Like Snowflakes Falling
Walt Whitman’s celebration of democratic elections is a powerful encorsement.