Tuesday, April 30, 2013

The Last of April's Poems


In my early years of college, when we started reading poetry from the classic poets, I was drawn to Walt Whitman. The weird thing is I can’t remember why. I can’t even remember what poem fascinated me about him. But since I’ve often thought about why I like Walt Whitman, I thought I’d end April, National Poetry Writing Month, with a Whitman poem. I picked this poem because I love the title and how he speaks of a country’s flag.




BATHED in war's perfume--delicate flag!
(Should the days needing armies, needing fleets, come again,)
O to hear you call the sailors and the soldiers! flag like a
beautiful woman!
O to hear the tramp, tramp, of a million answering men! O the ships
they arm with joy!
O to see you leap and beckon from the tall masts of ships!
O to see you peering down on the sailors on the decks!
Flag like the eyes of women.

Patriotism and Poetry,
Bea

8 comments:

  1. Hi, I have never read this particular poem by Walt Whitman. He was a real patriot. I think he is the best classic American poet. :) Thanks for sharing.

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    1. You're welcome. Thanks for stopping by and commenting.

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  2. Whitman is one of my favorites as well :)

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    1. I have to look through all his poems and find the one that captured my attention.

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  3. Bathed in war's perfume is a fantastic line. Granted from my military experience war's perfume is sweaty and gross with possibly a bit of foot fungus thrown in.

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    1. But that's the beauty of it. The flag is bathed in sweat, blood, etc. I think it's a wonderful line and title.

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  4. I'll be honest, I've never read any Whitman. I know - bad writer, bad. But I love this. I think I'm going to seek out more.

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  5. I was an English major and there were plenty of poets I never read, such as Poe. We dissected many others though.

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