A Birthday Present From Walt Whitman

In celebration of the American bard's 204th birthday, TFP is lifting all paywalls on all stories and republishing "I Am the Poet of Reality."

Photo of Walt Whitman taken in 1887 by George C. Cox (1851–1903).

Dear TFP Readers,

Today is Walt Whitman’s 204th birthday. In recognition of the great wild and white-haired grandfather of American poetry entering our cosmos, we should all take a moment to “sound [our] barbaric yawp over the rooftops of the world.”

In that spirit, here is one of my favorite scenes in all of film, with the wonderful Robin Williams teaching a young Ethan Hawke to sound his barbaric yawp in “Dead Poets Society.” The movie, which TFP recommends highly, also has a moving tie-in to the poem “O Captain! My Captain!” written shortly after President Lincoln’s assassination by a heartbroken Whitman, and brought to life here in a stunningly beautiful rendition by a young woman with a guitar on YouTube.

It’s true what Whitman said of his poetry and himself:

Failing to fetch me at first, keep encouraged;
Missing me one place, search another;
I stop somewhere, waiting for you.

So, for a few moments today, stop and liste…