O Me! O Life!
Oh me! Oh life! of the questions of these recurring,
Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill’d with the foolish,
Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?)
Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the struggle ever renew’d,
Of the poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me,
Of the empty and useless years of the rest, with the rest me intertwined,
The question, O me! so sad, recurring—What good amid these, O me, O life?
Answer.
That you are here—that life exists and identity,
That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.
Enjoy the poem with inspirational music.
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Who wrote the poem "O Me! O Life!" ?
Walt Whitman (May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892)
Walt Whitman was an American poet,
essayist, and journalist. Whitman is one of the most important American poets,
often called the father of free verse. His major poetry collection, Leaves
of Grass, was first published in 1855 at his own expense and became popular
and controversial due to its overt sensuality. Whitman greatly admired Abraham
Lincoln, and on Lincoln’s death, he wrote famous poems, “O Captain! My
Captain!” and “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d.” Modernist poet Ezra
Pound called Whitman “America’s poet… He is America.”
"O Me! O Life!" explanation
In the first stanza, the speaker talks
about negative elements of life in metaphor. In the second stanza, the
speaker presents good elements of life for a strong contrast. With far more
negative elements discussed than positive elements, the reader is noted that,
although good things in life are so rare compared to bad things, embracing them
could lead to a “life” worth experiencing.
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