"O Me! O Life!" by Walt Whitman [in the film 'Dead Poets Society]

 

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.

Poem Video👇

https://youtu.be/AYS7o3qGf3Q

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.

"Sea Fever" by John Masefield [ Inspirational Ocean Quotes | Ocean poem ]

 

"Sea Fever" by John Masefield

I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,

And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by,

And the wheel's kick and the wind's song and the white sail's shaking,

And a gray mist on the sea's face, and a gray dawn breaking.

 

I must go down to the seas again, for the call of the running tide

Is a wild call and a clear call that may not be denied;

And all I ask is a windy day with the white clouds flying,

And the flung spray and the blown spume, and the sea-gulls crying.

 

I must go down to the seas again, to the vagrant gypsy life,

To the gull's way and the whale's way, where the wind's like a whetted knife;

And all I ask is a merry yarn from a laughing fellow-rover,

And quiet sleep and a sweet dream when the long trick's over.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music

Poem Video👇

https://youtu.be/KfI3f8aEMzc

Who wrote the poem "Sea Fever"?

John Masefield (June 1, 1878 – May 12, 1967)

John Masefield was an English poet and writer, and Poet Laureate of the U.K., an honorary position appointed by the monarch from 1930 until 1967. After attending the King’s School in Warwick between 1888 and 1891, he boarded HMS Conway (a naval training school ship) and spent several years sailing on the sea, during which he developed his love for the sea and its creatures and his passion for writing.

 

"Sea Fever" explanation

In the poem, the speaker talks about his love for the sea and desire for adventurous and exploratory life on the sea. This is one of the poet’s best known poems, famous for wanderlust and love for nature.

 

"When I Die I Want Your Hands on My Eyes" by Pablo Neruda

 

When I Die I Want Your Hands on My Eyes

When I die I want your hands on my eyes:

I want the light and the wheat of your beloved hands

to pass their freshness over me one more time

to feel the smoothness that changed my destiny.

 

I want you to live while I wait for you, asleep,

I want for your ears to go on hearing the wind,

for you to smell the sea that we loved together

and for you to go on walking the sand where we walked.

 

I want for what I love to go on living

and as for you I loved you and sang you above everything,

for that, go on flowering, flowery one,

 

so that you reach all that my love orders for you,

so that my shadow passes through your hair,

so that they know by this the reason for my song.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music

Poem Video👇

https://youtu.be/ObHBSqKqtHE

Who wrote the poem "When I Die I Want Your Hands on My Eyes"?

Pablo Neruda (July 12, 1904 – September 23, 1973)

Pablo Neruda was a Chilean poet and politician who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971. He wrote in various styles, including surrealist poems and passionate love poems. After Neruda experienced Spanish Civil War as a diplomat in Spain, he became a devoted Communist for the rest of his life. Neruda is often called one of the greatest poets of the 20^th century.

 

"When I Die I Want Your Hands on My Eyes" explanation

 

In the poem, the speaker asks his lover, after he passes, not to mourn his death but to remember him and continue to live her life.

"Have You Earned Your Tomorrow" by Edgar Albert Guest

 

Have You Earned Your Tomorrow

Is anybody happier because you passed his way?

Does anyone remember that you spoke to him today?

This day is almost over, and its toiling time is through;

Is there anyone to utter now a kindly word of you?

 

Did you give a cheerful greeting to the friend who came along?

Or a churlish sort of "Howdy" and then vanish in the throng?

Were you selfish pure and simple as you rushed along the way,

Or is someone mighty grateful for a deed you did today?

 

Can you say tonight, in parting with the day that's slipping fast,

That you helped a single brother of the many that you passed?

Is a single heart rejoicing over what you did or said;

Does a man whose hopes were fading now with courage look ahead?

 

Did you waste the day, or lose it, was it well or sorely spent?

Did you leave a trail of kindness or a scar of discontent?

As you close your eyes in slumber do you think that God would say,

You have earned one more tomorrow by the work you did today?

Enjoy the poem with inspirational music.

Poem Video👇

https://youtu.be/rzt_KtxpzXI

Who wrote the poem "Have You Earned Your Tomorrow" ?

Edgar Albert Guest (August 20, 1881 ~ August 5, 1959)

Edgar Albert Guest was a Britishborn American poet who was popular in the first half of the 20th century. He wrote 11,000 poems which were syndicated in 300 newspapers. He became known as the People's Poet because his poems were easy to read and had an inspirational and optimistic view of everyday life with such themes as family, work, children, and God.

"Have You Earned Your Tomorrow" explanation

The poem, most likely written by Edgar A. Guest, was first published in the Detroit Free Press around 1916. There are different versions of the poem with different authorship and different titles such as “The Day’s Results,” “The Day’s Work,” “At Day’s End,” and “Is Anybody Happier.” This simple yet uplifting poem reminds the reader the importance of each and every day in our life and the need to do something meaningful everyday.

"Solitude" by Ella Wheeler Wilcox

 

Solitude

Laugh, and the world laughs with you;

Weep, and you weep alone;

For the sad old earth must borrow its mirth,

But has trouble enough of its own.

Sing, and the hills will answer;

Sigh, it is lost on the air;

The echoes bound to a joyful sound,

But shrink from voicing care.

 

Rejoice, and men will seek you;

Grieve, and they turn and go;

They want full measure of all your pleasure,

But they do not need your woe.

Be glad, and your friends are many;

Be sad, and you lose them all,

There are none to decline your nectared wine,

But alone you must drink life's gall.

 

Feast, and your halls are crowded;

Fast, and the world goes by.

Succeed and give, and it helps you live,

But no man can help you die.

There is room in the halls of pleasure

For a large and lordly train,

But one by one we must all file on

Through the narrow aisles of pain.

 

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music

Poem video👇

https://youtu.be/Gvp_AErAaHI

Who wrote the poem "Solitude?"

Ella Wheeler Wilcox (November 5, 1850 – October 30, 1919)

Ella Wheeler Wilcox was an American author and poet who wrote “Solitude,” which contains the famous lines “Laugh, and the world laughs with you; weep, and you weep alone.” Popular among people rather than among literary critics, she often displayed in her poems cheerful and optimistic sentiments in plain and rhyming words. After she married Robert Wilcox in 1884, the couple became interested in spiritualism and promised each other that whoever died first would return and communicate with the other. After her husband died in 1916 after over 30 years of marriage, she was overwhelmed by grief and waited long to hear from her deceased husband in vain. She also believed in reincarnation. She died of cancer in 1919.

"Solitude" explanation

 

In the poem, the speaker describes the relationship between one’s attitude toward life and other people’s reaction to it. If you maintain a positive outlook on life, then others will be attracted to you and gather around you. In contrast, if you have a negative attitude toward life, then others will avoid you and you’ll have to face the pain alone. People in general already have enough sufferings of their own and don’t need unhappiness from others. They tend to flock around someone who is happy because it may make them happy too. The poem was inspired by Wilcox’s encounter with a sorrowful widow when she was travelling to Madison, Wisconsin, to attend the Governor’s inaugural ball. The young widow dressed in black was crying and Wilcox tried to comfort her throughout the journey, which made her so exhausted and unhappy that she could barely attend the event. When she looked at her own face in the mirror, she recalled the sorrowful widow and wrote the opening lines of “Solitude.”

"God’s Grandeur" by Gerard Manley Hopkins

 

God’s Grandeur

The world is charged with the grandeur of God.

It will flame out, like shining from shook foil;

It gathers to a greatness, like the ooze of oil

Crushed. Why do men then now not reck his rod?

Generations have trod, have trod, have trod;

And all is seared with trade; bleared, smeared with toil;

And wears man’s smudge and shares man’s smell: the soil

Is bare now, nor can foot feel, being shod.

 

And for all this, nature is never spent;

There lives the dearest freshness deep down things;

And though the last lights off the black West went

Oh, morning, at the brown brink eastward, springs —

Because the Holy Ghost over the bent

World broods with warm breast and with ah! bright wings.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music

Poem Video👇

https://youtu.be/YkVyD-Jo1-0

Who wrote the poem "God's Grandeur"?

Gerard Manley Hopkins (July 28, 1844 – June 8, 1889)

Gerard Manley Hopkins was an English poet and Jesuit priest and is regarded as one of the greatest poets of the Victorian era. He never published his poems during his lifetime. His friend poet, Robert Bridges, published his poems after his death. His poetry was famous for its inventiveness and rich aural patterning. He often praised God through vivid use of imagery and nature in his poems.

 

"God’s Grandeur" explanation

The poem talks about the relationship between the divine world and the world of nature. The speaker praises God for restoring the world destroyed by human greed. On the other hand, he criticizes man’s insensitivity to the damages upon nature caused by shallow materialism.

"When I Was One-and-Twenty" by A. E. Houseman

 

When I Was One-and-Twenty

When I was one-and-twenty

I heard a wise man say,

“Give crowns and pounds and guineas

But not your heart away;

Give pearls away and rubies

But keep your fancy free.”

But I was one-and-twenty,

No use to talk to me.

 

When I was one-and-twenty

I heard him say again,

“The heart out of the bosom

Was never given in vain;

’Tis paid with sighs a plenty

And sold for endless rue.”

And I am two-and-twenty,

And oh, ’tis true, ’tis true.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music

Poem Video👇 

https://youtu.be/IorK4D6qTZU

Who wrote the poem "When I Was One-and-Twenty"?

Alfred Edward Housman (March 26, 1859 – April 30, 1936)

A. E. Housman was an English classical scholar and poet. He studied Greek and Roman classics intensively, and became one of the foremost classicists of his age. He was also popular for his poetry. He published two volumes of poetry during his life: ‘A Shropshire Lad’ (1896) and ‘Last Poems’ (1922). The main themes in ‘A Shropshire Lad,’ the cycle of 63 poems, include pastoral beauty, unrequited love, grief, death, and the patriotism of the common soldier. Housman had to publish it at his own expense after it was turned down by several publishers. After WWI, however, it became very popular due to its nostalgic depiction of brave English soldiers.

 

"When I Was One-and-Twenty" explanation

The poem is about the speaker’s personal experiences related to his love life. When he was twenty one years old, he received some advice from a wise man that he should rather give away all the riches than give his heart to someone (fall in love) and suffer from sorrow and regret. He ignored the advice, but a year later, when he was twenty two, he realized that the advice was right. The simple rhyme scheme, colloquial diction, and simple language remind the reader of immaturity of the young speaker and make the poem all the more relatable.

"Difference" by Stephen Vincent Benét

 

Difference

 

My mind’s a map. A mad sea-captain drew it

Under a flowing moon until he knew it;

Winds with brass trumpets, puffy-cheeked as jugs,

And states bright-patterned like Arabian rugs.

“Here there be tygers.” “Here we buried Jim.”

Here is the strait where eyeless fishes swim

About their buried idol, drowned so cold

He weeps away his eyes in salt and gold.

A country like the dark side of the moon,

A cider-apple country, harsh and boon,

A country savage as a chestnut-rind,

A land of hungry sorcerers.

Your mind?

 

 

—Your mind is water through an April night,

A cherry-branch, plume-feathery with its white,

A lavender as fragrant as your words,

A room where Peace and Honor talk like birds,

Sewing bright coins upon the tragic cloth

Of heavy Fate, and Mockery, like a moth,

Flutters and beats about those lovely things.

You are the soul, enchanted with its wings,

The single voice that raises up the dead

To shake the pride of angels.

I have said.

 

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music

Poem Video👇

https://youtu.be/XIQuEjSKD60

Who wrote the poem "Difference"?

Stephen Vincent Benét (July 22, 1898 – March 13, 1943)

Stephen Vincent Benét was an American poet, short story writer, and novelist. He was born in Fountain Hill, Pennsylvania, into a military family. Benét was successful in various literary forms including poems, novels, short stories, screenplays, radio broadcasts, and a libretto for an opera. He won two Pulitzer Prizes for Poetry, the O. Henry Story Prize, and the Roosevelt Medal. He died of a heart attack in 1943 at the age of 44.

 

"Difference" explanation

In the poem, the speaker talks about the stark difference between ‘my mind’ and ‘your mind.’ ‘My mind’ is full of stormy confusion whereas ‘your mind’ reflects calm, peaceful, and cozy images. The poem is about strange tensions and attractions between the lovers due to their differences.

"Life" by Charlotte Brontë

 

Life

Life, believe, is not a dream

So dark as sages say;

Oft a little morning rain

Foretells a pleasant day.

Sometimes there are clouds of gloom,

But these are transient all;

If the shower will make the roses bloom,

O why lament its fall?

Rapidly, merrily,

Life's sunny hours flit by,

Gratefully, cheerily

Enjoy them as they fly!

What though Death at times steps in,

And calls our Best away?

What though sorrow seems to win,

O'er hope, a heavy sway?

Yet Hope again elastic springs,

Unconquered, though she fell;

Still buoyant are her golden wings,

Still strong to bear us well.

Manfully, fearlessly,

The day of trial bear,

For gloriously, victoriously,

Can courage quell despair!

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

Poem Video👇

https://youtu.be/V9HsQ3lVia0

Who wrote the poem "Life"?

Charlotte Brontë (April 21, 1816 – March 31, 1855)

Charlotte Brontë was an English novelist and poet, who wrote the famous novel “Jane Eyre.” She was the third of six children of Patrick Brontë, an Irish priest and author, and Maria, a housewife. Her mother died of cancer when she was five years old. She started writing at the age of 13 and published her works under the male pseudonym of Currer Bell, hoping to avoid prejudice against female writers. She outlived her five siblings and died of a pregnancy complication at the age of 38, shortly after her marriage. Her unique style is characterized by rich and realistic descriptions of the visual aspects of the story, including setting, the landscape, and appearances and gestures of the characters. The recurring themes in her writings include gender, love, and feminism.

 

"Life" explanation

In the poem, the poet tries to dispel negative or pessimistic views on life. The speaker takes on some seemingly unpleasant or negative elements of life and shows that they are transient or eventually lead to positive things. Even death, despair, and sorrow cannot diminish the power of hope and courage.

"If You Forget Me" by Pablo Neruda

 

If You Forget Me

I want you to know

one thing.

 

You know how this is:

if I look

at the crystal moon, at the red branch

of the slow autumn at my window,

if I touch

near the fire

the impalpable ash

or the wrinkled body of the log,

everything carries me to you,

as if everything that exists,

aromas, light, metals,

were little boats

that sail

toward those isles of yours that wait for me.

 

Well, now,

if little by little you stop loving me

I shall stop loving you little by little.

 

If suddenly

you forget me

do not look for me,

for I shall already have forgotten you.

 

If you think it long and mad,

the wind of banners

that passes through my life,

and you decide

to leave me at the shore

of the heart where I have roots,

remember

that on that day,

at that hour,

I shall lift my arms

and my roots will set off

to seek another land.

 

But

if each day,

each hour,

you feel that you are destined for me

with implacable sweetness,

if each day a flower

climbs up to your lips to seek me,

ah my love, ah my own,

in me all that fire is repeated,

in me nothing is extinguished or forgotten,

my love feeds on your love, beloved,

and as long as you live it will be in your arms

without leaving mine.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

Poem Video👇

https://youtu.be/EClT9wNQSvI

Who wrote the poem "If You Forget Me"?

Pablo Neruda (July 12, 1904 – September 23, 1973)

Pablo Neruda was a Chilean poet and politician who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1971. He wrote in various styles, including surrealist poems and passionate love poems. After Neruda experienced Spanish Civil War as a diplomat in Spain, he became a devoted Communist for the rest of his life. Neruda is often called one of the greatest poets of the 20^th century.

 

"If You Forget Me" explanation

In the poem, the speaker talks to his lover about what will happen if her love fades away. Neruda, then Communist senator in Chile, was exiled from his country for 3 years after Communism was banned in 1948. This poem was most likely written while the poet was in exile. Neruda was married to Argentinian writer Delia del Carril at the time, but critics believe the poem was written to Neruda’s lover, Matilde Urrutia, a Chilean singer, whom he met during the period of exile and who would become his future wife. Some interpret that the poem was not written to his lover but to his country, warning her not to forget him during his exile.

"Mother to Son" by Langston Hughes

 

Mother to Son

Well, son, I’ll tell you:

Life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

It’s had tacks in it,

And splinters,

And boards torn up,

And places with no carpet on the floor—

Bare.

But all the time

I’se been a-climbin’ on,

And reachin’ landin’s,

And turnin’ corners,

And sometimes goin’ in the dark

Where there ain’t been no light.

So boy, don’t you turn back.

Don’t you set down on the steps

’Cause you finds it’s kinder hard.

Don’t you fall now—

For I’se still goin’, honey,

I’se still climbin’,

And life for me ain’t been no crystal stair.

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music.

poem video👇

https://youtu.be/9w_BDe-Louk

Who wrote the poem "Mother to Son"?

Langston Hughes (February 1, 1901 – May 22, 1967)

Langston Hughes was an African-American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and columnist who pioneered the literary art form called “jazz poetry.” He is also known as a leader of the Harlem Renaissance. Self-admittedly influenced by Paul Lawrence Dunbar, Carl Sandburg, and Walt Whitman, Hughes is known for insightful portrayals of black life and culture of his time.

 

"Mother to Son" explanation

In the poem, the speaker (a mother) gives advice to her son about the hardships of life. Her life has been full of adversities, but she has never given up. She encourages her son to follow her, stay optimistic, and keep moving forward. Life may present us with so many obstacles and challenges. The only way to deal with those is to keep grinding with patience, determination, courage, and hope.

"Success Is Counted Sweetest" by Emily Dickinson

 

Success Is Counted Sweetest

Success is counted sweetest

By those who ne'er succeed.

To comprehend a nectar

Requires sorest need.

 

Not one of all the purple Host

Who took the Flag today

Can tell the definition

So clear of victory

 

As he defeated – dying –

On whose forbidden ear

The distant strains of triumph

Burst agonized and clear!

Enjoy the poem with beautiful music

Poem Video👇

https://youtu.be/BKUgrrIyw1g

Who wrote the poem "Success Is Counted Sweetest"?

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson (December 10, 1830 – May 15, 1886)

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet who was born in Amherst, Massachusetts. She spent most of her adult life at the family home in isolation, attending to her ill mother. Introverted and timid, she never married or sought a permanent romantic relationship all her life. Although she wrote nearly 1,800 poems during her lifetime, her poetry was largely misunderstood or underrated while she was alive. Her poems were quite original and disregarded many conventional rules, containing short lines, typically lacking titles, and often using imperfect rhyme and odd-looking syntax. Her poetry however captures universal feelings in a simple sentence with unique but resonating metaphors and reflects the poet’s lively, imaginative, and dynamic inner world. Her poetic genius began to be appreciated only after her death when her sister published her works. Now Dickinson is regarded as one of the most important American poets.

"Success Is Counted Sweetest" explanation

 

In the poem, the speaker suggests that only those who have experienced failure can truly appreciate the value of success. Inevitable defeats or failures in our life will only make the feeling of success sweeter when it finally comes about.