O Me! O Life!
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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.
Play the video to hear Robin Williams read it for you.
Play the video to hear Robin Williams read it for you.
The endless questions we ask ourself...the ups and the downs and the confusion of this life culminates into a simple answer for Whitman at the end of the poem- "that you are here- that life exists and identity. That powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse". The questions will never end inside of us, but in the meantime we may as well gift our identity to those around us, our gifts, the identity we feel most drawn to and contribute what we can. The answer is always amidst the chaotic nature of the mind.
ReplyDeleteAwesome poem. Makes me think of Robin Williams and the Dead Poets Society.
ReplyDeleteTo contribute a verse, I think most of us want to do that to some degree. And what better way than through a piece of literature. That can be potentially read for generations to come.