It is National Poetry Month for those of you who didn't already know. I am a huge fan of poetry and one of the books that always remains by my bed is Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman. I am a huge Walt Whitman fan and I often thumb through the pages of his poetry when I need inspiration, solace, or time away from the real world.
In addition to Walt Whitman, I love many of the Romantic poets-Emerson, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Keats, Shelley, and Bryant. That era and movement sparked great and wonderful poetry. Although, I do love a number of other poets from other eras as well.
For poetry month, I thought it would be fitting to post some poems that I love as a tribute. I won't analyze them for you, since I think each individual finds their own meaning in a poem, but I'll just let them be and you can enjoy them as you will!
The first poem I am choosing is by Whitman. It is titled "To a Stranger."
- Passing stranger! you do not know how longingly I look upon you,
- You must be he I was seeking, or she I was seeking, (it comes to me as of a dream,)
- I have somewhere surely lived a life of joy with you,
- All is recall'd as we flit by each other, fluid, affectionate, chaste, matured,
- You grew up with me, were a boy with me or a girl with me,
- I ate with you and slept with you, your body has become not yours only nor left my body mine only,
- You give me the pleasure of your eyes, face, flesh, as we pass, you take of my beard, breast, hands, in return,
- I am not to speak to you, I am to think of you when I sit alone or wake at night alone,
- I am to wait, I do not doubt I am to meet you again,
- I am to see to it that I do not lose you.
