April 30, 2010: from Pioneers! O Pioneers!, Walt Whitman
from Pioneers! O Pioneers!
Walt Whitman
Come my tan-faced children,
Follow well in order, get your weapons ready,
Have you your pistols? have you your sharp-edged axes?
Pioneers! O pioneers!
For we cannot tarry here,
We must march my darlings, we must bear the brunt of danger,
We the youthful sinewy races, all the rest on us depend,
Pioneers! O pioneers!
O you youths, Western youths,
So impatient, full of action, full of manly pride and friendship,
Plain I see you Western youths, see you tramping with the foremost,
Pioneers! O pioneers! […]
All the past we leave behind,
We debouch upon a newer mightier world, varied world,
Fresh and strong the world we seize, world of labor and the march,
Pioneers! O pioneers!
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[If this sounds familiar, you’ve probably seen the Levi’s ad which uses it, as part of a campaign that also featured Whitman reading from his poem “America”. There were a lot of indignant online essays written about Levi’s co-opting Whitman for marketing, but I think it’s wonderful: it exposes millions of people to Whitman, and it makes 19th century poetry seem so vibrant and alive and relevant (despite its unpleasant Manifest Destiny overtones). Plus I’m sure Whitman would heartily approve of a lot of its subject matter.
Or perhaps you’ll prefer this parody of the ad featuring the much more cynical Bukowski (featured here in years past).
This is the first year I’m not finishing off the month with T.S. Eliot, but like with Eliot, I find I can go back to Whitman’s poetry again and again: how well they both combine sound and philosophy, how they’re both so interested in death and rebirth in nature (“Look for me under your boot-soles”), and the complexities of their respective modern worlds. And Whitman is so joyous: “I celebrate myself, and sing myself”! I like that in a poem.
And that’s the end of another National Poetry Month! I really hope you’ve found something here you’ve liked. If you’re hungry for more poetry, you can check out:
The Masterlist of April Is Poems
The Poetry Foundation’s Poetry Tool and the rest of their website
Poetry Magazine]
On this day in…
2009: from The Waste Land, T.S. Eliot
2008: from Five-Finger Exercises, T.S. Eliot
2007: Journey of the Magi, T.S. Eliot
2006: Preludes, T.S. Eliot
2005: A Song for Simeon, T.S. Eliot
