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A reading of my favorite of Walt Whitman’s "mystical" poems--that is, those poems where he found identification in every and every thing, and saw that as a kind of salvation for us all. All of the poems can be found in the two recent books I edited, The Selected Short Poems of Walt Whitman, and The Selected Long Poems of Walt Whitman. Please consider getting a copy of these books (they are only $3.99), if you enjoy what you hear in this episode.

Also included in this episode is (purportedly) the only known recording of Whitman, reading four lines from his poem “America” (at 54:39). For those who want to read an article about this recording, it can be downloaded here.

For those who would like to skip to his longer poems, see the list below and the timestamp for where to find them.

The poems I read are:

Short Poems:

Selections from “Song of Myself”
Assurances
Earth, My Likeness
Full of Life Now
To a Common Prostitute
Mother and Babe
O Me! O Life!
Sparkles from the Wheel
To Thee Old Cause!
A Clear Midnight
From Montauk Point
America
L. of G.’s Purport
Give Me the Splendid Silent Sun

Long Poems:

Crossing Brooklyn Ferry (1:08:00)
Song of the Open Road (1:26:00)
A Song of the Rolling Earth (1:48:53)

Any comments, or suggestions for readings I should make in later episodes, can be emailed to humanvoiceswakeus1@gmail.com.

I assume that the small amount of work presented in each episode constitutes fair use. Publishers, authors, or other copyright holders who would prefer to not have their work presented here can also email me at humanvoiceswakeus1@gmail.com, and I will remove the episode immediately.

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