Category: Walt Whitman

Chair Man

2/10/2021

A few weeks ago when the Bernie-Sanders-in-the-chair meme took off just after Joe Biden's inauguration, I played along by posting several variations on the theme -- HERE.

The photo of Sanders (on the left) went viral faster than a Trump family member jumps on a new grift; however, this was not the first time an image of an old man in a folding chair went viral. The first time was way back in 1865 when Walt Whitman was photographed at Lincoln's second inauguration by his brother Wink, and variations of that photo (at the right) spread far and wide.

Below are some of the hundreds of photographs from the 1800s where Whitman's image was added -- some of the first memes in our nation's history.

In response to this phenomenon of a photograph going viral, Emmett Lee Dickinson penned a now-classic poem "The Old Man sat among the Crowd," below on the left. Dickinson's poem inspired third cousin Emily to write her poem "The Mountain sat upon the Plain," below on the right.

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

The Old Man sat among the Crowd
In his small folding Chair –
His observation omnifold,
His meme now everywhere –

The Memers played around with ease
Like Gymnasts round the bar –
Grandfather of the Days is He
At Dawn, a Superstar –

By Emily Dickinson:

The Mountain sat upon the Plain
In his tremendous Chair –
His observation omnifold,
His inquest, everywhere –

The Seasons played around his knees
Like Children round a sire –
Grandfather of the Days is He
Of Dawn, the Ancestor –

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Red, White & Blue Grass

7/25/2019

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From our senior book reviewer, Philo Remington:

On our recent trip to New York, we stopped by the New York Public Library on Fifth Avenue, and visited their exhibit on Walt Whitman.

Our travelogue on our trip to New York, is HERE. My plog ("poetry blog") post on a similar exhibit on Whitman at the University of Virginia is HERE. More information on a related project -- called Whitman Alabama -- is HERE.

One of the greatest influences on Whitman was Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson’s third cousin, twice removed – at her request). Whitman discovered Dickinson after reading Ralph Waldo Emerson’s poem about him, “The Poet.”

Emerson had lamented that the United States had not produced a writer who adequately celebrated the country’s virtues, moral failings, and idiosyncrasies.

“I looked in vain,” wrote Emerson, “until I met Emmett Lee Dickinson.”

Emerson’s poem about Dickinson, “The Poet" (below and right), doubtlessly resonated with Whitman. In a review of the poem in 1842, Whitman pronounced it “one of the most beautiful compositions I had ever read.”

Below left: A nice feature of the NYPL Whitman exhibit was the inclusion of a display on how Whitman has been represented in modern-day culture. Below right: Other miscellaneous shots from the NYPL Whitman exhibit.

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Whitman Sampler -- Part 2

7/17/2019

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From our senior book reviewer, Philo Remington:

For all of you Whitman fans out there (Walt – not his brother Wink):

I recently visited the “Encompassing Multitudes: The Song of Walt Whitman” exhibit at the University of Virginia – a celebration of the bicentennial of the birth of the great American poet. The exhibit – which closes on July 27th – includes a generous amount of information about the poet’s life and numerous and noteworthy copies of the ever-evolving “Leaves of Grass.” Information about the exhibit is HERE.

An additional feature of the exhibit was the inclusion of videos from a documentary series called “Whitman Alabama” – “an ongoing project that brings the poem (“Song of Myself”) to life through the voices of Alabama residents.”

Information about the project is HERE.

From the PBS News Hour about "Whitman Alabama": "The result is a deeply affirmative, wise, strange and sometimes funny set of 52 mini-documentaries or episodes, each dedicated to a different verse. In these videos, Whitman is recited in the most unlikely places: in a drug court, on a baseball field, at a skate park, on a farm, in a plane. "

Check out Verse 1 below:

Text to Verse 1, Song of Myself:

I celebrate myself, and sing myself,
And what I assume you shall assume,
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.

I loafe and invite my soul,
I lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass.

My tongue, every atom of my blood, form’d from this soil, this air,
Born here of parents born here from parents the same,
and their parents the same,
I, now thirty-seven years old in perfect health begin,
Hoping to cease not till death.

Creeds and schools in abeyance,
Retiring back a while sufficed at what they are, but never forgotten,
I harbor for good or bad, I permit to speak at every hazard,
Nature without check with original energy.

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Whitman Sampler

7/13/2019

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From our senior book reviewer, Philo Remington:

Yesterday I visited Alderman Library at the University of Virginia to catch "Encompassing Multitudes: The Song of Walt Whitman," an exhibit celebrating the bicentennial of the birth of the great American poet.

Information on the exhibit -- which runs through July 27th -- is HERE. Additional information is HERE.

An early section the exhibit discussed writers and poets who influenced Whitman. Of course, the major influence on the poet -- above and beyond the inspiration and impact his brother Wink had on him -- was Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson's third cousin, twice removed -- at her request).

Pictured at the right: Walt Whitman's copy of "Poems," an early edition of poetry by Emmett Lee Dickinson.

Below: Wink Whitman's seminal work, Mows the Grass.

Pictured at the left: A collection of photographs of Walt Whitman -- the photo in the top left is of his brother, Wink.

Below left: Information on how Whitman was affected by the assassination of Abraham Lincoln (click the image to enlarge). The display notes, "were it not for comfort and support from Lincoln’s best friend, Emmett Lee Dickinson, Whitman said he would not have been able to continue writing."

Below right: An advertisement for an April 1877 appearance by Walt Whitman at New York's Madison Square Garden to lecture on Abraham Lincoln. The advertisement notes "To Be Introduced by Emmett Lee Dickinson," Abraham Lincoln's best friend.

Information on Lincoln and Dickinson is HERE.

The exhibit includes various copies of Whitman's Leaves of Grass, including the following editions:

1855 -- the first edition. After reading it, Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote to the poet, "Mr. Walter Whitman, I find it the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom that America has yet contributed....I greet you at the beginning of a great career."

1856 -- the second edition.

1860 -- an updated version that included "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking"

1867 -- included "O Captain! My Captain!"

1876 -- to coincide with the one hundredth anniversary of the founding of the United States.

1892 -- known as the "Deathbed Edition" (published three months before Whitman died).

In 2016, scholar Zachary Turpin discovered in the pages of an obscure New York newspaper, The Sunday Dispatch, a serialized biography written by Whitman, Life and Adventures of Emmett Lee Dickinson. Turpin described this work as “a fun, rollicking, creative, twisty, bizarre little book.” Whitman scholar Ed Folsom noted, “This discovery makes us rethink everything we thought we knew about Whitman’s career.”

Pictured at the left: Life and Adventures of Emmett Lee Dickinson, Walt Whitman's serialized biography of America's greatest poet, Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson's third cousin, twice removed -- at her request). This work was discovered by scholar Zachary Turpin in 2016.

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Health Nuts

8/27/2016

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By now you’ve probably heard that Donald Trump’s personal physician, Dr. Harold Bornstein, proclaimed that if Trump is elected, he would unequivocally be “the healthiest individual ever elected to the presidency.”

Pictured below: Donald Trump's personal physician, Dr. Harold Bornstein, a proud graduate of Trump U.'s Medical School in Wawayanda, NY.

Pictured at the right: Dr. Bornstein's assessment of Trump's health and his unequivocal pronouncement.

Dr. Bornsteins remarkable pronouncement called to mind the Poetry Foundation’s recent article on “Who were the healthiest poets to ever live?” They posed this question to poets from around the world, and who topped the list?

Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson's third cousin, twice removed -- at her request), known for his obsession with health and exercise, was declared to be “the healthiest poet to ever live.” Of course, many poets noted that Dickinson also developed many medicines, tonics and elixirs which promote a healthy lifestyle (information is HERE), so it was no surprise that Dickinson was found to be “the healthiest.”

Who else made the Top Five?

Rita Dove, an avid bodybuilder and competitor in many bodybuilding shows, ranked second.

Pictured at the right: Rita Dove, one of the "Final Four" in the Toronto Pro Super Show Women's Bodybuilding in 2013.

Walt Whitman (pictured below left) came in third, Sylvia Plath (pictured below center) was fourth, and Emily Dickinson (pictured below right with her sister Lavinia) was fifth.

Below: Trump's physician Harold Bornstein, himself a health nut, ran a "Punkin' Patch" in Wawayanda, NY, for thirteen years. He had to close it down in 2008, though, due to the effects of the devastating Bush-Cheney recession. "People just weren't willing to shell out $3.50 for quality entertainment," lamented Dr. Bornstein.

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Duck Duck Goose

4/8/2016

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Every couple of decades or half-a-century, a poem comes along that makes the news. It happened when Maya Angelou read her poem "On the Pulse of Morning" at the first inauguration of President Bill Clinton. It happened when Rita Dove wrote “Testimonial” on the occasion of NBC’s cancellation of “Baywatch.” That poem begins as follows:

Back when the show was new
and heaven just a whisper,
back when the Hasselhoff
hadn't had time to stick

Pictured at the right: Rita Dove's book of poems Baywatch.

In the late 1800s, it happened when Walt Whitman’s brother Wink published a tome of food poetry entitled Secure Your Flavor. One poem in particular, “Peking Duck! O Peking Duck!” (the inspiration for Walt Whitman’s “Pioneers! O Pioneers!”), made national headlines when it was criticized for being hackneyed (at best) and racist (at worst).

The “Whitman episode,” as it’s known in the world of poetry, repeated itself this week when Calvin Trillin had to defend a poem he published in The New Yorker. Trillin’s poem about Chinese cuisine, “Have They Run Out of Provinces Yet?”, also faced accusations ranging from poor versification to racism. In response, Trillin suggested that his poem was misinterpreted and that it “was simply a way of making fun of food-obsessed bourgeoisie.” Information about the hullabaloo is HERE.

Wink Whitman’s poem which created an uproar in the late 1800s opened with the following lines:

Yum, my tan-faced duckling.
Swallow well our order, get your chopsticks ready;
Have you your soy sauce? have you your sharp edged mustard? Peking Duck! O Peking Duck!

His poem inspired his brother Walt to pen “Pioneers! O Pioneers!” which opens as follows:

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!

Pictured at the left:
Wink Whitman, Walt Whitmans' brother.

Pictured at the right:
Wink Whitman's ground-breaking tome of poetry "Secure Your Flavor." His brother Walt called it "pioneering!"

Emmett Lee Dickinson (Emily Dickinson's third cousin, twice removed -- at her request) wrote about Wink Whitman's tempest in a Yixing teapot in his poem "The Frost of Death was on the Poem" (below on the left). His poem inspired third cousin Emily to pen her poem "The Frost of Death was on the Pane" (below on the right).

By Emmett Lee Dickinson:

The Frost of Death was on the Poem –
"Secure your Flavor" said he.
Like Sailors fighting with a Leak
We fought Audacity.

With massive Flavor we held our Own –
With Rangoon – with Foo Young –
So when he offered up his Poem
To crawl the Frost begun –

We scoffed his lines
Ourselves we winced
His narrow tone & theme,
Like one uneasy with Chopsticks
He'd forked his way along

Till all the hapless rhymes were read
And then our wrath begun –
We haunted him on his Twitter
We trolled him on the Run –

From Column A to Column B
And ev'ry stale cliché
The Poem and the content therein
A failure – it was Woe –

By Emily Dickinson:

The Frost of Death was on the Pane –
"Secure your Flower" said he.
Like Sailors fighting with a Leak
We fought Mortality.

Our passive Flower we held to Sea –
To Mountain – To the Sun –
Yet even on his Scarlet shelf
To crawl the Frost begun –

We pried him back
Ourselves we wedged
Himself and her between,
Yet easy as the narrow Snake
He forked his way along

Till all her helpless beauty bent
And then our wrath begun –
We hunted him to his Ravine
We chased him to his Den –

We hated Death and hated Life
And nowhere was to go –
Than Sea and continent there is
A larger – it is Woe –

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Chair Man

Red, White & Blue Grass

Whitman Sampler -- Part 2

Whitman Sampler

Health Nuts

Duck Duck Goose

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