A Recording of Walt Whitman Reading His Poem “America”
Walt Whitman (1819-1892) is one of America’s greatest poets.
Here’s a recording of him, from 1890. He’s reading from a poem called “America” which has been preserved on a wax cylinder from 1888.
The lines he’s reading can be a little hard to understand. Here’s what he’s saying:
“America
Centre of equal daughters, equal sons,
All, all alike endear’d, grown, ungrown, young or old,
Strong, ample, fair, enduring, capable, rich,
Perennial with the Earth, with Freedom, Law and Love…”
I found this to have special meaning on Memorial Day weekend, when America honors her sons and daughters who have died fighting for Freedom.
March 5th, 2009 at 2:06 pm
Information on the Whitman recording are inconclusive. If it is real, then the recording dates from 1890 where he is reading “America” written in 1888, not the other way around. If this is Whitman it is surely one of the great cultural artifacts in American history and should be heard and celebrated by everyone…