Quotes from Leaves of Grass
by: Walt Whitman
" I celebrate 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. "(section 1)
"They come to me days and nights and go from me again,
But they are not the Me myself.
Apart from the pulling and hauling stands what I am,
Stands amused, complacent, compassionating, idle, unitary,
Looks down, is erect, bends an arm on an impalpable certain rest,
Looks with its side curved head curious what will come next,
Both in and out of the game, and watching and wondering at it." (section 4)
"I believe in you my soul . . . . the other I am must not abase itself to you,
And you must not be abased to the other.
Loafe with me on the grass . . . . loose the stop from your throat,
Not words, not music or rhyme I want . . . . not custom or lecture, not even the best,
Only the lull I like, the hum of your valved voice." (section 5)
Names can be a great source of pride, and yet they can also be limiting. Often we are judged by our name and sometimes people will use pejoratives to describe us based on our name. Sometimes, we even limit ourselves because of our name, and, sometimes we are limited by our gender, ethnicity, age, and relatives. It is up to us as individuals to refuse those limitations and to stretch ourselves to become all that we can become. In other words, we must fearlessly believe that we Contain a Multitude of Possibilities.
For the next two days you are going to think about what you see as your possibilities for the future, then write a poem describing how you refuse to limit yourself, make a poster of your poem, and finally send an electronic copy of the poem to me so we can make a book about ourselves to share with others.
For the next two days you are going to think about what you see as your possibilities for the future, then write a poem describing how you refuse to limit yourself, make a poster of your poem, and finally send an electronic copy of the poem to me so we can make a book about ourselves to share with others.
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