John Hawley

Weekly Whitman

Arts EN ↓ 8 episodes

Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass is unquestionably a poetic masterpiece and a cornerstone of American literature. Yet how many times has the work been heard in the full spirit of the voice that Whitman intended? The United States confronts the same divisions and idealistic tensions today as when Whitman first began publishing in 1855. To show that this text does not sound dated in the least, I intend to sing the book for a new generation of Americans, for myself, and because Walt told me to. I will explore with my audience the answers Whitman came to in versifying the contradictions of the Ameri...

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Author

John Hawley

Episodes

Audio-only version - Part 6 - Inscriptions - Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman 07.09.2023 11:37

As we gather to listen you will find this episode a pivot point. Walt and I begin here at section 16 of "Starting From Paumanok," the long-form, microcosmic, final inscription piece to Leaves of Grass. I conclude the reading by barking out a version of the opening to "Song of Myself." I intend to release audio-only versions of all my Weekly Whitmans. I'm releasing this one first because, well yes,...

Weekly Whitman Preview 31.08.2023 2:52

"But you ye untold latencies will thrill to every page. . ."

Part 5 - Inscriptions - Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman 27.08.2023 9:17

This episode begins at section 14 of "Starting From Paumanok," the long-form, free-wheeling final Inscription poem, set in the book before the Leaves lead us into "Song of Myself," and Whitman's immortal opening lines, uttered originally in 1855, and in the soul many years before then, and still the same words in the Deathbed edition - "I celebrate myself, and sing myself..." Yet it must be heard...

Shooting in pulses of fire ceaseless to vivify all 26.08.2023 1:17

America's poet being orated for the first time, I mean really declaimed -

Part 4 - Inscriptions - Leaves Of Grass by Walt Whitman 19.08.2023 8:57

Hello camerados close, Walt and I pick it up at the opening to section 11 of "Starting From Paumanok," the 19 section long final inscription poem to Leaves of Grass, and continue on to the end of section 13. We will start up again next week at the top of section 14. Won't you join us, won't you sing with us?

Part 3 - Inscriptions - Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman 12.08.2023 6:50

My July 4th reading of the opening inscriptions from Leaves of Grass continues at section 8 of the epic final inscription piece "Starting from Paumanok." This episode carries us to the end of section 10. We'll pick it up next week at the top of section 11. Line by line, song by song, state by state - reciting the poem of America one week at a time.

Part 2 - Inscriptions - Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman 06.08.2023 12:07

In case you are just now tuning in, in the first episode I was seduced by the ghost of Walt Whitman. In spiritual union, I came to possess and be possessed by this ghost, in its voice and its essence, its calling and its afterburn of images. This episode begins at section four of "Starting From Paumanok," the epic final Inscription piece to Leaves of Grass. I read through to the end of section 7....

Inscriptions - Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman 01.08.2023 10:36

Open the leaves. Turn the page. Tune the voice. Sing the book. Air the soul, line by line. We begin on page 1, the initial inscription, a greeting, a mantra, a principle. Then we flow through the inscriptions and land on the epic final inscription, "Starting from Paumanok." The recording ends on section 3 of "Starting from Paumanok," and intends to go all the way to the end of the Deathbed edition...