http://camdenannotation.lookingforwhitman.org/2009/11/02/you-lingering-sparse-leaves-of-me/ Just another Looking for Whitman weblog Wed, 24 Apr 2013 13:30:15 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.4.30 http://camdenannotation.lookingforwhitman.org/2009/11/02/you-lingering-sparse-leaves-of-me/comment-page-1/#comment-65 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:33:42 +0000 http://camdenannotation.lookingforwhitman.org/?p=101#comment-65 This particularly dark poem reflects Whitman’s panic over not being able to write decent poetry while in his dotage years. The “lingering sparse leaves” are the remnants of his poetic genius hanging ominously in the background. He calls himself a “well-shorn tree” because he feels as though all of his talents have been stripped from him, and that all he can produce now is inferior work.

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