Published by Koharu on 06 Sep 2009 at 11:05 pm
Song of Amber
Come my children.
Come my biys and girls, and my women and household and intimates.
Now the performer launches his nerve….he has passed his prelude on the reeds within.
Easily written losefingered chords! I feel the thrum of their climax close.
My head evolves on my neck,
Music rolls, but not from the organ….folks are around me, but they are no household of mine.
These lines meant the most to me because they were the only ones I could find that related to instrumental music. Being a former band dork, I felt somewhat obligated to pick them. ^-^’
Matthew Gold on 06 Sep 2009 at 11:57 pm #
Interesting choice, Amber! Did you notice the lines about opera? They are some of the most provocative lines in the poem. Look on page 57 of our B&N edition:
Whitman had a great interest in opera — something we’ll hear more about when we talk to Greg Trupiano of the Whitman Project.
And, indeed, we need to think about the title of the poem and the musicality of Whitman’s own verse . .
Gina on 09 Sep 2009 at 8:21 pm #
Hi Amber,
I’m working on this project in another course and I liked the sections you chose. I spent 3 years in high school playing the trumpet…largely unsuccessfully, so I can relate to this passage as well.
~Gina
Koharu on 09 Sep 2009 at 9:28 pm #
Cool, I was a Bass Clarinet. ^-^