September 10th, 2009:

Under My Bootsoles 3

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I had been meaning to post this Sharon Olds poem for several weeks, but it speaks directly to Chelsea’s post on Ginsberg. Let’s say it takes womanliness and Whitman to a new level.

“The Language of the Brag”

I have wanted excellence in the knife-throw,

I have wanted to use my exceptionally strong and accurate arms

and my straight posture and quick electric muscles

to achieve something at the centre of a crowd,

the blade piercing the bark deep,

the haft slowly and heavily vibrating like the cock.

I have wanted some epic use for my excellent body,

some heroism, some American achievement

beyond the ordinary for my extraordinary self,

magnetic and tensile, I have stood by the sandlot

and watched the boys play.

I have wanted courage, I have thought about fire

and the crossing of waterfalls, I have dragged around

my belly big with cowardice and safety,

my stool black with iron pills,

my huge breasts oozing mucus,

my legs swelling, my hands swelling,

my face swelling and darkening, my hair

falling out, my inner sex

stabbed again and again with terrible pain like a knife.

I have lain down.

I have lain down and sweated and shaken

and passed blood and feces and water and

slowly alone in the centre of a circle I have

passed the new person out

and they have lifted the new person free of the act

and wiped the new person free of that

language of blood like praise all over the body.

I have done what you wanted to do, Walt Whitman,

Allen Ginsberg, I have done this thing,

I and the other women this exceptional

act with the exceptional heroic body,

this giving birth, this glistening verb,

and I am putting my proud American boast

right here with the others.

“The Language of the Brag” is from SATAN SAYS by Sharon Olds.

Under My Bootsoles 3

Sep 10th, 2009

by mscanlon.

Comments are off for this post

I had been meaning to post this Sharon Olds poem for several weeks, but it speaks directly to Chelsea’s post on Ginsberg. Let’s say it takes womanliness and Whitman to a new level.

“The Language of the Brag”

I have wanted excellence in the knife-throw,

I have wanted to use my exceptionally strong and accurate arms

and my straight posture and quick electric muscles

to achieve something at the centre of a crowd,

the blade piercing the bark deep,

the haft slowly and heavily vibrating like the cock.

____

I have wanted some epic use for my excellent body,

some heroism, some American achievement

beyond the ordinary for my extraordinary self,

magnetic and tensile, I have stood by the sandlot

and watched the boys play.

____

I have wanted courage, I have thought about fire

and the crossing of waterfalls, I have dragged around

____

my belly big with cowardice and safety,

my stool black with iron pills,

my huge breasts oozing mucus,

my legs swelling, my hands swelling,

my face swelling and darkening, my hair

falling out, my inner sex

stabbed again and again with terrible pain like a knife.

I have lain down.

____

I have lain down and sweated and shaken

and passed blood and feces and water and

slowly alone in the centre of a circle I have

passed the new person out

and they have lifted the new person free of the act

and wiped the new person free of that

language of blood like praise all over the body.

____

I have done what you wanted to do, Walt Whitman,

Allen Ginsberg, I have done this thing,

I and the other women this exceptional

act with the exceptional heroic body,

this giving birth, this glistening verb,

and I am putting my proud American boast

right here with the others.

“The Language of the Brag” is from SATAN SAYS by Sharon Olds.

A Few Words from the Elders (READ THIS)

Sep 10th, 2009

by mscanlon.

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Hey Whitmaniacs,

This post is really a series of reminders and guidelines. Boring (and overwhelming? I’m trying), but read on:

Don’t forget to log on to your own individual blog and post from there rather than posting directly on the Digital Whitman blog, which is creating problems for some folks.
Dr. Earnhart has confirmed the start time for our first set of field trips on October 3. We will begin at the Visitors’ Center on the Sunken Road battlefield at 1:00 that day with a movie, followed by a tour of the battlefield, after which we will carpool over to Chatham to see the mansion that served as Union headquarters/hospital/Whitman’s nursing inspiration. We should be done by 5 that day. Stay tuned for more details but please block out your time now.
As announced in class, the readings for Sept. 22, when we begin work on the 1867 edition, have been focused more narrowly. On the syllabus page, there will be an addendum document you should use for that week’s assignments.
And speaking of readings… Let me remind everyone to budget weekly time efficiently to make sure you complete all readings thoughtfully before class (as MAY not have been the case this past Tuesday…). We have not required written summaries of articles, but it would be a great idea as you read to use your blog to record a very brief summary, some personal notes or responses, or a few key phrases/quotations. That will give you a better record for class, and it will benefit your classmates as well in our ongoing collaboration.
And speaking of readings one more time, they do lighten up in most of the remaining weeks. One exception seems to be Sept. 29, which has a heavier assignment again. Please plan ahead to budget appropriate time that week.

A Few Words from the Elders (READ THIS)

Sep 10th, 2009

by mscanlon.

Comments are off for this post

Hey Whitmaniacs,

This post is really a series of reminders and guidelines. Boring (and overwhelming? I’m trying), but read on:

Don’t forget to log on to your own individual blog and post from there rather than posting directly on the Digital Whitman blog, which is creating problems for some folks.
Dr. Earnhart has confirmed the start time for our first set of field trips on October 3. We will begin at the Visitors’ Center on the Sunken Road battlefield at 1:00 that day with a movie, followed by a tour of the battlefield, after which we will carpool over to Chatham to see the mansion that served as Union headquarters/hospital/Whitman’s nursing inspiration. We should be done by 5 that day. Stay tuned for more details but please block out your time now.
As announced in class, the readings for Sept. 22, when we begin work on the 1867 edition, have been focused more narrowly. On the syllabus page, there will be an addendum document you should use for that week’s assignments.
And speaking of readings… Let me remind everyone to budget weekly time efficiently to make sure you complete all readings thoughtfully before class (as MAY not have been the case this past Tuesday…). We have not required written summaries of articles, but it would be a great idea as you read to use your blog to record a very brief summary, some personal notes or responses, or a few key phrases/quotations. That will give you a better record for class, and it will benefit your classmates as well in our ongoing collaboration.
And speaking of readings one more time, they do lighten up in most of the remaining weeks. One exception seems to be Sept. 29, which has a heavier assignment again. Please plan ahead to budget appropriate time that week.

Whitmaniacs, DO NOT MISS tallersam’s po…

Sep 10th, 2009

by mscanlon.

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Whitmaniacs, DO NOT MISS tallersam’s post today called A Barbaric Yawp. Watching within an hour of bedtime is not advised.

song of jennifer

Sep 10th, 2009

by jenniferying.

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“I am of old and young, of the foolish as much as the wise,
Regardless of others, ever regardful of others,
Breathe the air but leave plenty after me,
And am not stuck up, and am in my place.
I exist as I am, that is enough,
If no other in the world be aware I sit content,
And if each and all be aware I sit content.”