FREE
I was wracking my brain, trying to come up with something unusual for the word, Free. Nothing was hitting me. I tried googling the word free but kept coming up with ways to get free stuff. I was going to skip One Word Wednesday this week.
Then this morning, I started to read The Notebook by Nicholas Sparks. I'm sure I'm probably the only person in America who hasn't read The Notebook yet (I haven't seen the movie either, but I digress).
Right there, on page 10, I come across a poem called A Clear Midnight from a book of poetry by Walt Whitman . This is the passage I read:
This is thy hour, O Soul, thy free flight into the wordless,
Away from books, away from art, the day erased, the lesson done,
Away from books, away from art, the day erased, the lesson done,
Thee fully forth emerging, silent, gazing, pondering the themes thou lovest best,Night, sleep, death, and the stars.
To be honest, I'm not really sure what Mr. Whitman meant when he wrote this poem (in 1881). I think maybe he's talking about how he enjoys the late hour because of the quiet around him.
What do you think he meant when he wrote that poem all those years ago?Jill, at Jillsy Girl is the host of One Word Wednesday. Every week, she gives us a word to blog. We can write a story, post a picture, a poem, a song. Whatever we want! Check her out!! You can also see what everyone else is blogging about too.
5 comments:
After all is said and done...all labor ceases and we mount up on wings and fly. Filling our soul with creativity and imagination...we soar above it all. And we ponder the deeper meanings of our existence. Death...how quickly thou comes for me.
My interpretation!
Hugs
SueAnn
When I read it, it made me think of the following quote I found when I was searching quotes for my post: "Only in our dreams are we free. The rest of the time we need wages." I think Walt's quote was referring to the same ~ the mind is free when asleep.
That quote made me smile because my post is how I need to find that, how I can't find it, how I need to set my mind free...
You supplied an answer!
freedom of creativity without boundaries, maybe?
For me, that poem is speaking to the Soul within; like we exist in two worlds at once, an inner world and an outer world.
In our 'outer world' ~ formalities and context are necessary for getting through life. We need to communicate with others, enhance our learning, earn a living, etc.
But our 'inner world' ~ well there, Imagination leads, we're part of something much grander than we can even begin to imagine - and our sense of wonder, awe and magnitude is safe to unfold, without containment, as majestic as the night sky.
I think he may be trying to express, within the limited boundary of words, the Soul's desire to achieve harmony with the Universe through his imagination.
Then again, I'm an English Major from waaaaay back (though not as far back as Walt Whitman) ~ I often see themes and patterns that aren't actually there.
(PS: I have not read The Notebook either, nor have I seen the movie ~ though the movie is my 15 year old's favourite of all time - so far.)
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