Whitman - the group questions for the class

Read the following lines – what message did Whitman try to convey and what themes (seen throughout the poem) does it reflect? Is its message still relevant today – how so? 


Stop this day and night with me and you shall possess the origin of all poems,

You shall possess the good of the earth and sun . . . . there are millions of suns left,

You shall no longer take things at second or third hand . . . . nor look through the eyes of

the dead . . . . nor feed on the spectres in books,

You shall not look through my eyes either, nor take things from me,

You shall listen to all sides and filter them from yourself.