Why do we read poetry? We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute, we read and write poetry because we are members of the human race and the human race is filled with passion. Medicine, law, business, engineering, these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life, but poetry, beauty, romance, love these are what we stay alive for. The quote from Whitman, “Oh me! Oh life! of the questions of these recurring, Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill’d with the foolish, …. What good amid these, O me, O life? Answer. That you are here – that life exists…That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.”
Poetry speaks to the needs of the soul. Whitman recognizes life is hard, yet he exclaimed every life has something to contribute. Our lives have value and they have meaning. (La poésie parle aux besoins de l'âme. Whitman reconnaît que la vie est difficile, mais il s'est exclamé, chaque vie a quelque chose à contribuer. Nos vies ont une valeur et elles ont une signification.)
