I May Contribute a Verse
Prompt: Many human beings throughout history have found inspiration and joy in literature and works of art. Is there a book, play, poem, movie, painting, music selection, or photograph that has been especially meaningful to you?
I sat in front of the TV, reading on my iPhone, as the commercials droned on in the background.
To quote from Whitman:
Oh me! Oh life! of the questions of these recurring
I was listening now, paying careful attention to each word.
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 and identity,
I looked up.
That the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse.
That the powerful play goes on and you may contribute a verse.
What will your verse be?
“iPad Air” flashed on the screen at the end of the commercial and I just stared, stunned. I groped for the remote inside the cushions of the couch and yanked it out. I proceeded to rewind the commercial and watch it, in its entirety, again. It was then that I realized that Apple had used one of the speeches Mr. Keating gave his students in Dead Poets Society in order to capture the essence of what the iPad Air is: a tool for creating.
I bounded up the stairs, taking them two at a time, and practically skipped to my room. I flipped open my laptop and Googled “you may contribute a verse” and clicked on the Walt Whitman poem that popped up first. I read this poem over and over and over again to myself. I even read it aloud, basking in the simple, joyous, cognitive harmony it created within me.
“Oh me! Oh life!” resonates with me. It echoes in my mind as I weave words together, hunched over my computer with a cup of coffee perpetually by my side. I hear it ring within me as I play my trumpet, sing, debate, write — as I gain and improve skills. This poem interlocks with what I believe is my purpose of being here: to create something of value. As I increase my level of competence, I invest in my own creative and meaningful future. After all, one must learn the rules of a domain before one can break them, before one can innovate.
Whitman’s poem moves me to understand why I wake up each morning. It reminds me that no matter how pointless life may seem, it is not. I may contribute a verse.
If you like what you just read, please hit the green ‘Recommend’ button below so that others might find this essay.
O Me! O Life!
By: Walt 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,
Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?)
Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the struggle ever renew’d,
Of the poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me,
Of the empty and useless years of the rest, with the rest me intertwined,
The question, O me! so sad, recurring — What good amid these, O me, O life?
Answer.
That you are here — that life exists and identity,
That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.
If you liked this essay, then you might like:
or…
