The speaker wants readers to learn to see the world through a poetic lens. The excerpt emphasizes the importance of personal experience and perspective in appreciating poetry and life. The speaker encourages readers to engage with the world directly, to filter experiences and ideas through their own understanding rather than relying on others or established interpretations. This promotes an individual and active approach to perceiving both poetry and the world around them.
Excerpts from "Song of Myself": 1, 2, 6, 52
Walt Whitman
1855
Have you reckoned a thousand acres much? Have you reckoned the earth much?
Have you practiced so long to learn to read?
Have you felt so proud to get at the meaning of poems?
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.
What does the speaker want readers to do?
learn to be better writers themselves
study the great poems about nature
practice using free verse in poetry
learn to see the world through a poetic lens
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