My 71st Year by Walt Whitman

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend May 31, 2014   My 71st Year   Walt Whitman

After surmounting threescore and ten, With all their chances, changes, losses, sorrows, My parents’ deaths, the vagaries of my life, the many tearing passions           of me, the war of ‘63 and ‘4, As some old broken soldier, after a long, hot, wearying march, or as             haply after battle, At twilight, hobbling, answering yet to company roll-call, Here, with             vital voice, Reporting yet, saluting yet the Officer over all.              This poem is in the public domain. About This Poem   “My 71st Year” by Walt Whitman was published in Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine in 1889, and was reprinted in Good-Bye My Fancy in 1891.   Walt Whitman is widely considered one of America’s most important poets. He worked as a printer, teacher, and journalist in the New York City area. Whitman composed and updated his seminal work, Leaves of Grass, throughout his entire adult life. Today is the 195th anniversary of Whitman’s birth. Poetry by Whitman   Leaves of Grass and Selected Poems and Prose (Penguin Books, 2014) “Granada Sings Whitman” by Nathalie Handal “A Supermarket in California” by Allen Ginsberg “Birdcall” by Alicia Suskin Ostriker Poem-a-Day   Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-a-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends. Thanks for being a part of the Academy of American Poets community. To learn about other programs, including National Poetry Month, Poem in Your Pocket Day, the annual Poets Forum, and more, visit Poets.org.   You are receiving this e-mail because you elected to subscribe to our mailing list. If you would like to unsubscribe, please click here.   © Academy of American Poets 75 Maiden Lane, Suite 901, New York, NY 10038