Shut Not Your Doors to Me Proud Libraries by Walt Whitman

View this email on a browser Forward to a friend February 6, 2016   Shut Not Your Doors to Me Proud Libraries   Walt Whitman

Shut not your doors to me, proud libraries, For that which was lacking among you all, yet needed most, I bring; A book I have made for your dear sake, O soldiers, And for you, O soul of man, and you, love of comrades; The words of my book nothing, the life of it everything; A book separate, not link’d with the rest, nor felt by the intellect; But you will feel every word, O Libertad! arm’d Libertad! It shall pass by the intellect to swim the sea, the air, With joy with you, O soul of man.              This poem is in the public domain. About This Poem   “Shut Not Your Doors to Me Proud Libraries” appeared in Drum-Taps, a collection of poems self-published by Whitman in 1865. Drum-Taps consists of Civil War-themed poems Whitman published after the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.   Walt Whitman was born on May 31, 1819, and is widely considered one of America’s most important poets. He worked as a printer, teacher, and journalist in the New York City area. He is best known for his work Leaves of Grass, which he composed and updated throughout his entire adult life. He died on March 26, 1892.     Poetry by Whitman   Leaves of Grass (Dover Publications, 2007) "Where Go the Boats?" by Robert Louis Stevenson "Into the Dusk-Charged Air" by John Ashberry "Hope is the thing with feathers (254)" by Emily Dickinson Poem-a-Day   Launched during National Poetry Month in 2006, Poem-a-Day features new and previously unpublished poems by contemporary poets on weekdays and classic poems on weekends.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