Anyone who has seen the Robin Williams film, Dead Poets Society, will have heard his character, Mr Keating, use this poem to try to inspire his students to 'seize the day' (the Latin phrase for which is carpe diem) and make the most of every second they have.
Walt Whitman was a prolific, American poet in 19th Century America, many of whose poems celebrated humankind and the potential for happiness and fulfilment in life. Although so much of literature gives an opposite message, it is hard not to be uplifted by Whitman's words. Yes, life is difficult; yes, the world is full of fools; yes, there are 101 reasons to be miserable. BUT...
So have a read, and then go and make something amazing of your life too...
O ME! O 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 will contribute a verse.
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