Song of Leigh-Ann
I am he that walks with the tender and
growing night;
I call to the earth and sea half held by the
night.
Press close barebosomed night! Press close
magnetic nourishing night!
Night of south winds!Night of the large few
stars!
Still nodding night~ Mad naked summer
night!
Although I was torn between these lines and those on the preceding page, “I exist as I am, that is enough” my maternal instincts guided me to choose the above. I chose not to concern myself with the gender difference for I read of Walt’s interchanging of gender in a poem .
To me, these lines represent the many wakeful nights I spent over the past 8 months caring for my newborn son, Jonah. In the beginning, the night frightened me. As the months progressed, however, I learned to embrace its soft beauty and cherish the invaluable time I had to nourish, love, and care for my son. Now, as I embark on my doctoral adventure, I call my thanks to the sea and earth for the opportunity to bond with Jonah and ask that I be granted strength as I commence my studies this, “mad naked summer night”!
Jonah and mommy
Filed in Uncategorized 3 Comments so far
Matthew Gold on 07 Sep 2009 at 12:11 am #
Great post, Leigh-Ann, and congratulations on Jonah — he looks beautiful. As the father of an eight-week old, I sympathize with your initial fear of and eventual embrace of the night. After all, fighting it is useless.
It should be interesting to track issues of childbirth and childhood through Whitman’s poetry. I’m looking forward to following your blog.
leighannb on 07 Sep 2009 at 8:33 pm #
thank you so much!
leighannb on 07 Sep 2009 at 8:52 pm #
Thank you! I am eager to explore the gender issue-a few instances during Song of Myself I felt as though i was reading from a woman author. From this reading only, I feel that Whitman has a keen sense of others- be they male or female. It appears that it will be an interesting adventure with Walt!!