Walt Whitman Reads "America" and Gets Naked (by Rob Crawford)

 

What better way to celebrate National Poetry Month than with Walt Whitman reading from his poem "America."
(First four lines are preserved; click through for poem text.)
He reads so slowly! And afterwards, he gets naked.

 

       America

        Centre of equal daughters, equal sons,
        All, all alike endear'd, grown, ungrown, young or old,
        Strong, ample, fair, enduring, capable, rich,
        Perennial with the Earth, with Freedom, Law and Love,
        A grand, sane, towering, seated Mother,
        Chair'd in the adamant of Time.

 

This recording—a cassette of a 1951 radio broadcast of an 1889 or 1890 vertically cut Edison wax-cylinder—was found in the apartment of elevator operator Roscoe Haley following his death in 1982; "an eccentric collector, his Manhattan apartment was jammed full of recordings, books, and papers." Thank goodness for hoarders.

And cheers to poetry—"Newton's health, and confusion to mathematics."

 

         Let us all, without missing one, be exposed in public, naked,
                 monthly, at the peril of our lives! let our bodies be freely
                 handled and examined by whoever chooses!
         Let nothing but copies at second hand be permitted to exist
                 upon the earth!

                
                       Walt Whitman by Thomas Eakins, mid-1880s

    I will go to the bank by the wood and become undisguised and naked,
    I am mad for it to be in contact with me.

 

            

 

Comments

[JIm Hermanson]

Question is, is it really Whitman on the recording, or is it some imposter? This has been in contention since the recording surfaced back in 1992. For a full history of the recording, see my blog:

http://redhermwheelbarrow.blogspot.com/2011/03/voice-of-poet.html

[Rob Crawford]

Thanks for your comment. There is certainly some controversy surrounding the recording, and your link looks like a helpful resource on this. I should note for readers though that the Walt Whitman Archive features the recording:

http://whitmanarchive.org/multimedia/index.html

[Laura Orem]

I hope it's really Whitman. He certainly has a Joisey accent though the murk.

Not sure what to think of the naked pictures. Kind of creepy, kind of fascinating, kind of silly, all at the same time. He does look quite nonchalant, as if he spent a lot of time in just his birthday suit.

[Leslie McGrath]

This gives a whole new meaning to "free verse."

[grace]

Do not knwo about the voice, but I recognize him naked.That's him alright

[JIm Hermanson]

Oh my.

My comment came off sounding like I think the Whitman recording is a hoax.

Just to set the record straight, I don't! I really want to believe it is the voice of Whitman. I love the speaker's natural delivery and shmoozy love of each word.

But I had to point out that its authenticity has been questioned.

Its presence at the Walt Whitman Archive is no surprise, as the archive is co-edited by Professor Ed Folsom, who launched the recording into public view back in 1992 at the Whitman Centenary at the University of Utah. He was and is the recording's champion ever since.

But Ed is eager to point out that we do not know for sure whether the recording is authentic, and we cannot prove the issue either way without more historical evidence.

In any case, I hope some readers might check out my blogpiece about the whole history of this fascinating piece of archival audio.

[D. P. Wilson]

To post photos of naked people, dead or alive, is certainly not the evidence or mark of an intellgent race but of a depraved and degraded race. It is of prurient interest only and can boast no redeeming value. It is lewd. It falls under the category of the pornographic and not fit to be published by responsible people.I think it should be removed.
D.P.Wilson