POETS TO COME.
I came across Walt Whitman’s poem Poets to Come while researching for a past blog assignment. At the
time, I was in a hurry to find quotes as back up and just clicking on random
titles from the novel, Leaves of Grass. Although only three short
stanzas, Poets to Come has so much
meaning and creates a sentimental scene for the reader. The poem covers the
movement of generation to generation, in this case, in the field of writing.
Whitman describes how he can give advice, but his work will soon have its end.
He uses imagery to give a physical description of passing men on the street. Although
they may not know of each other, the men are connected in the fact that they
were poets of their generation. It was the older man’s responsibility to have a
literary voice for his generation, and it is now the younger man’s turn.
There are differences in every generation of history.
Parents didn’t necessarily believe in the actions of their children, yet, more
likely than not, their own parents had the same negative appeal on their
decisions. It’s a fact of life that as time changes, trends and beliefs change
as well. Take the literary periods for example. From Romanticism to Transcendentalism,
the values and beliefs contrasted amongst the periods.
I see a rather large generational gap between the age groups
today. It has been an era of technology. Those older than say 50 aren’t necessarily
up to date with all of the new tools. It’s much more difficult for a matured
person to learn the new gadgets because they aren’t used to them. Similar to
how Whitman has to look to the future with nothing but hope for the upcoming
poets, the aged professionals can only have faith in the rookies. I can’t
imagine it’s easy for them to move on seeing how they aren’t used to the new
way of doing things. I guess that just means there’s a new generation.
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