Hallowed Halls, in the Style of Walt Whitman

[tigriswolf]

Yesterday, in my Whitman class, the teacher sent us out to wander campus and jot down some notes about what Whitman might have included in a poem. This is what I finished with, touched up slightly.  All told, it took me about ten mintues, combining the actual writing down yesterday and the polishing today.

Hallowed Halls, in the Style of Walt Whitman

O hallowed halls, students, keepers of tomorrow’s knowledge, tell me your story and allow me to sing
                your song, your hymn to him, the one who gave you what you are.

 Chairs and tables, bones left of a computer, eyes and ears and tongue of a knowledge-giver,
A knowledge-drinker, child of she who ate the apple and let knowledge pour into the world.

Lone student studying furiously, I sing the song of you and wonder what great thoughts will you share?
Hunched over books beneath the strong great Oak, can you, heir of knowledge, feel the ghosts of the trees who fell,
             yet still growing in the roots?
They were many and now are less, victims of Nature’s fury and beguiling wiles,
And you, hunched over your books, are their legacy of knowledge and truth and strength.

Parking lot and cloudy sky, rains drawing near to bathe us, same water from the sky that the 
                great lizards drank, eons ago—
What knowledge could you give us, o water, what pearls of wisdom are found in your oysters?

And cars, I’ve not forgotten you, covered in raindrops, red and white and grey, children of technology,
Created by knowledge, our chariots to our knowledge, tooting horns and rumbling wheels, let me sing
               my hymn for you.

Buildings older than many I know, tell me your story and let your song continue to grow in those
                students who long to learn,
All students from dozens of places, from cities and countries far from this ground, sing together, a 
               multitude of voices raised high,
And know these hallowed halls, are your teacher and your guide.

 

Comments

[lynzibell.livejournal.com]

Love it!!

[tigriswolf]

Thanks!

[ciaranbochna.livejournal.com]

You definitely have the rhythm in the lines--wonderful take:)

[tigriswolf]

Thank you so much!

[ciaranbochna.livejournal.com]

You're welcome:) I also have a request from a friend of mine who read it--would it be ok if I sent it to her? She wants to keep it she loved it so much. She wouldn't share either. Just thought I would ask:)

[tigriswolf]

Of course, so long as (if she ever did post it somewhere) she linked back to here.

[ciaranbochna.livejournal.com]

Oh definitely no posting, she would just keep it to read--she doesn't have a blog;) Thanks from her and I:)

[loveandthetruth.livejournal.com]

Tis pretty :)

[tigriswolf]

Thank you!

[tigremere.livejournal.com]

I like this very much.

[tigriswolf]

Thank you! I had fun with it.