Thursday

Kabir and Whitman

Listening to Ed Begley read Whitman. Such a big voice (both of them). The exuberance of Whitman hasn't really matched in poetry, but I bet it's in other American forms -- particularly music but also politics, salesmanship and some other places. That particular aspect of Whitman you can also hear in Kabir. Some of that is Bly's very energetic translations, but even in other versions you sense that 'it's the beginning of the world, wake up!' tone.

Seems like connecting these two would be valuable. The two voices read together help illustrate something we often miss. I also think fans of either would become fans of both. Start a small page on the web with this.