I am the poet of the slaves
and of the masters of slaves.
I am the poet of the body
and poet of the soul.
Walt Whitman said, “To have great poets, there must be great audiences.” In his case, though the audience for poetry was small, it had real influence; and it took very little time for Whitman to be recognized as a major poet. (Poetry’s audience today is larger, but spread thinner, and has even less influence.)
Still, in poetry, the opposite of every rule can also be true, as in life — “Look before you leap,” but “He who hesitates is lost.” (Even in science, a light can be a particle and a wave at the same time.) F. Scott Fitzgerald observed that the “test of a first-rate intelligence is the ability to hold two opposing ideas in mind at the same time and still retain the ability to function.” Whew!
W. H. Auden wrote, about W. B. Yeats, “Mad Ireland hurt you into poetry”; and it’s probable that Whitman’s nursing wounded and dying soldiers during the Civil War had a stronger influence on his poetry than his “great audience.” It’s telling, with Attorney General Loretta Lynch in the news, that Whitman, about to fall into debt, was kept afloat by Lincoln’s Attorney General, James Speed, who appointed Whitman clerk in his office, a job Whitman held until his final illness. Poets’ lives matter!
Fitzgerald’s quote is a perfect description of President Obama’s balancing act as he reacts to our country’s latest catastrophes, and, in fact, of how he’s had to operate from the beginning as our first black president, facing the most antagonistic Congress in history.
I’m writing this just as the Republican convention’s beginning, so who knows what will happen there? But the very idea of “greatness” today is severely weakened. Donald Trump uses “great” so much that the word tastes like a poisoned lollipop: “I’ll build a great, great wall”; “I’ve always had a great relationship with blacks”; “You have to be wealthy in order to be great,” etc. At least the Republicans are recognizing that Trump is their Frankenstein: they created him, and they own him, so the convention should be as fascinating as a snake pit. Whatever else Trump may be, he’s the opposite of a calming, unifying influence. Even sending in his gorgeous wife Melania has backfired, sabotaged by Trump’s plagiarizing speechwriters.
The Republicans’ treatment of FBI Director James Comey earlier this month showed that they can’t even recognize common decency, much less greatness. Comey, originally appointed by President Bush, is an old-style Republican — conservative, patriotic, principled, direct — and bent over backward to give the committee some ammunition on Clinton while clearly explaining why none of it was criminal or prosecutable. Just as they did when questioning Clinton about Benghazi and Lynch about the emails, the congressmen were bullying, petty, and partisan.
This is why their base has turned to Trump. The country yearns for legislation on jobs, climate change, infrastructure, immigration, and equal rights, but the Republicans spent the last seven years wasting millions of taxpayer dollars and uncountable hours — almost their entire effort — on multiple committees trying to overthrow Obamacare (despite the Supreme Court’s decision); trying to destroy Clinton over Benghazi (despite every one coming up empty); and trying to convict her of email treachery (with zero success). Now, with Comey’s and the FBI’s hardly friendly but fair and legal exoneration of Clinton, they’re ready to start again! Far from greatness, it’s the old definition of insanity. They pay no attention to the bipartisan Politifact, which shows Clinton as the most truthful speaker on actual policies, and Trump as (by far) the least.
As President Obama nears the end of his administration, his attempts at bridging the racial and social divides in our country are being more appreciated. “Great” or not, like Whitman and Martin Luther King, Obama’s moderate voice and gentle eloquence have prodded us to become better people, and better citizens.
I go with the slaves
equally with the masters
that both will understand me alike.
—Both quotes from “Leaves of Grass” by Walt Whitman (1819-1892).
This article appears in Jul 21-28, 2016.