I Too Am Untranslatable

CyberWalt has informed me that today is the anniversary of Walt Whitman's death. You should all know by now how much I adore Whitman, so here's my favorite part of "Song of Myself."


The spotted hawk swoops by and accuses me, he complains of my gab and my loitering.

I too am not a bit tamed, I too am untranslatable,
I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world.

The last scud of day holds back for me,
It flings my likeness after the rest and true as any on the shadow'd wilds,
It coaxes me to the vapor and the dusk.

I depart as air, I shake my white locks at the runaway sun, I effuse my flesh in eddies, and drift it in lacy jags.

I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love, If you want me again look for me under your boot-soles.

You will hardly know who I am or what I mean,
But I shall be good health to you nevertheless,
And filter and fibre your blood.

Failing to fetch me at first keep encouraged,
Missing me one place search another,
I stop somewhere waiting for you.

Whitman Lecture This Afternoon

The American Art Museum and National Portrait Gallery start their interesting American Pictures Distinguished Lecture series today. The series pairs great works of art with leading figures of contemporary American culture. Gurganus discusses Thomas Eakins’s 1888 portrait of Walt Whitman in the building where the poet nursed wounded soldiers during the Civil War. 4:30 p.m., with tickets distributed an hour in advance.

See you there!

Katharine Hepburn at the National Portrait Gallery

I'm not sure how the National Portrait Gallery knows how to pick my favorite people to showcase in their One Life Gallery, but they do. First was Walt Whitman: A Kosmos (and you all know about my irrational love for him), and now it's Kate: A Centennial Celebration, about Katharine Hepburn, whose films I love.

I'm reviewing it for DCist this week, so I'll just say that I love these little exhibits, and I can't wait to see who else they do for future One Life shows. I went through the NPG's archives, and they've done shows on other favorites of mine over the years — like Ernest Hemingway and Edith Wharton.