"Who Is Now Reading This?"

I really enjoy this poem. Whitman looks to future readers wondering of their thoughts. He says, "May-be one is now reading this who knows some wrong-doing of my past life / Or may-be a stranger is reading this who has secretly loved me / Or may-be one who meets all my grand assumptions and egotisms with derision / Or may-be one who is puzzled at me." This poem reminds me just how human Whitman was. He had self-doubt, but he was honest about it, he says "As if I were not puzzled by myself!" I totally get this. I enjoy his honesty. I wonder what people think of my writing NOW, I can't imagine someone reading it 100 years from now. Will what's important today be important tomorrow? Is what was important yesterday important today? Is what we think about Whitman himself important today or is it his message that holds our attention? I think I am more interested in the man behind the poetry--that is I need to understand him before I can understand his message.

Whitman's thoughtfulness in writing a poem to future readers is wonderful. I guess it also shows the size of his ego - that their would be readers decades later-enthralled by him. I am always interested in the technique he uses - in this poem he begins almost every line with the word "Or" - it creates this repetition, but I like it. I read this poem aloud and it really makes me feel reflective. I wonder if I will be thought of after I am gone. I love his final line "Or as if it could cease transpiring from me until it must cease." It makes me think that we all tend to continue down the same path over and over again. We repeat mistakes, we wish we could control bad behavior--but we don't seem strong enough to stop. Is it only in death that we will cease wrong-doing? I don't have the answer to that, and though Whitman tried to give us the answers of life after death, I don't think he was completely sure either.