O Me! O life! of the questions of these recurring,
Of the endless trains of the faithless, of cities fill’d with the foolish,
Of myself forever reproaching myself, (for who more foolish than I, and who more faithless?)
Of eyes that vainly crave the light, of the objects mean, of the struggle ever renew’d,
Of the poor results of all, of the plodding and sordid crowds I see around me,
Of the empty and useless years of the rest, with the rest me intertwined,
The question, O me! so sad, recurring - What good amid these, O me, O life?

Answer.
That you are here—that life exists and identity,
That the powerful play goes on, and you may contribute a verse.

Walt Whitman

I was introduced to this poem at a young age by Mr. John Keating, the new English teacher at Welton Academy. This reference, apparent to anyone who has seen the movie, is from Dead Poets Society. The idealistic teacher, Mr. Keating, played by the ever-soulful Robin Williams, tries to get the students to look at life from a different perspective. “Now my class, you will learn to think for yourselves again.” This, I believe is the purpose of a teacher - to guide their students to think for themselves. “No matter what anyone tells you - words and ideas can change the world.” “We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race, and the human race is filled with passion. Medicine, law, business, engineering - these are noble pursuits and necessary to sustain life. But poetry, beauty, romance, love, these are what we stay alive for. To quote from Whitman…”. He follows up the poem with a pertinent question: “What will your verse be?”.

The poem ponders the age-old question: What is the point of this struggle, this vanity, what is the meaning of life? Thankfully, he also provides us with an answer. Whitman tells us that the answer lies in life itself - that you are here - living - that’s your purpose. The world will continue to be and you have to play whatever little part you can. You get to choose what your verse will be.