Whitman in Song

In this audiobook, you will find sung versions of Walt Whitman's poems A noiseless patient spider, I saw in Louisiana, For you O democracy, Oh me! Oh Life! and O Captain! My Captain.

Why sing Walt Whitman's poetry?

Simply because, on a melancholy day, while reading his poems, a melody came to me.

It was the melody of a sailor—a son—returning to port with sorrow in his heart, pleading through his song. Pleading with life itself that this death not be true. Yet with each verse came the quiet realization that reality cannot be undone by words alone. Still, a chant, the gentle waves of a melody, can offer solace—a comfort not unlike a childhood lullaby.

I loved the way it resonated within me, so I tried singing a few more of Whitman's poems. I didn't find a melody for every one of them. Some resisted being sung, or perhaps I simply hadn't discovered the right music for them yet.

The melodies you will hear were all improvised in the moment, performed a cappella as the poems unfolded before me.

I hope they allow you to encounter the words of one of the world's great poets from a new perspective—and perhaps hear something in them that only a human voice can reveal.