Close Talking

In this special episode, Jack and Connor discuss Specimen Days [The Inauguration], Walt Whitman's poetic reflection on Abraham Lincoln's second inauguration in 1865. Today is inauguration day in the United States. For the first time since Robert Frost read at John F. Kennedy’s inauguration in 1961, there will not be an inaugural poem. Perhaps there is no great meaning to be found in this. However, a recent report indicated that budget cuts proposed by the incoming administration include the privatization of PBS and the elimination of the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Much as they decided that they could not let the election pass without some reflection, Connor and Jack venture into the literary wilds and offer some thoughts on an inauguration-themed poem. Specimen Days [The Inauguration] By: Walt Whitman (1882) March 4th.—The President very quietly rode down to the Capitol in his own carriage, by himself, on a sharp trot, about noon, either because he wish