Uploaded January 2015 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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Here's a virtual movie of the great Walt Whitman reading from poetic and philosophical masterpiece "Leaves of Grass" "The Base of all Metaphysics" The poem expresses the notion that love and harmonious human relations are the basis of all philosophies. In “The Base of All Metaphysics,” Whitman attempts to give a philosophical answer to the ideas of love and companionship that he writes about here. He imagines a college course, taught by a professor. The class studies all of the great philosophers of the world from Socrates to Christ to Hegel. All of these philosophies, Whitman says, are undergirded by “The dear love of man for his comrade, the attraction of friend / to friend….” Whitman hopes that it is this kind of “measureless….love” within him that will be the thing he is remembered for. He calls on his future biographers and recorders of history to note not his “songs” but his love for his friends.

Kind Regards

All rights are reserved on this video recording copyright Jim Clark 2015