Walt Whitman: The Ultimate Lax Bro

The world has changed drastically since the latter half of the nineteenth century. The focuses and priorities of society are different; however, the works of the transcendentalist American poet Walt Whitman prove to be relatable regardless of the time period. Whitman’s works, while considered unorthodox in both subject and style at the time of publication, have been praised as the foundation of American poetry. Whitman’s creativity and boldness help to make his poems relatable. Today, Whitman’s work can be connected to the seemingly unrelated subject of lacrosse and the recruiting process through his self-admiration, his appreciation of the human body, and his use of poetry as an outlet for enjoyable self-expression.

To become a successful athlete or poet confidence is essential. In the sport of lacrosse, where recruiting often begins at an age as young as thirteen, confidence and self-admiration must develop early. As college coaches line the sidelines of showcases featuring rising high school freshmen, doubts inevitably enter the young athletes’ minds. When placed against skilled competition in a high pressure situation, the confidence of the athletes is thoroughly tested. Those who thrive are the athletes who are able to accept the situation for what it is and perform to the best of their ability, regardless of the opponent and the number of college coaches evaluating. Similarly, Whitman’s ability to become a successful writer largely hinged on his self-confidence. Whitman wrote unorthodox poetry, but he was able to disregard convention because of his admiration for his own writing and his whole-hearted belief in its quality. When Whitman was criticized for the nonconformist style and content of his work, he responded in his self-praising poem “Song of Myself” by stating, “Knowing the perfect fitness and equanimity of things, while/ they discuss I am silent...and admire myself” (Whitman 27). Whitman expresses an essential quality a lacrosse player needs during the recruiting process: the ability to disregard a rather critical environment and have confidence in himself, his work, and the fact that everything will turn out well in the end. The power to remain self-assured in a pressing situation is largely a mindset. The doubts that naturally enter the mind of an athlete, and also afflicted Whitman, can be quelled by acknowledging the trivial nature of such uncertainties. As Whitman elaborates in “Song of Myself:”

“Trippers and askers surround me..but they are not the Me myself./ Apart from the pulling and hauling stands what I am,/...Looking with side-curved head curious what will come next,/ Both in and out of the game and watching and wondering at it./ Backward I see in my own days where I sweated through fog with...contenders,/...I witness and wait” (Whitman 27-28).

Whitman acknowledges the fact that self-doubt and outside criticism and evaluation are out of his control; consequently, instead of worrying about something he has little effect on, Whitman decides to simply “witness and wait.” In comparison, young lacrosse players navigating the recruiting process must keep in mind that as long as they perform to the best of their abilities, they have little effect on the evaluations of different college coaches and the direction of their respective recruiting processes. As a result, lacrosse players must learn to ignore the trivial insecurities that haunt an athlete’s mind and focus on playing as best they can. They must also remember that success or failure in a sport does not define a person’s innermost self, but rather is just an outwardly facet of their existence. By the time an athlete is on the field playing in front of college coaches, it is too late to try and better his game. However, training and caring for one's body off the field can result in improved game performance, and would garner the praise of Whitman.

All successful athletes would impress Whitman with the countless hours they train and care for their bodies to expand upon their confidence and natural athletic abilities. As with all sports, production on the lacrosse field requires hard work in the offseason. As an athlete continues to play a sport at higher levels, it becomes apparent that in order to ensure in-game performance, one must respect and care for his body. The saying, “Your body is a temple,” is often instilled in young athletes. When a lacrosse player has trained hard in the offseason and taken proper care of his body along the way, the athlete’s confidence and pride is strengthened. Whitman's admiration of the human body is apparent throughout his work. In his poem “I Sing the Body Electric,” Whitman describes the confidence athletes must strive for when he states:

“The expression of the face balks account,/ But the expression of a well-made man appears not only in his face,/...It is in his walk, the carriage of his neck...dress does not hide him,/ The strong...quality he has strikes though the cotton and broadcloth,/ To see him pass conveys as much as the best poem, perhaps more,/ You linger to see his back, and the back of his neck and shoulder-side” (Whitman “I Sing the Body Electric”).

Just as confidence on the field is essential throughout a lacrosse player’s career, especially during the early recruiting process, the development of that confidence by admiring and caring for one’s body is also vital. Another aspect of ensuring superior performance on the lacrosse field or superior performance as a poet is enjoying the craft.

The uniqueness of every individual results in various different forms of self-expression. In a society where each person has countless obligations, it is essential to find one’s calling and enjoy seeing it through. In lacrosse, it is always imperative to view the sport as an enjoyable form of self-expression in order to play worry-free and to the best of one’s ability. Whitman similarly enjoyed the expressive nature of writing. Whitman once said, “The secret of it all, is to write...things down without deliberation – without worrying about their style – without waiting for a fit time or place. I always worked that way” (Traubel 63). Whitman expands upon his view of writing as self-expression when he describes the feeling of escaping societal obligations in his poem “A Clear Midnight,” by asserting, “This is thy hour O Soul, thy free flight.../...the day erased, the lesson done” (Whitman “A Clear Midnight”). It is sensations such as the free flight of the soul, which Whitman describes, that lacrosse players, and people in general, must learn to cherish. Regardless of how many college coaches are watching, if a lacrosse player enjoys the sport, he will be able to have fun in challenging situations throughout the recruiting process and preserve the finite moments of his playing career. Viewing lacrosse as a form of self-expression is a large part of cherishing the demanding moments of offseason training and on-field play throughout one's career.

Whitman embodied and advocated many of the characteristics that make up a successful lacrosse player. Whitman had exceptional self-confidence, an obvious admiration of the human body, and an enjoyment of the expressive nature of literature. These qualities transcend time. Learning to become self-confident, to care for one’s body, and to take joy in one’s outlets of expression not only applies to lacrosse players and athletes, but to all people. Self-confidence gives people the courage to take risks that can ultimately benefit the course of their lives. Through the lessons of Whitman’s works his poems remain relevant despite changing times.