THE UNTOLD WANT
THE untold want, by life and land ne’er granted,
Now, Voyager, sail thou forth, to seek and find.
–Walt Whitman
In one of her most famous films, Now, Voyager, Bette Davis plays a neglected woman who transforms her life. The novel’s writer Olive Higgins Prouty took her title from Whitman’s 2-line poem “The Untold Want” and also from “Now Finale to the Shore,” which includes the line, “Now Voyager depart! (much, much for thee is yet in store;).”
Bette Davis was, indeed, a voyager. So may we all be.
NOTE: In honor of National Poetry Month, each day a person’s birthday will be celebrated with a poem about or by him/her. The poems come from all over the place.
Rural Oklahoma Museum of Poetry 