Minor Prophecy: Walt Whitman's New American ReligionMany of Walt Whitman's earliest readers hailed him as a religious prophet. For them, Leaves of Grass was more than literary art; it was sacred scripture. Recent scholarship has, however, dismissed those early enthusiasts as naive, if not crazy. David Kuebrich's new study of Whitman corrects that academic oversight by giving the early Whitmanites their due as the critics who most clearly perceived the nature and purpose of the poet's labors—to begin a new religion. Kuebrich's thorough, intelligent study, based squarely on textual evidence, offers a revisionist interpretation of America's great poet, returning religious vision and spirituality to the center of Whitman studies. |
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Page 148
... calamus - root shall , Interchange it youths with each other ! let none render it back ! ) Indicating to each one what he shall have , giving something to each ; But what I drew from the water by the pond - side , that I reserve I will ...
... calamus - root shall , Interchange it youths with each other ! let none render it back ! ) Indicating to each one what he shall have , giving something to each ; But what I drew from the water by the pond - side , that I reserve I will ...
Page 149
... calamus is to function as a phallic symbol , it does not necessarily follow that Whitman intends it as an encouragement of homosexual love . As the unique bond shared by all men , the phallus is an appropriate symbol of male comradeship ...
... calamus is to function as a phallic symbol , it does not necessarily follow that Whitman intends it as an encouragement of homosexual love . As the unique bond shared by all men , the phallus is an appropriate symbol of male comradeship ...
Page 150
... Calamus ” was always replete with spiritual meaning . The addition of this poem does not give the sequence a new content but rather clarifies and reinforces its spiritual meanings . Here Whitman presents the comradeship of " Calamus ...
... Calamus ” was always replete with spiritual meaning . The addition of this poem does not give the sequence a new content but rather clarifies and reinforces its spiritual meanings . Here Whitman presents the comradeship of " Calamus ...
Contents
Reconsidering Whitmans Intention | 1 |
A New Religion | 12 |
Interpreting Historys Meaning | 27 |
Copyright | |
8 other sections not shown
Common terms and phrases
afterlife American antebellum argued asserts belief body Brooklyn Daily Eagle Calamus Christian mysticism church Civil conceived consciousness cosmology Cradle creation critics culture democracy Democratic depicts describes discussion divine earlier earth edition Emerson Emory Holloway ence Essays evolutionary existence faith freedom Gay Wilson Allen God's homosexual human human sexuality Ibid ideas immanent immortality interpretation Kuebrich later Leaves of Grass Lilacs literature male manly love millennial millennialist millennium Miller modern moral nation natural fact night passage perfect perfectionism phrenology poem's poems poet poet's poetic political present Press proclaim progress prophet race Ralph Waldo Emerson readers realization reform religion religious cosmology religious democracy religious experience religious symbols religious vision sense sexual society Song soul soul's spiritual development stars suggests theme theory thought tion traditional transcendent understanding Union Univ universe Walt Whitman Whit Whitman believed Whitman's poetry women world view York