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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... earth ! Far - swooping elbow'd earth - rich apple - blossom'd earth ! Smile , for your lover comes . Prodigal , you have given me love - therefore I to you give love ! O unspeakable passionate love.10 ( 21 ) This passage , which picks ...
... earth was a cardinal religious symbol . He perceived it as revealing a host of spiritual meanings ; there were , to mention a few , " the am- plitude of the earth , and the coarseness and sexuality of the earth , and the great charity ...
... Earth , " 1. 41 ) whose indirection was paradigmatic for the poet . Though full of meanings , the earth refused to argue or assert ; rather it presented itself as the holder of inexpressible truths : " The truths of the earth ...
Contents
Reconsidering Whitmans Intention | 1 |
A New Religion | 12 |
Interpreting Historys Meaning | 27 |
Copyright | |
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