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 43
... human existence that made humans into gods : The whole scene shifts . - The relative positions change . - Man comes ... human na- ture , Whitman would destroy these idols by disclosing their source to be the impulses of the divinity ...
... human existence that made humans into gods : The whole scene shifts . - The relative positions change . - Man comes ... human na- ture , Whitman would destroy these idols by disclosing their source to be the impulses of the divinity ...
Page 52
... human virtues are to grow in the utmost luxuriance . Illimitably and incalculably is mankind to become perfected and happy . " 1 O humanity , how low thou art sunken ! But how heaven - high it is thy destiny to rise ! Man ! thy ...
... human virtues are to grow in the utmost luxuriance . Illimitably and incalculably is mankind to become perfected and happy . " 1 O humanity , how low thou art sunken ! But how heaven - high it is thy destiny to rise ! Man ! thy ...
Page 133
... human sexuality was the source not only of human life but also of human souls and , indirectly , of humanity's moral and spiritual values . A philosophy was " cowardly and rotten , ” he asserted , that could not " publicly name , with ...
... human sexuality was the source not only of human life but also of human souls and , indirectly , of humanity's moral and spiritual values . A philosophy was " cowardly and rotten , ” he asserted , that could not " publicly name , with ...
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