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. |
From inside the book
Results 1-3 of 42
Page 57
... moral and religious values . Mann's position was a particular variant of a much larger body of political thought which sought to guide the development of the new social order by instilling the populace with internalized values and an ...
... moral and religious values . Mann's position was a particular variant of a much larger body of political thought which sought to guide the development of the new social order by instilling the populace with internalized values and an ...
Page 89
... moral and spiritual development . Whitman felt that an active , hardy , independent , passionate life close to nature nourished the soul by freeing it from the repressive influences of an excessive intellectualism and artificial moral ...
... moral and spiritual development . Whitman felt that an active , hardy , independent , passionate life close to nature nourished the soul by freeing it from the repressive influences of an excessive intellectualism and artificial moral ...
Page 176
... moral under- standings must also in turn rest upon a common set of religious understandings that provide a picture of the universe in terms of which the moral understand- ings make sense . " 2 Bellah and others who hold this view do not ...
... moral under- standings must also in turn rest upon a common set of religious understandings that provide a picture of the universe in terms of which the moral understand- ings make sense . " 2 Bellah and others who hold this view do not ...
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