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 74
... refer either to the most delicate and ether- eal aspects of the natural world or to physical touching or embracing . This is why the Leaves is filled with references to aromas , scents , fragrances , and odors , to rustlings , whispers ...
... refer either to the most delicate and ether- eal aspects of the natural world or to physical touching or embracing . This is why the Leaves is filled with references to aromas , scents , fragrances , and odors , to rustlings , whispers ...
Page 116
... refers to three natural cycles , the day ( “ mid- night " ) , the moon ( " half - moon " ) , and the seasons ( " Ninth - month " ) , which renew themselves after a period of death or darkness . The implicit assertion is that man's ...
... refers to three natural cycles , the day ( “ mid- night " ) , the moon ( " half - moon " ) , and the seasons ( " Ninth - month " ) , which renew themselves after a period of death or darkness . The implicit assertion is that man's ...
Page 154
... refers to the intangible spiritual energy or love which unites poet to reader as their souls fuse in their mutual participation in the divine reality . Whitman's frequent comparisons of spiritual activity to athletic exercise re- flect ...
... refers to the intangible spiritual energy or love which unites poet to reader as their souls fuse in their mutual participation in the divine reality . Whitman's frequent comparisons of spiritual activity to athletic exercise re- flect ...
Contents
Reconsidering Whitmans Intention | 1 |
A New Religion | 12 |
Interpreting Historys Meaning | 27 |
Copyright | |
8 other sections not shown
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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