Minor Prophecy: Walt Whitman's New American ReligionIndiana University Press, 1989 - 240 pages Many 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 70
... creation " seems no other thing than the sight of the feet of God " ; similarly Thomas Traherne insisted that the " world is never enjoyed aright till you see how a sand exhibiteth the power and wisdom of God . " " Whitman wished to ...
... creation " seems no other thing than the sight of the feet of God " ; similarly Thomas Traherne insisted that the " world is never enjoyed aright till you see how a sand exhibiteth the power and wisdom of God . " " Whitman wished to ...
Page 75
... creation ; “ Noah , ” where the universal flood destroys the creation in order to purify the world ; and passages ( such as Luke 3 : 3 , in which John the Baptist preaches baptism by water for the remission of sin ) where the waters ...
... creation ; “ Noah , ” where the universal flood destroys the creation in order to purify the world ; and passages ( such as Luke 3 : 3 , in which John the Baptist preaches baptism by water for the remission of sin ) where the waters ...
Page 113
... creation and human existence . Of the entire creation , only the soul is real ; everything else exists to prepare it for death , that is , for the more real world of the afterlife : " But what is life but an experiment ? and mortality ...
... creation and human existence . Of the entire creation , only the soul is real ; everything else exists to prepare it for death , that is , for the more real world of the afterlife : " But what is life but an experiment ? and mortality ...
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