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 212
... lines after line 5 : My tongue , every atom of my blood , form'd from this soil , this air , Born here of parents born here from parents the same , and their parents the same , I , now thirty - seven years old in perfect health begin ...
... lines after line 5 : My tongue , every atom of my blood , form'd from this soil , this air , Born here of parents born here from parents the same , and their parents the same , I , now thirty - seven years old in perfect health begin ...
Page 213
... line : " A few large stars overhead , silent and mournful shining . " 15. In 1866 Whitman sharpened the transition between what became sections 37 and 38 by dropping two lines at the end of the catalog of suffering in 37 ( " I rise ...
... line : " A few large stars overhead , silent and mournful shining . " 15. In 1866 Whitman sharpened the transition between what became sections 37 and 38 by dropping two lines at the end of the catalog of suffering in 37 ( " I rise ...
Page 216
... lines were revised , apparently chiefly for stylistic reasons , but the idea of immortality is clearly present in these passages as they appeared in the 1860 Leaves . The following quotations are from the 1860 Facsim- ile Edition : O ...
... lines were revised , apparently chiefly for stylistic reasons , but the idea of immortality is clearly present in these passages as they appeared in the 1860 Leaves . The following quotations are from the 1860 Facsim- ile Edition : O ...
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