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 24
... Nature " Emerson explicitly denies his ability to provide a " natural history of the soul " : I cannot tell if these wonderful qualities which house to - day in this mortal frame , shall ever re - assemble in equal activity in a similar ...
... Nature " Emerson explicitly denies his ability to provide a " natural history of the soul " : I cannot tell if these wonderful qualities which house to - day in this mortal frame , shall ever re - assemble in equal activity in a similar ...
Page 60
... nature . " Although apparently tempted to make such a denial , Emerson instead limits himself to the observation that nevertheless " nature continues to fill the heart of youth with suggestions of this enthusiasm . " " Again Whitman ...
... nature . " Although apparently tempted to make such a denial , Emerson instead limits himself to the observation that nevertheless " nature continues to fill the heart of youth with suggestions of this enthusiasm . " " Again Whitman ...
Page 210
... nature as his primary source of symbols , Whitman could , in theory , pick any object or event . Since he believed that God was immanent throughout nature , any part of it , rightly perceived , was symbolic of divinity . However ...
... nature as his primary source of symbols , Whitman could , in theory , pick any object or event . Since he believed that God was immanent throughout nature , any part of it , rightly perceived , was symbolic of divinity . However ...
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