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 100
... passage Whitman's style alters from a rapid listing of discrete items to the development of a series of pictures from American history which depict acts of heroism and suffering . At one level Whitman intends for these passages to ...
... passage Whitman's style alters from a rapid listing of discrete items to the development of a series of pictures from American history which depict acts of heroism and suffering . At one level Whitman intends for these passages to ...
Page 213
... passage in the 1855 text were the following two lines : " Thruster holding me tight and that I hold tight ! / We hurt each other as the bridegroom and the bride hurt each other . " Deleted in 1866 , these two lines ( discussed in ...
... passage in the 1855 text were the following two lines : " Thruster holding me tight and that I hold tight ! / We hurt each other as the bridegroom and the bride hurt each other . " Deleted in 1866 , these two lines ( discussed in ...
Page 216
... passage the original version contained these lines which were deleted in 1881 : Oh a word ! O what is my destination ? OI fear it is henceforth chaos ! O how joys , dreads , convolutions , human shapes , and all shapes , spring as from ...
... passage the original version contained these lines which were deleted in 1881 : Oh a word ! O what is my destination ? OI fear it is henceforth chaos ! O how joys , dreads , convolutions , human shapes , and all shapes , spring as from ...
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