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 4
... poems or clusters of poems , I feel that the individual poems must be seen as the parts of a coherent religious myth . Per- haps Whitman's new religion was never articulated to the complete satisfaction of either himself or his readers ...
... poems or clusters of poems , I feel that the individual poems must be seen as the parts of a coherent religious myth . Per- haps Whitman's new religion was never articulated to the complete satisfaction of either himself or his readers ...
Page 113
... poems should steadily have reference to " ) , is defined not as the soul's termination but as a transition to another stage of existence : " the justified and noble termination of our iden- tity , this grade of it , and outlet ...
... poems should steadily have reference to " ) , is defined not as the soul's termination but as a transition to another stage of existence : " the justified and noble termination of our iden- tity , this grade of it , and outlet ...
Page 114
... poems by showing how they rein- force Whitman's earlier belief in immortality . Before turning to these two poems , however , let me briefly state several addi- tional reasons why it seems untenable to view Whitman in these years as hav ...
... poems by showing how they rein- force Whitman's earlier belief in immortality . Before turning to these two poems , however , let me briefly state several addi- tional reasons why it seems untenable to view Whitman in these years as hav ...
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