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 17
... spiritual realizations informed or “ iden- tified ” the soul and thus prepared it for the transcendent spiritual order which it would know more fully after death . Thus Whitman cautioned his readers to " Think of the Soul " because that ...
... spiritual realizations informed or “ iden- tified ” the soul and thus prepared it for the transcendent spiritual order which it would know more fully after death . Thus Whitman cautioned his readers to " Think of the Soul " because that ...
Page 67
... spiritual devel- opment . The parallelism calls attention to the fact that there were various cur- rents present in antebellum culture which Whitman could draw upon to create a program of spiritual development similar to that of the ...
... spiritual devel- opment . The parallelism calls attention to the fact that there were various cur- rents present in antebellum culture which Whitman could draw upon to create a program of spiritual development similar to that of the ...
Page 154
... spiritual ! ” ( “ Song of the Exposition , ” 1. 236 ) . This view of the poet as a transmitter of spiritual energy must be kept in mind when interpreting the “ electric ” love of “ Calamus . " For example : O you whom I often and ...
... spiritual ! ” ( “ Song of the Exposition , ” 1. 236 ) . This view of the poet as a transmitter of spiritual energy must be kept in mind when interpreting the “ electric ” love of “ Calamus . " For example : O you whom I often and ...
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