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 69
... things as perceived in this innocent or uncor- rupted manner . “ Nothing is better than simplicity , " he proclaimed in the 1855 Preface , because it allowed the poet to be " the channel of thoughts and things without increase or ...
... things as perceived in this innocent or uncor- rupted manner . “ Nothing is better than simplicity , " he proclaimed in the 1855 Preface , because it allowed the poet to be " the channel of thoughts and things without increase or ...
Page 94
... things ” in the poem ) and reabsorbs things after their finite existence ( thus it has " unshovell'd yet always - ready graves " ) . The sea's desire for the poet ( 2 & 3 ) refers to the mystical love by which God calls humans to him ...
... things ” in the poem ) and reabsorbs things after their finite existence ( thus it has " unshovell'd yet always - ready graves " ) . The sea's desire for the poet ( 2 & 3 ) refers to the mystical love by which God calls humans to him ...
Page 116
... things enumerated — the moon , the stars ( the “ shower'd halo ” ) , the briers , the shad- ows , the fields , the sands , the song of the bird , the subsequent songs from the poet's soul , and most of all , the sea — are simultaneously ...
... things enumerated — the moon , the stars ( the “ shower'd halo ” ) , the briers , the shad- ows , the fields , the sands , the song of the bird , the subsequent songs from the poet's soul , and most of all , the sea — are simultaneously ...
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