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 54
... women , impelled by the divinity within them , have incessantly struggled to free themselves from everything that inhibited their development . Four poems later , the poet states that it is to this cause , a cause " Deathless throughout ...
... women , impelled by the divinity within them , have incessantly struggled to free themselves from everything that inhibited their development . Four poems later , the poet states that it is to this cause , a cause " Deathless throughout ...
Page 183
... women is a mixture of traditional and progressive elements . Some of the views expressed in his journalism are surprisingly con- ventional . For instance , in the July 24 , 1846 Brooklyn Daily Eagle , he presents the accepted view of women ...
... women is a mixture of traditional and progressive elements . Some of the views expressed in his journalism are surprisingly con- ventional . For instance , in the July 24 , 1846 Brooklyn Daily Eagle , he presents the accepted view of women ...
Page 184
... women are most nearly equal to men in " children of Adam " where they are depicted as strong , passionate , sexual ... women . In his catalogic poetry , Whitman includes numerous women in various activities , but there are no references ...
... women are most nearly equal to men in " children of Adam " where they are depicted as strong , passionate , sexual ... women . In his catalogic poetry , Whitman includes numerous women in various activities , but there are no references ...
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