“Leaves of Grass” 150 years old today….
Walt Whitman’s world – The Boston Globe
Whitman called ”Leaves of Grass” ”the new Bible.” He had a messianic view of himself as poetic Answerer come to heal American society. By absorbing and magnifying his culture’s best aspects, he believed his poetry could help unify a nation fractured by class conflicts, shady politics, and racial tensions. The poet, he wrote in his preface, ”is the equalizer of his age and land. . . he supplies what wants supplying and checks what wants checking.” He offered a recipe for healing: ”This is what you shall do . . . read these leaves in the open air every season of every year of your life.”
Imagine if everyone followed his advice. What would happen if millions of people read his poetry regularly, absorbed it, and applied its meanings to daily life? What, in short, would be the world according to Walt Whitman?
War would decline, since readers would learn from Whitman the meaninglessness of divisions of nationality, creed, or race. Whitman, the quintessentially American poet, announces the absolute equality of all people. His poetic ”I” identifies with everyone. He is:
Of every hue and rank and trade, of every caste and religion,
Not merely of the New World but of Africa Europe of Asia . . . a wandering savage,
A farmer, mechanic, or artist . . . gentleman, sailor, lover or quaker,
A prisoner, fancy-man, rowdy, lawyer, physician, or priest.
In a Whitmanian world, conflicts created by race or gender would diminish. Whites, for instance, would recognize blacks as fully human, worthy of equal treatment. Whitman writes of a black man:
“Within there runs his blood.the same old blood . . . the same red running blood;
There swells and jets his heart.
There all passions and desires . . . all reachings and aspirations.”Men, too, would gain greater respect for women: ‘
‘I am the poet of the woman as same as the man,
And I say it is as great to be a woman as to be a man.”The environment would be protected, since nature would be treasured for its miraculous beauty. For Whitman, every element of nature, no matter how small, is sacred. Here, in his words, is a flower:
”A morning-glory at my window satisfies me more than the metaphysics of books.”
Even a mouse is beautiful to him:
”A mouse is miracle enough to stagger sextillions of infidels.”
Not just nature but the human body would be prized: ‘
‘I believe in flesh and the appetites,
Seeing hearing and feeling are miracles, and each part and tag of me is a miracle.”
I CELEBRATE myself,
And what I assume you shall assume,
For every atom belonging to me, as good belongs
to you.I loafe and invite my soul,
I lean and loafe at my ease, observing a spear of
summer grass.…
On a personal note, I finally figured out who my friend Roger Mohling looks like…
One Response
i recently moved to whitman’s home town (huntington LI) and have become somewhat familiar with his work and life over the last six months or so
in popular critcism of and commentary on whitman, i have encountered a pretty widespread tendency to idealize him
akin to the article above, for example
now – – – – – – pls let me make this firm disclaimer that there is much much much that argues for his idealization
but a simple and objective look at his writings and statements clearly disclose numerous instances of unmistakable disdain for blacks, for universal suffrage, and for unionism
he made many negative comments about blacks and a few bits of his poetry place american whites on a higher plane than the world’s other demographic categories
(wish it weren’t true but tis)
ALSO we must remember his own disclaimer tha he ‘contained multitudes’ and his unabashed acknowledgement that he ‘contradicts’ himself
and that in itself does softens the sting of learning about his clearly mixed record on race and a couple issues that would contemporarily be called ‘progressive’ views
in light of these inarguable and well acknowledged facts, some observers have called upon the reader to separate the poet (timeless, inspirational and universal) from the physical man residing within his political time (mixed views on race, etc.)
i am an amateur blogger but i hope someone sees this and responds!