The Democratic Value of Whitmans Leaves of Grass Essay -- Whitman Lea

Early reviews of Walt Whitmans Leaves of Grass evince an incipient awareness of the unifying and acutely democratic aspects of the poetry. An article in the November 13th, 1856, issue of the mod York Daily Times describes the modest, self-published book of twelve seemingly formless poems As we read it again and again, and we will confess that we have returned to it often, a singular state seems to arise bring out of its chaotic verses (2). The Daily Timess identification of order out of chaos in Leaves of Grass parallels Americas theoretical declaration of e pluribus unum, one out of manya uniquely democratic objective. Also manifesting the early perception of the democratic poetic in Leaves of Grass, yet focusing more on Whitman and his content, an 1856 mutant of the North American Review asserts, Walter Whitman, an American,one of the roughs,no sentimentalist,no stander above men and women, or apart from them,no more modest than immodest,has tried to economize down here, in a sort of prose poetry, a good deal of what he has seen, felt, and guessed at in a pilgrimage of some thirty-five days (275). Here, Whitman is seen as the archetypal American, practicing the democratic ideal of human equality. The reviewers awareness of order out of chaos and of the ideological American attitude of equality is a written history of the problems of nineteenth-century, post-Jacksonian America, for the presence of their observations, which celebrate Whitmans democratic vision, can only suggest the absence of that vision in American politics and culture. Indeed, the language of mid-nineteenth-century reviews of Leaves of Grass reflects nostalgia for the familiarity focus of early Jeffersonian America, a focus that was fading in a cul... ...cas Lyric-Epic of Self and Democracy. New York Twayne, 1992. - - - . Walt Whitman. Boston Twayne, 1990. Remini, Robert V. The Legacy of Andrew Jackson Essays on Democracy, Indian Removal, and Slavery. Baton Rouge Louisiana State UP, 1988. Southard, Sherry. Whitman and Language Great Beginnings for Great American Poetry. Mount Olive Review 4 (Spring 1990) 45-54. Warren, James Perrin. Walt Whitmans Language Experiment. University place Pennsylvania State UP, 1990. Whitman, Walt. After the Sea-Ship. Bradley and Blodgett 263. - - - . As I Ebbd with the Ocean of Life. Bradley and Blodgett 253-256. - - - . On the Beach at Night Alone. Bradley and Blodgett 260-261. - - - . Song for All Seas, All Ships. Bradley and Blodgett 261-262. - - - . Preface 1855Leaves of Grass, premier(prenominal) Edition. Bradley and Blodgett 711-731.