Walt Whitman Archive
June 29, 2004 5:04 PM Subscribe
great resource! thanks, hama7!
posted by .kobayashi. at 7:24 PM on June 29, 2004
posted by .kobayashi. at 7:24 PM on June 29, 2004
Whitman would have hated and despised what the American spirit has become today, which in large part is why his often positive message of what America could be always reads so sadly today. Song of Myself is always good and frequently breathtakingly beautiful, as are his insights into the psyche of the west, namely our mania for owning things and our need to put on pretenses for the benefit of others.
posted by The God Complex at 9:19 PM on June 29, 2004
posted by The God Complex at 9:19 PM on June 29, 2004
Whitman would have hated and despised what the American spirit has become today
I'm not so sure, TGC. At least in the early stuff like Song of Myself, Whitman celebrated ordinary people living their daily lives, not a political vision of what the country could become. He wrote from a position outside of society, who didn't get caught up in the debates of the day. That's the real beauty of his work for me, and my feeling is that he'd find the same joy in any society where he was allowed to be what he was.
posted by fuzz at 5:48 AM on June 30, 2004
I'm not so sure, TGC. At least in the early stuff like Song of Myself, Whitman celebrated ordinary people living their daily lives, not a political vision of what the country could become. He wrote from a position outside of society, who didn't get caught up in the debates of the day. That's the real beauty of his work for me, and my feeling is that he'd find the same joy in any society where he was allowed to be what he was.
posted by fuzz at 5:48 AM on June 30, 2004
Yes, ordinary people, as opposed to the rich, war-profiteering, corrupt governments of today. Come on, there's an entire section in Song of Myself suggesting that maybe the animals have it right and our mania for owning things is a depraved sickness. If he thought it was bad then, I can only imagine what he would think of the place now.
I didn't say he wouldn't enjoy himself. I enjoy myself, too. I'm just suggesting that he would hate today's American Spirit™.
posted by The God Complex at 9:26 AM on June 30, 2004
I didn't say he wouldn't enjoy himself. I enjoy myself, too. I'm just suggesting that he would hate today's American Spirit™.
posted by The God Complex at 9:26 AM on June 30, 2004
maybe the animals have it right and our mania for owning things is a depraved sickness.
But we know that implementation of that philosophy has proven itself time and time again to be a depraved sickness, but feel free to go all Ghandi if you should personally choose to do so.
I'm just suggesting that he would hate today's American Spirit™
More so than every of the other options? I doubt it.
Or do you mean American Spirit™?
posted by hama7 at 1:29 PM on June 30, 2004
But we know that implementation of that philosophy has proven itself time and time again to be a depraved sickness, but feel free to go all Ghandi if you should personally choose to do so.
I'm just suggesting that he would hate today's American Spirit™
More so than every of the other options? I doubt it.
Or do you mean American Spirit™?
posted by hama7 at 1:29 PM on June 30, 2004
Hama7 and Walt Whitman: most contradictory combination of all time?
posted by sic at 2:31 AM on July 3, 2004
posted by sic at 2:31 AM on July 3, 2004
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http://www.whitmanarchive.org/archive1/classroom/student_projects/lbkinn/2page.htm
posted by muppetboy at 6:09 PM on June 29, 2004