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Walt Whitman, the American Poet.

their souls as an instinct, their general tone of thought and feeling, and modes of expressing them, were

One of his own countrymen (a press correspondent) thus writes of him— The only American prophet to my

The "seven cities" refer to Chios, Athens, Rhodes, Colophon, Argos, Smyrna, and Salamis.

Walt Whitman, the American Poet

Clear Grits were reformers in the province of Upper Canada, a British colony that is now Ontario, Canada

Their support was concentrated among southwestern Ontario farmers, who were frustrated and disillusioned

The Clear Grits advocated universal male suffrage, representation by population, democratic institutions

They can easily be remembered through the mnemonic "carcass" (the first letter of each city spells the

have been attributed to several writers, including Thomas Heywood (died 1649), who wrote: "Seven cities

The book might pass for merely hectoring and ludicrous, if it were not something a great deal more offensive

Punch made sarcastic allusion to it some time ago, as a specimen of American literature.

surrounded by blatherers, and always impregnable—the perpetual coming of immigrants—the wharf-hemmed cities

all climates and the uttermost parts—the noble character of the young mechanics, and of all free American

enterprise—the perfect equality of the female with the male—the large amativeness—the fluid movement of the population

," &c.** "For such the expression of the American poet is to be transcendent and new."

Alexander Wilson (1766-1813) and John James Audobon (1785-1851) were both acclaimed ornithologists and

Alexander Wilson (1766-1813) and John James Audobon (1785-1851) were both acclaimed ornithologists and

Schiller, had fulfilled their tasks and gone to other spheres; and all that remained with few exceptions, were

They stand, as it were, on clear mountains of intellectual elevation, and with keenest perception discern

He wears strange garb, cut and made by himself, as gracefully as a South American cavalier his poncho

A portion of that thought which broods over the American nation, is here seized and bodied forth by a

bibliographical data is missing; reprinted in Whitman, Leaves of Grass Imprints(Boston: Thayer & Eldridge, 1860

bibliographical data is missing; reprinted in Whitman, Leaves of Grass Imprints(Boston: Thayer & Eldridge, 1860

If I were to suspect death, I should die now.

I knew a man…he was a common farmer… he was the father of five sons…and in them were the fathers of sons

…and in them were the fathers of sons.

and visit him to see…He was wise also, He was six feet tall…he was over eighty years old…his sons were

the body of the work, wholly ignorant of the writer's name, profession, or age— "Walt Whitman, an American

These anxious longings of the soul as for an unknown good were to his mind the indication of slumbering

doubt [sic] because, "unlike one of the roughs," he failed to remark how "placid and self-contained" were

When we read that eulogy we were satisfied that this volume would prove to us a sealed book, and that

George Robins Gliddon (1809-1857) was an American Egyptologist who published several works on Egyptian

The Bowery Boys was a nativist, anti-Catholic, and anti-Irish gang based in New York City; they participated

of departed spirits, he weighs the hearts of the dead.; George Robins Gliddon (1809-1857) was an American

believe, of the famous Whitman's poems, which made such a flutter among the "gray goose quills" of this city

But the author reasoning that the spirit of the American people, nay, of any people is chiefly represented

His own picture: "Walt Whitman, an American, one of the roughs, a Kosmos, Disorderly, fleshy, sensual

They live in other young men, O kings, They live in brothers, again ready to defy you: They were purified

by death…They were taught and exalted.

He has pasted in the first page a number of notices extracted with the scissors from American newspapers

and therefore we shall confine ourselves to laying before our readers, first, the opinions of the American

The relation of the two classes of extracts is curiously illustrative of contemporary American criticism

I rubbed my eyes a little, to see if this sunbeam were no illusion; but the solid sense of the book is

All I mark as my own you shall offset it with your own, Else it were time lost listening to me.

says Mr Emerson in the printed letter sent to us,—"I rubbed my eyes a little, to see if this sunbeam were

On the other hand, according to an American review that flatters Mr Whitman, this kosmos is "a compound

All I mark as my own, you shall offset it with your own, Else it were time lost listening to me.

Walt Whitman, an American, one of the roughs, a kosmos, Disorderly fleshy and sensual . . . . eating

If nothing lay more developed the quahaug and its callous shell were enough.

the name of this erratic and newest wonder; but at page 29 we find that he is— Walt Whitman, an American

The words 'an American' are a surplusage, 'one of the roughs' too painfully apparent; but what is intended

The chance of this might be formidable were it not ridiculous.

The American critics are, in the main, pleased with this man because he is self-reliant, and because

All I mark as my own you shall offset it with your own, Else it were time lost listening to me.

The showman and entertainer Phineas Taylor Barnum (1810-1891) emphasized in his American Museum (purchased

and indorsed by the said Emerson, who swallows down Whitman's vulgarity and beastliness as if they were

Almost at the first page we opened we lighted upon the confession that the author was "W , an American

These were accompanied by a printed copy of an extravagant letter of praise addressed by Mr.

This doctrine is exemplified in the book by a panorama as it were of pictures, each of which is shared

If I were to suspect death I should die now.

by death…They were taught and exalted.

Anacreon (582 BC-485 BC) was an ancient Green lyric poet whose most popular poems were celebrations of

Year 85 of the States—1860-61. 1 vol., pp. 456.

His writings were neither poetry nor prose, but a curious medley, a mixture of quaint utterances and

people were to be enlightened and civilized and cultivated up to the proper standard, by virtue of his

How the floridness of the materials of cities shriv- els shrivels before a man's or woman's look!

The comedic works of François Rabelais (c. 1490-1553) were known for their risqué quality.

The comedic works of François Rabelais (c. 1490-1553) were known for their risqué quality.

inflexible as it is—forms, after all, the truest illustration, if not representative, of the real American

Review of Leaves of Grass (1860–61)

Among American authors there is one named Walt Whitman, who, in 1855, first issued a small quarto volume

city, and brought up in Brooklyn and in New York.

They are certainly filled with an American spirit, breathe the American air, and assert the fullest American

Year 85 of the States (1860—61). London: Trübner & Co.

cantos were published in 1773.

The first three cantos of his epic poem, The Messiah (Der Messias), were published in 1749; the final

cantos were published in 1773.

Review of Leaves of Grass (1860–61)

Leaves of Grass (Boston: Thayer and Eldridge, year 85 of the States—1860–61. London: Trübner.)

On that occasion we were spared the trouble of setting forth the new poet's merits, as he or his publisher

was good enough to paste into his presentation-copy a number of criticisms from American periodicals

We are almost ashamed to ask the question—but do American ladies read Mr. Whitman?

A sort of catalogue of scenes of American life, which, according to Mr.

London: Trübner and Co. 1860.

Leaves of Grass Boston: Thayer and Eldridge. 1860–61. pp.456.

Walt Whitman is sane enough to do the poetry for an American newspaper or two: from whose columns these

supposed to answer this question: All I mark as my own, you shall offset it with your own, Else it were

Presently he dissects his own individuality a little more closely: Walt Whitman, an American, one of

Review of Leaves of Grass (1860–61)

Of the few poets born in America, not one is distinctively American in his poetry; all are exotics, and

or making love like Diogenes coram populo—with his own lines for inscription:— "Walt Whitman, an American

of the unquenchable creed, namely, egotism," will not find it a very hard task to teach the young American

than they were, And that today is what it should be— and that America is, And that today and America

fellow Dutchman, Jan Matthys, along with other Anabaptists, briefly established a theocracy in the city

fellow Dutchman, Jan Matthys, along with other Anabaptists, briefly established a theocracy in the city

The Münster Rebellion ended when Protestant and Catholic armies took over the city; van Leiden was executed

Emerson, and we looked over the volume of one who has been declared about 'to inaugurate a new era in American

those faultless monsters, whom the world ne'er saw, whose 'mission' it is to comfort the sable population

Sir Rohan's Ghost: A Romance (1860) was written by Harriet Elizabeth Prescott Spofford.

Review of Leaves of Grass (1860–61)

Sir Rohan's Ghost: A Romance (1860) was written by Harriet Elizabeth Prescott Spofford.

not grounded in our soil; even though American in their reference, they were foreign to our New World

were not the outgrowth of that new movement in civilization which America inaugurates.

Still the poet may be said to be more truly artistic than if he were more ostensibly so.

The Indian Hunter by John Quincy Adams Ward (1860) is a bronze sculpture of a young Native American hunter

and his dog noted for its naturalist style and its American theme.

The Indian Hunter by John Quincy Adams Ward (1860) is a bronze sculpture of a young Native American hunter

and his dog noted for its naturalist style and its American theme.

(vide Sunday Times , March 3rd, 1867) we called the attention of our readers to the works of an American

them, when the first feelings of dislike, which the violation of all received models had occasioned were

American life and institutions have impregnated Whitman's soul.

American air has saturated his lungs.

He is an American, Manhattanese, a democrat.

approximately half the poems found in the 1867 Leaves of Grass (poems that might have offended English readers were

Walt (Walter) Whitman, except the occasional brilliant scraps which English papers copy from their American

Rossetti insists that it must be taken as an altogether new poetry: as something as distinctively American

Is he American? Is he new? Is he rousing? Does he feel, and make me feel?"

That he is American in one sense we must admit.

He is American as certain forms of rowdyism and vulgarity, excrescences on American institutions, are

American.

But that he is American in the sense of being representative of American taste, intellect, or cultivation

Not a little ludicrous eulogy of this sort has been poured of late upon the American poet whose name

The brag, and bluster, and self-assertion of the man are American only; the fulsome 'cracking-up' of

pavements; Dweller in Mannahatta ‡ , city of ships, my city— or on southern savannas; Or a soldier camped

probably had in his pockets while we were talking.

that men and women were flexible, real, alive! that everything was alive!

Not the least doubtful is he on any prospects of the material success of the American Republic.

trade and commerce,—railway traffic,—manufacturing, mechanical, and mining industry,—agriculture,—population

It is as if we were somehow being endowed with a vast and more and more thoroughly-appointed body, and

the aptness of that phrase, "the Government of the People, by the People, for the People," which Americans

to solve is the inauguration, growth, acceptance, and unmistakeable supremacy among individuals, cities

Pieces that were evidently written later, and intended to be eventually put under Leaves of Grass now

Hence, at one time, our admiration for orators that were ornate to the verge of inanity.

Dire were the grimaces of the mourners in high places, and dire are their grimaces still.

There were plenty of criticisms to make, even after one had finished crying Oh!

A cardinal sin in the eyes of most critics is the use of French, Spanish, and American-Spanish words

of Walt Whitman, who, some will have it, is by preeminence of art and nature our representative American

deepest ethical instincts of a great multitude—we should certainly hope the vast majority of those American

Would it were as clean! In form he reminds us of Martin Farquhar Tupper.

Yet the prevalent tone of his verses is curiously Asiatic, as though he were an incarnation of Brahma

and were not.

In his volume all the objectionable passages which were the cause of so much complaint at the time of

range and diversity—always the continent of Democracy; Always the prairies, pastures, forests, vast cities

Their eulogies, however, were rather on the thoughts and sentiments of the author than praise of his

Milton and Goethe, at their desks, were not more truly poets than Phidias with his chisel, Raphael at

Phidias and Raphael and Beethoven were judged in accordance with the merits of what they produced.

by irrational things, I will penetrate what it is in them that is sarcastic upon me, I will make cities

(Democracy, while weapons were everywhere aim'd at your breast, I saw you serenely give birth to immortal

As to the poems, Emerson long ago said they were poetry; Tennyson, Swinburne, not to speak of vapid critics

Much every day were there room to say it. Short and clear let the words be.

We answer, that what these all were to the distinctive spirit of their generations, though in utter contrast

writings—and we do not hesitate to say that it is a volume admirably calculated to convince those who were

that the book is not amenable to the laws against sending obscene literature through the mails; and were

and there, With ranging hills on the banks, with many a line against the sky, and shadows, And the city

He could not have been bred anywhere but in a certain part of New York city a generation ago—in any other

And American letters were in a peculiar transition state when he made his first appearance in print,

which have no sense; and all effort on his part to play the irrational beast would be ridiculous, were

Bryant, Lowell, and a host of others, but it must be admitted that little or nothing distinctively American

Each though is, as it were, a leaf or blade therof which he offers to the reader.

Far from looking upon this immeasurable universe as the stakes, as it were, of an eternal game of Whist

I DREAMED IN A DREAM I dreamed in a dream I saw a city invincible to the attacks of the whole of the

It was seen every hour in the actions of the men of that city And in all their looks and words.

literary folk will be glad that Walt Whitman has found his publisher, and that the interests of American

This book is an American classic. [Leaves of Grass By Walt Whitman. Philadelphia, Rees, Welsh & Co.

The contents are brief essays or sketches, mostly fragmentary, many of them dated as if they were leaves

The several prefaces to , 1855, 1872, 1876, succeed; then the North American Review paper on "Poetry

Daniel Webster (1782-1852), the American orator and politician.

William Walker (1824-1860) was an American adventurer and soldier who attempted to conquer several Latin

American countries.

.; Daniel Webster (1782-1852), the American orator and politician.; Henry Clay (1777-1852) was an American

He was also Secretary of State from 1861-1869.; William Walker (1824-1860) was an American adventurer

and soldier who attempted to conquer several Latin American countries.

president of the Republic of Nicaragua from 1856-1857 and was executed by the government of Honduras in 1860

political reformer Lajos Kossuth (1802-1894)led Hungary's struggle for independence from Austria.; The American

when the Red Birds and Yellow Birds, the Knickerbocker and Fourth avenue and the old Broadway lines were

The first writings of Carlyle and Emerson were despised and rejected; and yet these very writings have

had so profound an influence in forming the thought of our period, that it were impossible to imagine

It seems as if, so far, there were some natural repugnance between a literary and professional life,

A large part of the volume is occupied by Whitman's diary during the American War.

Some of the sketches were written as letters to friends during the war and afterwards.

It is not an English word, nor is it Americanized, according to the standard dictionaries; yet Mr.

Whitman has made it good American, so far as in his power lies, and stamped it with more than ordinary

about Carlyle and Emerson was too recently published (in these pages) to need present notice, and so were

'The Poetry of the Future' and 'A Memorandum at a Venture' (in The North American ).

poem and this volume of essays and notes form in themselves a literary inter-state exhibition or American

cultivated of Whitman's compatriots should be won over by his gorgeous anticipations of the "fruitage" of American

Wilson and McCormick is apparently printed from the same plates as the American edition, but upon better

at any rate, a very familiar idea to be found; but we have to confess that after careful reading we were

ye were, in your atmospheres, grown not for America, but rather for her foes, the feudal and the old—while

Unless, too, the reader possesses considerable familiarity with American slang, he will frequently be

It is rather the poet's review in his old age of what he conceives were his intentions in his manhood's

breath of life to my whole scheme that the bulk of the pieces might as well have been left unwritten were

What we especially admire in him is his stout, tough Americanism, his faith in his country, its government

tribute to Lincoln (not so tender as the really rhythmic verses "My Captain"), are things for young Americans

consider "Leaves of Grass" and its theory experimental—as, in the deepest sense, I consider our American

Candidly and dispassionately reviewing all my intentions, I feel that they were creditable—and I accept

But, regarding "Leaves of Grass," let the author speak further:— I should say it were useless to attempt

millions of equals, with their lives, their passions, their futures—these incalculable, modern, American

poetry with cosmic and dynamic features of magnitude and limitlessness suitable to the human soul were

values the poem too highly and that it cannot in any sense be taken as the voice of a representative American

Whitman has always seemed very un-American in many of his traits, notably in his acceptance of gifts

extract only one short poem with its characteristic foot-note: FOR QUEEN VICTORIA'S BIRTHDAY An American

—"Very little as we Americans stand this day, with our sixty-five or seventy millions of population,

One more utterance from our old original individualistic American poet, now, as he tells us, in his seventy-second

year, and not expecting to write any more; this, indeed, written as it were in defiance of augury.

The generous recognition of Tennyson and Ruskin and the other English and American admirers has offset

Such are 'A Death-Banquet,' 'Some Laggards Yet,' 'Splinters,' 'Health,' 'Crossing from Jersey City,'

That the great magazines were right and Walt Whitmon sic wrong the contents of this thin, crazy-quilt

In an essay on "National Literature" he finds the essential traits of the American people to be good-nature

Whitman; and were followed in his theatrical enjoyments by a long list of other artists.

James Henry Hackett (1800-1871) was an American actor notable for his character parts.

.; James Henry Hackett (1800-1871) was an American actor notable for his character parts.