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Zusatztext Eloquently written and provocative, Containing Multitudes demonstrates the myriad ways in which Whitman was indebted to and in dialogue with a British literary tradition. In telling chapters on Shakespeare, Milton, Burns, Blake, and Wordsworth, Schmidgall deftly analyzes the numerous echoes and divergences between these prior poets' lyrics and Whitman's verse. This book will be required reading for anyone interested in the subtle ways in which the British poetic canon was transmitted through one of America's most original and influential poets. Informationen zum Autor Gary Schmidgall is Professor of English at Hunter College at the City University of New York. His books include Shakespeare and Opera (OUP, 1990), The Stranger Wilde (Dutton, 1994) Walt Whitman: A Gay Life (Dutton, 1997), and Intimate with Walt: Selections from Whitman's Conversations with Horace Traubel, 1882-1892 (University of Iowa Press, 2001). Klappentext This study explores Walt Whitman's contradictory response to and embrace of several great prior British poets: Shakespeare, Milton, Burns, Blake, and Wordsworth (with shorter essays on Scott, Carlyle, Tennyson, Wilde, and Swinburne). Through reference to his entire oeuvre, his published literary criticism, and his private conversations, letters and manuscripts, it seeks to understand the extent to which Whitman experienced the anxiety of influence as he sought to establish himself as America's poet-prophet or bard (and the extent to which he sought to conceal such influence). An attempt is also made to lay out the often profound aesthetic, cultural, political, and philosophical affinities Whitman shared with these predecessors. It also focuses on all of Whitman's extant comments on these iconic authors. Because Whitman was a deeply autobiographical writer, attention is also paid to how his comments on other poets reflect on his image of himself and on the ways he shaped his public image. Attention is also given to how Whitman's attitudes to his British fore-runners changed over the nearly fifty years of his active career. Zusammenfassung This study explores Walt Whitman's contradictory response to and embrace of several great prior British poets: Shakespeare, Milton, Burns, Blake, and Wordsworth (with shorter essays on Scott, Carlyle, Tennyson, Wilde, and Swinburne). Inhaltsverzeichnis Note on Notes and Citation Preface 1. An Introduction: Leaves and the Retrospective Lands "Terrible Query": An American Literature? "That Wonderful Little Island": British Literature in Leaves of Grass Prospective: "Lacks and Wants Yet" 2. Shakespeare and Whitman Whitman and the Bacon Debate Walt vs. The Bard Mellifluous and Honey-tongued Poets Whitman and the Romantics' Shakespeare: Victor Hugo Parallel Lives? 3. Milton and Whitman Debutant Poets: 1645, 1855 Whitman and America Read Milton Camerados Close Satan and Walt Answerable Styles Strange Bedfellows After All? Awakeners 4. Burns and Whitman Camerado Bards Walt Reads Rob Self-esteem Mystic Tie of Brotherhood The Self-satisfied Preachers Outré Beings Conscious Painful Being Old Acquaintance Of Tombs: A Coda 5. Blake and Whitman Making the Connection Two Mystics Together Clinging Other, Stronger Lessons Poets of Contrariety and Rebellion Iconoclasts: Poetry Unfettered Poets of Sexual Delight Announcing Adhesiveness Death's Door: A Coda 6. Wordsworth and Whitman Walt on Wordsworth The 'Prelude' to Whitman Prospectus: Knowing the World Self-empowerment 'Green' Poets: Nature and Democracy 'Mighty Scheme of Truth': Prophets of a New Religion 'Great Social Principle of Life': Comradery At War with General Tendency Separate Persons 7. Whitman and Some Other 'Big Fellows' Walter Scott Thomas Carlyle<...
