A lot of our posts have been analyzing how the ideas of Whitman or the American Romantics in general are viewed in our culture. The society that Whitman lived in considered his work shocking and improper, but in our society we admire originality and we are most interested in the things that shock us. If Leaves of Grass were published today how would our reactions be different from those of the people in Whitman's time, and how have our attitudes towards his ideas changed? What do you consider the most shocking, weird, or interesting theme that Whitman's style embodies?
I think that Whitman's poetry would be accepted more in this time period. People are encouraged to be different and themselves, and to express their opinions now. Back then many were repressed and not listened to. It was seen as a rebellion to speak your opinion and not proper. However, I feel that we still wouldn't respect some of his comparisons such as the president to a prostitute.
ReplyDeleteIf Leaves of Grass were to be pubished today, I believe it would go largely unnoticed, and that it would not recieve the same praise as it did in its original time. Modern poetry and literature is full of shocking and improper works, and his, in comparison, would probably just blend in. Leaves of Grass was unique for its time because very few people, if any, were writing anything similar, let alone as shocking and different as Whitman's poems.
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