Sexuality and the Language of Transcendence

Explores various sexual metaphors and allusions in Whitman\u27s poetry (especially "Song of Myself") and argues that "the mightiest sexual drives lead the persona to an intimation of the transcendent state.

Whitman in The Southern Literary Messenger

Discusses Southern Literary Messenger editor George W. Bagby\u27s dislike of Whitman and quotes from his published comments about the poet, including his 1862 preface to a parody of Whitman\u27s poetry entitled "The War.

Specimen Days: The Therapeutics of Sun-Bathing

Explores Whitman\u27s descriptions of nude sun-bathing in Specimen Days and shows how the poet was influenced by a variant of the therapeutic air cures and camp cures prescribed by his distinguished physician Dr. S. Weir Mitchell and by other doctors in the 1870s and 1880s

Another Early Review of Democratic Vistas

Adds to the "small tally" of contemporaneous reviews of Democratic Vistas by presenting an anonymous favorable review from the Sunderland Times of May 21, 1872.

Whitman\u27s Poem of the Road

Offers an in-depth reading of Whitman\u27s Poem of the Road ( Song of the Open Road in post-1860 editions of Leaves of Grass), celebrating the poem and exploring its nuances while arguing that the poem blends the poet\u27s \u27public\u27 and \u27private\u27 voices, melds ideology and intimacy, and affords a dynamic projection of the poet\u27s self-image

Kummings, Donald D. Walt Whitman, 1940-1975: A Reference Guide [review]

Review of Kummings, Donald D. Walt Whitman, 1940-1975: A Reference Guide