6/29/2023 0 Comments Walt whitman contradict myself![]() In a different vein, Bill Hardwig diagnosed in Whitman primarily the disruptive use of elements of the epic tradition in order to show all the more clearly how America was not going to be like ancient empires (Hardwig B. Instead of memorializing a hero, they poetically create one (Pearce R. Roy Harvey Pearce argued that Whitman was the necessary bridge between Joel Barlow's post-revolutionary but undervalued Columbiad and Ezra Pound's desultory Cantos: all three authors seek to come to terms with the idea of America and develop more or less appropriate forms of epic representation. These three manifestations have epic features in common, namely extended size, large or universal "audience" or spectatorship, and sublime power. ![]() Matthiessen suggested in American Renaissance that Whitman's poetry could be understood through the analogies of oratory, opera, and ocean (Matthiessen F.O., 1941 : 549-577). Depending on the prevailing critical spirit of a given decade, critics have sought to enlist Whitman in their respective versions of literary history. ![]() ![]() 1 Hardwig's 2000 article offers the best historical-critical summary to date of the epic/lyric debate (.)ฤก The genres of Whitman's most famous poems and the consequences to be drawn from their classification have been debated at least since the middle of the past century. ![]()
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