Walt Whitman and Transcendentalism Essay - 2066 Words

Walt Whitman: Transcendentalism nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;By the late 19th century, Walt Whitman had become positioned at the forefront of the American cultural lexicon. His poetry was at once brash, dissonant and resoundingly erotic. His raw, unabashed poetry flew in the face of the prevailing ideals of his time. Whitmans greatest literary accomplishment, Leaves of Grass, had set the ideas of divinity, the hierarchy of the holy trinity, and the ethereal perfection afforded these things into turmoil. What he did was take the theologian ideas of perfection and divinity and juxtaposed them onto mankind and the world around him. This theology of transcendentalism was the cornerstone theme throughout all of Whitmans writing.†¦show more content†¦Whitman recognized that man is god in and of himself. Man exists in the natural earth and the earth as part of the cosmos which exists in and of itself. Through his poetry Whitman effectively creates this new trinity of god, mankind and nature. He uses them interchangea bly with each other. By taking ethereal ideas of heavenly bodies and pushing it onto mankind, Whitman was defiantly creating a world where man didnt need to look to the heavens for answers. Whitman felt that that everything around him was for him. The trees, the wind, the sun. Everything that encompassed the idea of being was a part of that being. No part could be greater than the sum because the parts were constantly working on behalf of the whole. Each ant, each flower, each person had a reason for their existence, quot;They are but parts, any thing is but a part.quot; nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;nbsp;Whitman further extended this idea of the new trinity to that of nature. What had commonly been viewed in a utilitarian manner was now being put on the same level as God. Instead of His creation, nature was an indelible and inseparable part of the reality of existence. Nature existed alongside man and the heavens, not subservient to it. In fact, Whitman believes that the worthwhile man is the kind who spends his time with nature, exploring nature. Nature is seen in just as a divine a sense as the heavens. quot;The earth neverShow MoreRelatedEmily Dickinson And Walt Whitman1719 Words   |  7 Pagesway to insert themselves and their emotions into words that move the readers in some way. One of the most popular periods of writing would be the romanticism era. Some of the most well known authors in this time period were Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman. The reason they are so popular from the Romanticism period is because they also incorporated their transcendental ideas into their work. Romanticism has been described as a Protestantism in the arts and letters, an ideological shift on the grandRead MoreAnalysis Of Walt Whitman s What Came First The Chicken Or The Egg? 1739 Words   |  7 PagesTaylor Fink Professor Jonathan Cook English 231 10 July 2015 Emerson Vs. 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This counter-culture approach to answering life’s basic questions becomes what is known as the philosophy of transcendentalism. Addressing the primary focus of transcendentalism - the search for self-wisdom, discovery and betterment – is the ground-breaking poet, Walt Whitman. In his poetry, Whitman explores the surreal and cosmic, relating the supernatural to the mundane .With an emphasi s on oneness with nature, Whitman’s celebratory attitude of the humanRead MoreEssay on American Philosophy514 Words   |  3 Pagesindividual. Indeed, an examination of four major American writers shows these concepts in all four main schools of American thought-- Epicureanism, Transcendentalism, Pragmatism, and Protestantism. Epicureanism is the pursuit of pleasure in order to avoid pain. This philosophy is very American. One of the most famous American-Epicureans is Walt Whitman. Whitman is, perhaps, Americas greatest poet. He was an ardent supporter of freedom and democracy. 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Scholars may argue that without Emerson and his influential sermons and speeches that Walt Whitman would have never found his voice, but how can someone who so many consider one of the greatest poets of all time cease to exist? Ralph Waldo Emerson knew what he was doing when he published The Poet. It was an outcry for the American people to speak a truthful narrative