Sunday, March 12, 2006
Too blunt
Walt Whitman was, true a wonderful writer, but was so point-blank in all of his writing. He had an excellent way of expressing his beliefs and his point of view but he also had a very blunt way of expressing some very particular beliefs. Try as I might, I tried to overlook his references to homosexuality, I just could not. I recognize his talent and his contribution to American literature. I understand that modern poets either mirror his poetry or that of Dickinson. I also know that there are so many more cryptic ways of explaining this homosexuality. I expect this kind of writing out of modern poets and modern writers, but I did not expect it from one of the most well-known poets in America and one with such influence.
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Hey Rebecca --
This post and the one after it prompted an observation that I had to share. As you point out with Dickinson, writers are a product of their times. It is also true, however, that readers are a product of their times. It's interesting that you found Whitman "too blunt," particularly in regard to his homosexuality. For decades, the physical/sexual references in Whitman's poems were so subtle as to either escape notice or at least be seen as ambiguous. I suspect the fact that we now see so many references to homosexuality in Whitman's poetry has at least as much to do with us as it does with Whitman, who was actually quite cryptic regarding his sexuality. I suspect that our contemporary culture and the debates surrounding homosexuality lead us to perceive such references more clearly than the poem actually suggests....certainly more clearly than Whitman intended.
gad
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