Despite his protests, Anne Gilchrist, distinguished woman of
letters, moved her entire household from London to Philadelphia in
an effort to marry him. John Addington Symonds, historian and
theorist of sexual inversion, sent him avid fan mail for twenty
years. And volunteer assistant Horace Traubel kept a record of
their daily conversations, producing a nine-volume compilation. Who
could inspire so much devotion? "Worshipping Walt" is the first
book on the Whitman disciples--the fascinating, eclectic group of
nineteenth-century men and women who regarded Walt Whitman not
simply as a poet but as a religious prophet.
Long before Whitman was established in the canon of American
poetry, feminists, socialists, spiritual seekers, and supporters of
same-sex passion saw him as an enlightened figure who fulfilled
their religious, political, and erotic yearnings. To his disciples
Whitman was variously an ideal husband, radical lover, socialist
icon, or bohemian saint. In this transatlantic group biography,
Michael Robertson explores the highly charged connections between
Whitman and his followers, including Canadian psychiatrist R. M.
Bucke, American nature writer John Burroughs, British activist
Edward Carpenter, and the notorious Oscar Wilde. Despite their
particular needs, they all viewed Whitman as the author of a new
poetic scripture and prophet of a modern liberal spirituality.
"Worshipping Walt" presents a colorful portrait of an era of
intense religious, political, and sexual passions, shedding new
light on why Whitman's work continues to appeal to so many.
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