Whitman's Self: Mysticism In the Life and Writings of Walt Whitman , livre ebook

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OPEN THE HEART of Self-Discovery through the Life and Amazing Works of Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman was known as the "Good Gray Poet" who paved the way for modern American poetry. The epithets "good" and "gray" make Whitman sound dull to the modern reader, yet Whitman was anything but dull.

In "Whitman's Self: Mysticism in the Life and Writings of Walt Whitman," Paul Hourihan explores how Whitman's spiritual revelations and struggles informed his most significant works—especially his ground-breaking poem "Song of Myself." "Whitman's Self" contains insightful and provocative interpretations of Whitman's writing that will intrigue those who know Walt Whitman well ... as well as those who are just getting introduced to him.

"At a time like this, Dr. Hourihan performs a valuable service by his courageous reaffirmation of what is of permanent value in the life and works of one of the most original minds in American literature." - Dr. V. K. Chari, author of "Whitman in the Light of Vedantic Mysticism"

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American

Poetry

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Publié par	eBookIt.com
Date de parution	21 février 2013
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781931816168
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	1 Mo

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Extrait

Mysticism in the Life and Writings of Walt Whitman

PAUL HOURIHAN
Edited by Anna Hourihan

Vedantic Shores Press Redding, CA

Published by: Vedantic Shores Press P.O. Box 493100 Redding, CA 96049 info@vedanticshorespress.com http://www.VedanticShoresPress.com
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used, reproduced or transmitted in any manner, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage retrieval system, without written permission from the Publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information on getting permission for reprints and excerpts, contact info@vedanticshorespress.com .

COPYRIGHT © 2012 by Estate of Paul Hourihan, ePub Edition.
Publisher’s Cataloguing-in-Publication

Hourihan, Paul,
Whitman’s Self: Mysticism in the Life and Writings of Walt Whitman / Paul Hourihan ; edited by Anna Hourihan.
p. cm.
Includes index and bibliographic references.
ISBN13 978-1-931816-16-8 [ePub edition]
1. Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892—Religion.
2. Mysticism in literature. 3. Religion and literature—United States— History—19th century. I. Title.
PS3231.R4H68 2012 810.9’382

Note: The image of Walt Whitman on the cover is courtesy of www.WPClipart.com. This image first appeared in Walt Whitman’s original 1855 volume of Leaves of Grass. It is from a daguerreotype of Whitman taken in 1854 by Gabriel Harrison.

Editor’s Note
Whitman’s Self is the first volume of a three-part series on Mysticism in Literature by Paul Hourihan. It was originally included in Mysticism in American Literature: Thoreau’s Quest and Whitman’s Self , a study of the spirituality in the lives and writings of Henry David Thoreau and Walt Whitman. In order to make this work accessible to more readers who may be interested in one and not the other of these great American writers, we are publishing each separately. Thoreau’s Quest will follow as the second installment in the series.
We present here the Whitman part of Mysticism in American Literature with revisions mainly to the “Introduction” and “Epilogue” to provide more information relevant to Whitman alone.
Since this study focuses on Whitman’s mystical poetry, his centerpiece poem “Song of Myself,” which mostly reflects this aspect, is featured in the second half. More interpretations from sections of “Song of Myself” which have been transcribed from the lecture tape recordings, and were not in the original Mysticism in American Literature, have been added to this volume.

Author’s Note
Most of the material used for this volume first appeared as lectures in a course on mysticism given some years ago and hence the oral influence that still lingers inevitably in many places.
. . .
My deepest gratitude to Anna Hourihan for her editorial assistance in the preparation of this volume.
- P.H.

Contents
Editor’s Note
Author’s Note
Introduction
Walt Whitman
The “Self” in “Song of Myself”
Epilogue
Bibliography
Index
About the Author
Publisher Information

Introduction
I celebrate myself, and sing myself,
And what I assume you shall assume
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you....
Walt Whitman, a cosmos.
How did Walt Whitman reach the bold presumptions in these lines from his ground-breaking poem “ Song of Myself”? Speaking out of the mystic’s consciousness, he conveys truths that he himself experienced—that is, experiences knowable, yet unknown to the ordinary mind. It is what the Transcendentalists of the time were writing about: an innate power in man that transcends the intellect and the senses.
The Transcendentalists saw Life everywhere charged with mystical possibilities ... in art, music, science, literature, the world of the intellect and in ordinary life also. Consider our experience of human love at its best—how deep, how mystical this experience is. How “ineffable.” Mysticism in Nature, what we call nature-mysticism—hardly needs to be mentioned. Whitman experienced the mystical in Nature and all aspects of daily life:
I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey-work of the stars.
Although the ultimate experience of mysticism— samadhi, the higher union with Godhead—is no doubt beyond our power to communicate or grasp, mysticism is not only this supernal peak, but has many levels—thousands of intermediate experiences—moments, insights, decisions, epiphanies that come to us along the way. It is a whole way of life, with attitudes, motivations, incentives, assumptions that undergird such an existence.
Throughout his singular poem, Whitman conveys this mystical consciousness as an experience of his identification with all life that transformed him into: Walt Whitman, a cosmos .
. . .
Historically, Whitman stands as one of the 19th century’s preeminent originals in American literature, so it comes as a surprise that his writing before the publication of his masterpiece Leaves of Grass (1855) was considered, even by devoted scholars, to be mediocre at best. What, then, inspired and compelled him to write an original work like “ Song of Myself”? The first half of this study provides answers to that question by tracing Whitman’s background with references to his life and character development and the influences that helped to prime him for the experience that revolutionized his poetry and made him an authentic new voice in literature. The second half provides insights and understanding into Whitman’s spiritual experience and unique perception of the world by interpreting selections from “ Song of Myself.”
Fortunately, we know much about Whitman’s inner development through his journals and personal letters. These, along with his writings, give us a psychological as well as literary approach to the more important matter of his spiritual transformation and journey. In Whitman’s case, and perhaps with every great individual, the outer works are only a footnote to the true story that is being told within himself—the evolution of his spirit and the gradual manifestation of his true self. If he is a writer, and seeking truth, his works will reveal milestones along the way, enlightening us about much more than his literary progress. Undoubtedly, this is the reason spiritual seekers, as well as students of literature, are so drawn to learning more about Whitman and his Transcendental contemporaries, such as Thoreau and Emerson. This small book will help satisfy that yearning.

Walt Whitman

________________________

In all people I see myself, none more and not one a barleycorn less,
And the good or bad I say of myself I say of them.
I know I am solid and sound...
-Walt Whitman, “Song of Myself”

________________________

In 1855, Walt Whitman burst upon the literary and cultural scene in New York City with the publication of Leaves of Grass —a collection of poems that marked an entirely new direction in poetry. Not only were these poems set in free-verse style, they candidly celebrated the body and senses as well as the soul. Whitman declares in “ Song of Myself,” the long 60-page poem that launches his book, that he has achieved the mystical consciousness and that his poem is written out of that new mind. He doesn’t say this directly, but it is implied throughout the ambitious, highly organized work.
He comes to us seemingly transformed, but when did this change happen? We can infer the onset of his mystical experience by noting certain basic biographical and literary facts about Whitman.
He was born in 1819 in a rural area of Long Island, where simple working people—farmers, fishermen, seamen—were prominent in his early life. The strongest religious influence—that of the Quakers—comes to him efficaciously through his mother. The Quaker doctrine of the Inner Light impressed him—each person, he heard, contained within him a power of divine inspiration if he would grow quiet enough to listen for its voice. Creeds, bibles, churches, ministers were all secondary. As a boy he attended many Quaker meetings, and though in later years the connection lapsed, the impression remained.
While Walt was still young his family moved to Brooklyn, a suburb of the burgeoning metropolis of New York. His father was a carpenter, mason, and farmer, an alcoholic, something of a ne’er-do-well. Whitman was not close to him but exceptionally close to his mother. The rest of his large family, which included nine children, is less than ordinary—nondescript struggling people not at all interested in any of Walt’s characteristic concerns throughout his life. This is a theme one frequently encounters in studying the lives of mystics—their families are often undistinguished, mediocre, so that the mystic seems to find himself among strangers from the start. None of Whitman’s family would suggest the kind of career that was eventually his. In fact, mental instability was part of the family legacy.
In other words, if the household setting is too comfortable the mystic feels at home from the beginning, and is not driven to seek his truth—and his true home—outside the family bounds. This is not to suggest we should have disordered upbringings. But from the point of view of hindsight, the hunger of the mystic for self-realization—for God-realization—is so intense, so unique, that as we examine his life as a whole everything that happens to him may be seen to be significant, part of a design. His life becomes too valuable to be left to the mercy of chance, or Nature, or to be understood in term