Progressive Poet

There are few poets that captivate, shock, and entertain with the same class, and excellence that Whitman displayed. Whitman emerged during in important, and pivoting era of American cultural philosophy, in a time when a transition was being made from American transcendentalism into American realism. It was in this cultural agenda that the language of Whitman’s now infamous poems was established, and cultivated. Although Whitman was not appreciated until sometime after his death, reading his writings offers a glimpse into the American psyche, and a taste of the emerging ideology of realism.
Realism was an attempt to capture the true vulgarity, and raw essence of day-to-day interactions. Proceeding transcendentalism as the cultural mindset, there is and element of overlap that can be observed. As such, elements from both can be found in the writings, and poetry, that Whitman published. The graphic description of events shadows the use of realism, while the romanticizing of such experiences show the lingering effects of the transcendentalists.
One area of debate in Whitman’s poems is the way in which he describes and uses human sexuality. Many critics of the time pointed to his poems as pornographic, and shunned the legitimacy of such vile literature. This can be used in conjunction with the general population’s reaction to group the style of realism with the idea of progressiveness . Whitman continues to uses this style of progressive thinking for the majority of his lifetime, tackling such taboo subjects as homosexuality.
Whitman uses strong language, which no doubt aids in the solidification of his poetry’s recognition as some of America’s finest. It is truly fascinating the style that emerged from such a unique period of American society. A period in which, society was controlled, while at the same time pursuing personal independence, and social content was meticulously filtered, while there was a demand for raw unfiltered content. It is in this paradigm that Whitman constructed and refined his literary masterpiece.
Whitman’s various poems give us a glimpse of an American society littered with hypocrisy. A society that created false realms of purity, and established controlled gender and social roles. To the culture of the time, Whitman’s style was like a bad glass of milk, it had all the right ingredients, the problem was it was just being consumed at the wrong time. Although it was not admired then, it can be admired now for its unique and interpretive style, a style that could have only come from a developing American Social structure.

Cited
Whitman, Walt. Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th Edition [serial online]. October 2009;:1. Available from: Academic Search Premier, Ipswich, MA. Accessed December 8, 2009.

Transcendentalism. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transcendentalism, Accessed December 8, 2009.

Donna Campbel, M. (2008, july 7). Realism in american literature, 1860-1890. Retrieved from http://www.wsu.edu/~campbelld/amlit/realism.htm, Accessed December 8, 2009.