Nov 6, 2019 By: yunews
Dr. Cynthia Wachtell, research associate professor of American studies and director of the S. Daniel Abraham Honors Program at , penned a contribution to the North American Reviews project, , in which the editor of the project, Brian Clements, poses the question that the contributors attempt to answer: Two hundred years after Walt Whitmans birth, how do we grapple with the complexities of his legacy?
Dr. Wachtells contribution focuses on Whitmans use of song and singing in his poetry: Singing is the most compelling metaphor of the final version of Leaves of Grass. It reflects Whitmans optimistic faith in Americas democratic enterprise. Nowhere is this articulated more elegantly than in I Hear America Singing, in which he hears the varied carols of the carpenter, boatman, shoemaker, mother, and others. Whitman imagines America singing, a harmonious coming together of diverse voices.
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