The Growth of Leaves of Grass: The Organic Tradition in Whitman Studies (Studies in English and American Literature, Linguistics, and Culture)

With the publication of "Leaves of Grass" in 1855, Walt Whitman became a central and controversial figure in the fast-developing field of American literature. With each of six editions, Whitman added new poems and revised old ones. M. Jimmie Killingsworth argues that the critical tradition finds its primary models for interpreting Whitman's poetry in the organic metaphors initiated by the poet himself, in particular, the metaphor of vegetative growth. Early in the critical tradition, however, the romantic ideology of organic growth is challenged by a model of technical competence whose key metaphors involve images of architectonic control. The interplay of these models informs the several critical approaches that have developed over the century since Whitman's death.