The Work of Walt Whitman and Allen Ginsberg – Bridging the Divide Between Sacred and Profane

by Kenneth L. Foster Walt Whitman wrote his most famous poem “Song of Myself” in 1855 and Allen Ginsberg wrote “Howl” one hundred years later. Although, the two poems are a century apart in time and also lie at opposite poles texturally – one a celebration and the other a lament – both succeeded in…

The Making of an American Saint and His One True Religion of Compassion

by Kenneth L. Foster In a 2011 lecture, the distinguished professor of Humanities at Yale, Harold Bloom, categorized Walt Whitman’s “Song of Myself” as a mystery play in which Whitman is the personification of Jesus Christ. In reviewing Whitman’s legacy, Bloom expressed his dissatisfaction with “our unfortunately, contemporary United States” (Bloom 14:59). He explained that…