This essay examines Walt Whitman's poetry and prose through the contrasting lens of poet Chana Bloch. Rooted in the Transcendentalist Movement, Whitman embraced democracy, diversity, and a redemptive worldview — even transforming Civil War death into a call for national purpose. Bloch, by contrast, confronts violence, loss, and the mundane ugliness of daily life without softening or moralizing. Drawing on Whitman's prefaces to Leaves of Grass and Bloch's poem "The New World," the essay argues that the two poets represent fundamentally different philosophies about how literature should engage with human suffering and the world's harsh realities.
Walt Whitman was inspired by the Transcendentalist Movement, which was something of an offshoot of the Romantic Movement. As such, Whitman was a broadly positive figure who embraced diversity and, especially, democracy. In the preface to Leaves of Grass, he wrote: "The United States themselves are essentially the greatest poem." He was unfettered in his willingness to tackle some of the more controversial topics of his day — culture, sexuality, beliefs, and religion.
In his 1872 preface, Whitman writes (Harris):
The people must begin to learn that religion, (like poetry,) is something far, far different from what they supposed. It is, indeed, too important to the power and perpetuity of the New World to be consign'd any longer to the churches, old or new, Catholic or Protestant — Saint this, or Saint that. It must be consign'd henceforth to democracy en masse, and to literature. It must enter into the poem of the nation. It must make the nation.
Whitman was willing to challenge the dogmatic remnants of previous generations and remake the world into something better — more egalitarian and more free. His vision positioned literature, and poetry in particular, as the rightful spiritual foundation of a democratic nation.
Whitman's spirit would not find an audience with all worldviews, however. Consider the perspective of Chana Bloch, who focused on the fact that although our daily experiences might include beauty and connection, they are also punctuated by violence, tragedy, and loss (Dresser). Her work engages with the negative aspects of life in gory, unsparing detail, as in "The New World" (Bloch):
My uncle killed a man and was proud of it.
Some guy with a knife came at him in Flatbush and he knocked the fucker to the ground.
The sidewalk finished the job.
By then he'd survived two wives and a triple bypass. He carried the plastic tubing in his pocket and would show it to you, to anyone.
He'd unbutton his shirt right there on the street to show off the scar.
Bloch was not afraid to tackle the uglier aspects of life without attempting to put any positive spin on them.
"Whitman reframes Civil War death as national sacrifice"
"Final contrast between Whitman's optimism and Bloch's realism"
Always verify citation format against your institution’s current style guide requirements.