Kevin, thank you for that post.
Yes, coming from another place, it is easy to overlook such local factors in the formation of literary attitudes. Being beaten over the head, even with something intrinsically pleasant, can turn you off that thing, no doubt. I was never so beaten with Walt, whose work I discovered on my own.
I prefer formalist poetry myself, but I would never consider Whitman "revolutionary" and formalism "reactionary", although I don't doubt that many do. I think of Whitman as a nonpareil poet, unique, rather than a stylistic guide to follow. I love his work, at its best, but I have never even dreamed of trying to emulate his style.
Anyway, style is not the main reason why I like Whitman - I like him mostly for his thought, his philosophy, his vision, or whatever term you please.
I believe a leaf of grass is no less than the journey work of the stars,
And the pismire is equally perfect, and a grain of sand, and the egg of the wren,
And the tree-toad is a chef-d'oeuvre for the highest,
And the running blackberry would adorn the parlors of heaven,
And the narrowest hinge in my hand puts to scorn all machinery,
And the cow crunching with depress'd head surpasses any statue,
And a mouse is miracle enough to stagger sextillions of infidels.
I find I incorporate gneiss, coal, long-threaded moss, fruits,rains, esculent roots,
And am stucco'd with quadrupeds and birds all over,
And have distanced what is behind me for good reasons,
But call any thing back again when I desire it.
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