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a section with some particular relevance to today. It is also in this section where
we get a good example of how such an approach as Stacy’s can clarify our
understanding of the author as it relates to Whitman’s apparently anti-Irish
editorials. Stacy presents a convincing argument for looking at these editorials
as something more than anti-Irish but more of Whitman’s full engagement in the
intricacies of the New York public school system.
In the third section dealing with the Bard persona, Stacy pulls together
earlier strains of his argument, in particular the years 1848 to 1855 where “a
melding of Whitman’s aesthetic theory and labor reform ideology in the new
persona of the Bard” occurs (96). Stacy acknowledges it was a publicly slow and
intermittent transformation, but a transformation nonetheless. This is also the
section that is perhaps the most challenging for Stacy as he has to deal with clear
breaks in details from Whitman’s life, in particular his time with the New
Orleans Crescent. Yet, this section sets the stage for Stacy’s claim that the
perceived sudden arrival of Leaves o f Grass in 1855 came from Whitman’s lack
of a consistent platform from which to express himself during this time. Stacy
concludes the Bard is a democratic persona like the Editor, but more flexible.
With the Bard, Stacy argues, Whitman is doing what he had earlier demanded of
artists, speaking directly and unaffectedly.
Perhaps it is Stacy’s convincing discussion of the continuity of ideas
through Whitman’s different personas, but there is not always a clear sense of
what Whitman the man, free from his personas, actually thought. In his
introduction, Stacy claims that Whitman “constructed public voices that were
distinct from Walter Whitman, Jr.” (2). This distinction is not necessarily made
clear in a consistent way through the book. However, it is a secondary concern
as what we consistently see is how Whitman’s effective use of personas “sought
to ‘teach’ Americans about their inherent equality and freedom” (2). Stacy’s
careful focus on Whitman’s lesser known early writings provides a convincing
analysis of the evolution of Whitman’s use of personas and prepares a reader for
a more informed reading of Leaves o f Grass.
Erik S. Schmeller, Tennessee State University