Eliza R. Snow
Eliza R. Snow
Poet of a New American Religion
This chapter examines Walt Whitman's collection of poetry, Leaves of Grass, focusing on his claim that it was an American sacred text, the “Bible of the New Religion.” It compares Whitman's ambition to be the poet of a new American religion with that of Eliza R. Snow, the recognized poet laureate of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, who was regarded by the Mormons not only as a poetess but also a “priestess” and a “prophetess.” The chapter considers how Snow used her poetry to depict the recovery of such ancient practices as polygamy and theocracy as an essential precondition for an American millennium, rather than as a historical aberration. It also offers a close reading of “Time and Change,” the major poem of Snow's 1856 collection, before concluding with an analysis of the issue of gender, particularly with respect to Snow's efforts to have her female voice heard by an androcentric nation.
Keywords: gender, Walt Whitman, poetry, Leaves of Grass, religion, Eliza R. Snow, Latter-day Saints, Mormons, polygamy, theocracy
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