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While, Whitman's poetry seems to explore themes of nature, love, and death, some scholars estimate the depth of his auto-censure. Scholnick (2004) provides some historical facts on how Whitman's editors restrained themselves from publishing certain of his poems like Live Oak, With Moss (Whitman, 1860) adding that Whitman also did not want them to get published as it told the story of Whitman's love affair with a man (Scholnick, 2004, p. 111). (Scholnick, 2004, p. 111). His thesis follows a strand of study stating that Whitman's repression represented American Democracy's rejection of non-heterosexual partnerships. Cady (1978) further points out that "Whitman denied to John Addington Symonds that Calamus could have a gay sense" (Cady, 1978, 6). (Cady, 1978, 6). Though, Calamus may at times show signs of repression that mark his [notebook](https://styleyourname.com) entries, and which might have been underlying in Whitman's reply to Symonds, the tensions in this collection are primarily expressions of Whitman's struggle to free himself from oppressive views held by his culture and are a record of his primal creative effort. He might have required to construct a positive perspective and portrayal of his experience without public models or support.
In contrast to the prevalent prudishness about Whitman’s sexuality, the queer community embraced his legacy. Oscar Wilde, John Addington Symonds, Algernon Swinburne, and Edward Carpenter were strongly affected by his work. Many decades later, Allen Ginsberg and other Beats looked to Whitman as a touchstone for their exuberant bohemianism. In Boston, the now-defunct gay bookstore Calamus (1860) was named in homage to Walt Whitman's queer magnum opus, first published in the 1860 edition of Leaves of Grass (Lyberger, 2019.) (Lyberger, 2019.) 'Calamus' (local name: cálamo acuático) which remains a plant with sexual powers, consumed in Central and South America, acts a symbol for both the physical and spiritual aspects of love as Whitman (1860) intentionally or unintentionally demonstrates (male to male) homoerotic comradeship's transformative powers. As Doty (2020), argues, the second and third forms of 'the unsayable' are important to a reading Calamus (1860) because they explore concepts that are difficult to express or think about. Whitman's fearless examination of the forbidden 'homoerotic' is very present in the Leaves of Grass (Whitman, 1860). (Whitman, 1860). He persisted in importing the unnamed into public life up until the final edition of Leaves of Grass in 1892. However, because these words were used to stigmatise and condemn such behaviour, it is difficult to know exactly what they meant. Nevertheless, there's no doubt that there were specific words for homosexual activity in Whitman's day. Whitman's exploration of same-sex love was ahead of its time, and his frankness about desire was groundbreaking for 19th-century literature. Today, Whitman is considered one of the most important queer authors in American history. His work continues to inspire new generations of queer writers and thinkers. Walt Whitman's 'Calamus' poem, both in the sense of exploring democracy as base which can be formed and ameliorated through comradeship or gay relationships, whatever the nature of those relationships were. as love and nature had transformative powers to change America.
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