”But shall our superintendence go no further, and are the poets only to be required by us to express the image of good in their works, on pain, if they do anything else, of expulsion from our State? Or is the same control to be extended to other artists, and are they also to be prohibited from exhibiting the opposite forms of vice and intemperance and meanness and indecency in sculpture and building and the other creative arts; and is he who cannot conform to this rule of ours to be prevented from practising his art in our State, lest the taste of our citizens be corrupted by him?”
Plato, Republic Bk. III, 401.
i haven’t read much of his stuff i dont think i’ve got the ammo i need to comment on this but i can only guess that he was banned because he said things that people thought were contrary or against the curve at the time. that may be all i have to offer, my apologies.
Whitman’s homosexuality was a big thing for people back then, because he was very open and unapologetic about it. His poetry was also very in your face for that day and time. “I Sing Myself” was really out there for a society that was used to not praising themselves and being modest and trying not to be prideful. So because his lifestyle was so controversial people probably banned his work so they wouldn’t have to think about what he was and what he was saying.
i didnt know whitman was gay. what a great point to bring up about why he had banned poetry. last year in english 12 i read a lot of whitmans poems and they were extremely simplistic. perhaps back then they didnt value his informal style that we appreciate today.
I found this, a statement from the DA who wanted to ban specific poems from Whitman’s Leaves of Grass
“We are of the opinion that this book is such a book as brings it within the provisions of the Public Statutes respecting obscene literature and suggest the propriety of withdrawing the same from circulation and suppressing the editions thereof.” Stevens demanded the removal of the poems “A Woman Waits for Me” and “To a Common Prostitute”, as well as changes to “Song of Myself”, “From Pent-Up Aching Rivers”, “I Sing the Body Electric”, “Spontaneous Me”, “Native Moments”, “The Dalliance of the Eagles”, “By Blue Ontario’s Shore”, “Unfolded Out of the Folds”, “The Sleepers”, and “Faces”.
Whitman rejected the censorship, writing to Osgood, “The list whole & several is rejected by me, & will not be thought of under any circumstances.” Osgood refused to republish the book and returned the plates to Whitman.
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However…I’m not sure I believe that they banned it for being “obscene” — it’s probably accurate that they banned Whitman’s poetry for his … “non-traditional” lifestyle