Whitman & Nietzsche: Drawing Comparisons

Few would expect these two writers to even be on opposite sides of a line on the same drawing board. Walt Whitman, as Prof. Robert Hass described, is the "grandfather of American poetry" and is known for his humanism, optimism, and general panache. In contrast, as we all probably know, Nietzsche is the "Continental Immoralist" and nihilist. Yet, consider the following lines:

There was never any more inception than there is now,
Nor any more youth or age than there is now;
And will never be any more perfection than there is now,
Nor any more heaven or hell than there is now

Urge and urge and urge,
Always the procreant urge of the world.
- Song of Myself

Although I do not have time to reference the specific lines from Nietzsche that can compare to this passage, it does strike me as containing similar themes. For one, there is the presumption of an eternal, static world, that cannot be qualified objective values or beliefs (time, aesthetics, morality). There is a sense of liberation in Whitman's work, just as Nietzsche "unfetters" himself from the belief in God, and the world is spinning "unchained to the Sun." Perhaps there are factors behind Nietzsche and Whitman that brought about this same belief of suspension and release from any grounding force, such as God.

What do you all think? Have we scratched the surface of some movement within Modernism that binds such appearingly different authors? I would love to hear what you all think...

Short Term Goals

I've been lagging on this project and this blog reflects that. Here are the following things I need to do:

1. Get a second faculty adviser. Top of my list is Prof. Emeritus Carolyn Porter, upon the recommendation of a graduate student friend of mine who had her as his own faculty adviser. She is an expert on all things Faulkner.
2. Establish reading schedule. Figure out what times during the day I can read and maintain a steady, consistent schedule.
3. With number 2, slim down the works I want to focus on. I think I have too much. (I already feel this way, and it is day 1 of Spring Semester!)
4. Read some criticism on Nietzsche and Faulkner (I know, contradicting number 3)

I'll be updating this blog hopefully daily, and maybe people interested in Faulkner, Nietzsche, and Modernism will be interested enough to read it.