Whitman's Columbia: The Commemoration Of The World's Columbian Exposition Of 1893 In A Thought Of Columbus

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Article published in «Walt Whitman Quarterly Review» — 2011 — 29 — pp. 1-18. DOI: 10.13008/2153-3695.1995
From the moment the intent to host the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 was announced in 1890, the whole country was eagerly talking about it.1 The event was intended to reflect America’s new-found prominence on the world stage by celebrating the four centuries of progress since Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas, and hardly any publication lacked some mention of the event. While the Exposition was being planned many readers of poems like “Passage to India,” “Song of the Exposition,” and “Prayer of Columbus” thought that Walt Whitman should have been involved in some direct way. For instance, Illustrated American thought he would make an ideal representative for the fair, publishing in 1891 an anonymous editorial criticizing the Exposition planners’ request of a commemorative poem from Alfred Lord Tennyson.

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Volume 29 | Number 1 ( 2011) pps. 1-18 Whitman's Columbia: The Commemoration of the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 in "A Thought of Columbus" Andrew Vogel ISSN 0737-0679 (Print) ISSN 2153-3695 (Online) Copyright © 2011 Andrew Vogel Recommended Citation Vogel, Andrew. "Whitman's Columbia: The Commemoration of the World's Columbian Exposition of 1893 in "A Thought of Columbus"." Walt Whitman Quarterly Review 29 (2011), 1-18. Available at: http://dx.doi.org/10.13008/2153-3695.1995 This Essay is brought to you for free and open access by Iowa Research Online. It has been accepted for inclusion in Walt Whitman Quarterly Review by an authorized administrator of Iowa Research Online. For more information, please contact [email protected] Whitman’s Columbia: The Commemoration of the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 in “A Thought of Columbus” Andrew Vogel From the moment the intent to host the World’s Columbian Exposition of 1893 was announced in 1890, the whole country was eagerly talking about it.1 The event was intended to reflect America’s new-found prominence on the world stage by celebrating the four centuries of progress since Christopher Columbus discovered the Americas, and hardly any publication lacked some mention of the event. While the Exposition was being planned many readers of poems like “Passage to India,” “Song of the Exposition,” and “Prayer of Columbus” thought that Walt Whitman should have been involved in some direct way. For instance, Illustrated American thought he would make an ideal representative for the fair, publishing in 1891 an anonymous editorial criticizing the Exposition planners’ request of a commemorative poem from Alfred Lord Tennyson. The editorial questions the choice of Tennyson and argues instead for an American, ideally Whitman: But best of all would be an American poet. The children of the New World, which Columbus revealed to the Old, are best fitted to celebrate the glories of the new dispensation. Walt Whitman would be the ideal choice. He is an American, a democrat in the largest and best sense of the word, a son of the soil. He could give us a splendid chant, full of virility and breadth and wisdom. But we have not yet reached the ideal stage where we can appreciate him at his true worth.2 Later the same year, George Horton of the Chicago Herald requested in a letter that Whitman write an exclusive poem for his paper to commemorate the Exposition. Horton indicates that he had approached several other prominent poets, but flatteringly adds that any list of contemporary poets would be incomplete without Whitman. Appealing to Whitman’s penchant for self-promotion, Horton promises that “the West is anxious to hear from you on the subject, and The Herald reaches the