Comments on: ORANGE BUDS BY MAIL FROM FLORIDA http://camdenannotation.lookingforwhitman.org/2009/11/02/orange-buds-by-mail-from-florida/ Just another Looking for Whitman weblog Wed, 24 Apr 2013 13:30:15 +0000 hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=4.4.30 By: bmzreece http://camdenannotation.lookingforwhitman.org/2009/11/02/orange-buds-by-mail-from-florida/comment-page-1/#comment-76 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:18:24 +0000 http://camdenannotation.lookingforwhitman.org/?p=97#comment-76 Whitman’s simple, optimistic poem is amazingly among those which caused uproar in his day.

Whitman’s poem celebrates the great level of American civilization in its [America’s] ability to deliver a parcel across “a thousand miles” through storm and snow in a mere 3 days. But citizens suffering misfortune at the time, due to the March blizzard of 1888 that blindsided the coast, took great offense at Whitman’s optimism and good fortune and many wrote poems mocking Whitman [though most of these took particular aim at “The First Dandelion,” published 6 days earlier].

For more, see these notes from the Walt Whitman Archive: http://www.whitmanarchive.org/published/periodical/poems/per.00126

]]> By: bmzreece http://camdenannotation.lookingforwhitman.org/2009/11/02/orange-buds-by-mail-from-florida/comment-page-1/#comment-74 Wed, 18 Nov 2009 21:03:24 +0000 http://camdenannotation.lookingforwhitman.org/?p=97#comment-74 The part of the poem that Whitman’s contemporary readers seemed to miss, Whitman indicates his purpose in writing.

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