Exploring the Roots The “Calamus” section in Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass is named after the calamus plant (Acorus calamus), also known as “sweet flag,” which grows in wetlands and is similar to a cat-tail. Many scholars and critics have noted that the floral spadix has a decidedly phallic appearance, but of greater significance to Whitman were the plant’s “pink-tinged […]
“Song of Myself” has long served as a sort of scripture for me, especially this particular section. I have quoted it many times all over social media. Whenever the demons of doubt cast their shadows on me, Whitman’s lyrical sermons have frequently offered me comfort and inspiration. Whitman viewed both the natural world and the human world with a sense […]
In the early 1880s, the painter Thomas Eakins took numerous photographs of nude models as figure studies for his curriculum at the Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts. This collection of photos is commonly known as “The Naked Series.” People of different ages and body types were represented, including Eakins himself and several of his students. Many of the models […]