This article is from the source 'bbc' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.
You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-36177820
The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.
Previous version
1
Next version
Version 0 | Version 1 |
---|---|
Poet Walt Whitman health tips unearthed | Poet Walt Whitman health tips unearthed |
(1 day later) | |
A trove of journalism by the great US poet Walt Whitman is being published online after lying in obscurity more than 150 years. | A trove of journalism by the great US poet Walt Whitman is being published online after lying in obscurity more than 150 years. |
The 13-part series, Manly Health and Training, was written under a pseudonym for a New York newspaper in 1858. | |
It contains a multitude of tips on topics such as diet, sex, and hygiene. | |
The 47,000-word series, which survived only in a few libraries, was discovered in a digitised newspaper database by a graduate student last year. | |
It is now being published by the online journal The Walt Whitman Quarterly Review. | It is now being published by the online journal The Walt Whitman Quarterly Review. |
US commentators point out that some of Whitman's health advice sounds surprisingly modern. | US commentators point out that some of Whitman's health advice sounds surprisingly modern. |
"Let the main part of the diet be meat, to the exclusion of all else," one entry reads - a exhortation that both The New York Times and Time Magazine say would be endorsed by today's paleo-diet advocates. | "Let the main part of the diet be meat, to the exclusion of all else," one entry reads - a exhortation that both The New York Times and Time Magazine say would be endorsed by today's paleo-diet advocates. |
Whitman also recommended the general use of the comfortable shoes "now specially worn by base-ball players" - trainers, as we would call them today. | Whitman also recommended the general use of the comfortable shoes "now specially worn by base-ball players" - trainers, as we would call them today. |
He also warned against the ravages of desk jobs. "To you, clerk, literary man, sedentary person, man of fortune, idler, the same advice. Up!" | He also warned against the ravages of desk jobs. "To you, clerk, literary man, sedentary person, man of fortune, idler, the same advice. Up!" |
Whitman is regarded as one of America's literary giants, but for many years he scraped a living as a journalist, and achieved success as a poet late in life. | Whitman is regarded as one of America's literary giants, but for many years he scraped a living as a journalist, and achieved success as a poet late in life. |
He began writing Manly Health and Training for The Atlas, a small New York newspaper, after the flop of Leaves of Grass - a collection now recognised as his masterpiece. | |
Ed Folsom, editor of The Walt Whitman Quarterly Review, told the New York Times that some of the journalism echoes the themes of self-improvement and homo-erotic love that are central to the poet's work. | Ed Folsom, editor of The Walt Whitman Quarterly Review, told the New York Times that some of the journalism echoes the themes of self-improvement and homo-erotic love that are central to the poet's work. |
Previous version
1
Next version