Representing the Kosmos: The "Lyric Turn" in Whitman

Explores "the changing status of the major modes" of literature--here narrative and lyric--in the context of Whitman\u27s oeuvre, focusing especially on "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking" and "As I Ebb\u27d with the Ocean of Life" and defending the lyric against contemporary, pro-narrative arguments that see lyric modes as solipsistic; argues that "lyric reminds us where freedom may be found and why it matters.