Walt Whitman's writing style

In the literary criticism I read titled "Mr. Walt Whitman" by Henry James, I did not get the impression from the beginning of the passage that the author was very fond of Walt Whitman.  He uses the word "melancholy" (James) to describe his writing style more than once.  In this particular criticism, Henry James is talking about Drum-Taps by Walt Whitman.  I have not read Drum-Taps and I never really plan on reading it, but if I was just some innocent reader who stumbled upon this literary criticism by Henry James, I honestly think I would make an effort to not read it.  Henry James believes that this work by Walt Whitman is "offensive against art" (James).  Drum-Taps takes place during the Civil War, and he thought that it was artistically safe.  Part of the passage is told from an unknown narrator and is not the words of Henry James.  The narrator describes the writing style of Walt Whitman as "prosaic" and "eclectic" (James), neither of which I fully understand the meaning of.  According to Dictionary.com, the definition of the word "eclectic" is "not following any one system...but selecting and using what are considered the best elements of all systems" (Dictionary.com).  I am already starting to like Walt Whitman because I think he and I think the same way.  Why only stick to one idea or way when there are so many others out there to consider?  It is not even just ideas, but just a general open-mindedness I guess.  The word "prosaic" means "of or having the character or form of prose rather than poetry" (Dictionary.com).  This makes sense now.  Obviously, Henry James felt like Walt Whitman was just telling a lame story about what was going on during the Civil War instead of using his poetic creativity to give the reader a better image.  To me, this does not seem very fair.  First of all, the Civil War was not a pretty place to be in.  How poetic can someone possibly get when men are dying and bleeding and freaking out all around you?  Maybe Henry James was offended because Walt Whitman's lack of proper portrayal (in the eyes of Henry James, not me!  I am totally neutral on this!) did not give the justice that the War deserved.  Just because it does not go into gory details does not mean it was a bad piece of work!  Maybe it was just boring or something!  I feel like this would have been a lot easier to talk about if I had read Drum-Taps by Walt Whitman, but I can say that I do know a lot about the Civil War thanks to AP US History.  From what I can tell from reading the literary criticism, I think that Walt Whitman's writing style must have been fairly serious.  Serious writings are more likely to be considered boring, and when people are bored they are more likely to be angry.  Henry James was probably upset he wasted his time reading something he did not enjoy.

James, Henry. "Mr. Walt Whitman." The Nation, November 16, 1865: 626. Quoted as "Mr. Walt Whitman" in Bloom, Harold, ed. Walt Whitman, Classic Critical Views. New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc.

"Eclectic." Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com. Web. 20 Mar. 2012.

"Prosaic." Dictionary.com. Dictionary.com. Web. 20 Mar. 2012.