The Poetry of Walt Whitman Essay

    From looking at the titles of Walt Whitman's vast collection of poetry in Leaves of Grass one would be able to surmise that the great American poet wrote about many subjects -- expressing his ideas and thoughts about everything from religion to Abraham Lincoln. Quite the opposite is true, Walt Whitman wrote only about a single subject which was so powerful in the mind of the poet that it consumed him to the point that whatever he wrote echoed of that subject. The beliefs and tenets of transcendentalism were the subjects that caused Whitman to write and carried through not only in the wording and imagery of his poems, but also in the revolutionary way that he chose to write his poetry.

Walt Whitman listened to the warriors’ battle stories and used them as inspiration for some of his poems. Through his volunteer work, Whitman saw firsthand the debilitating effect the war had on the soldiers’ mental health and their physical injuries, all of which were difficult to treat due to the insufficient amount of supplies and knowledgeable people present to help. All of his work with those who served during the Civil War served as inspiration for Walt Whitman’s collection of wartime poems known as the Drum-Taps. Whitman’s rise to fame is accredited to his poem “O’ Captain, My Captain!” which was published shortly following the assassination of United States president, Abraham Lincoln. However, this traditional poem varied from the majority of his work that was lined passionately with words representing connections between a body and its soul. From the collection of Drum-Taps, the poem “A Sight in Camp in the Daybreak Gray and Grim” describes Whitman arriving at the hospital where he sees the three unattended dead bodies. In each individual stanza, he describes each of the victims.

Walt Whitman believed everyone was equal and was a big fan of Abraham Lincoln. After Lincoln’s assassination Whitman wrote many poems to describe the travel of Lincoln’s body back to Springfield including “Drum Taps”. According to Martin Griffin of the New York Times “Oh Captain! My Captain” was the only short poem about Lincoln to become well known. Although Whitman never directly met Lincoln, he had seen

He was born in May 1819 in New York. Whitman “aimed to transcend traditional epics, eschew normal aesthetic form, and reflect the nature of the American experience and its democracy” ("Walt Whitman"). Whitman’s views on slavery are a little confusing. He initially called for the abolition of slavery but later viewed the Abolitionist Movement as a risk to democracy. In his poem Leaves of Grass he portrays African Americans as “beautiful, dignified, and intelligent” (Klammer). However in other poems, Whitman writes how he thought blacks were inferior and that he had little sympathy for them (Klammer). Whitman volunteered his time caring for wounded soldiers ("Walt Whitman"). He made 600 hospital visits and saw more than 100,000 patients ("Walt Whitman"). This encouraged him to return to poetry where he wrote about the realities of the Civil War. In the final years of Whitman’s life, he wrote that he was disappointed in the America that he saw emerge after the Civil War ("Walt

Whitman wrote broad stanzas and focused on the whole of America as his inspiration. His lines covered a wide range of topics and generated multiple points of view for the reader. He called his life’s work “Leaves of Grass”; stressing the

Walt Whitman was one of the best literary figures of that time and through history because people still love his books. After Whitman stopped writing he decided to become a nurse during the Civil War. His most famous book was Leaves of Grass; it is now a trademark book through history. He also wrote about the potential freedom in America.

Introduction: Walt Whitman was an American poet from West Hills, Long Island New York. He wrote plenty of poems for the New York Times Journal newspaper also known for the famous book Leaves of Grass that had nine editions and is more than one book. The book Leaves of Grass was published in 1888 when he was finally done with all nine editions and he had passed after publishing the ninth edition.

Those involved in the military, such as Whitman, held deep admiration toward Lincoln. The unforeseen tragedy had transversed the civilian population and had stunned the Union officers. During the Civil War Walter Whitman ministered to wounded soldiers in Union army hospitals in Washington, D.C. The soldiers had--wept like little children when told "Uncle Abe was dead" (A Lawyer Called to Serve 2000). Whitman's involvement in the Civil War had instilled in him a deep ingrained respect toward President Lincoln.

    Walt Whitman grew up in Brooklyn, New York with his nine brothers and sisters. He liked writing, by the time he was twenty he loved the boom town atmosphere of Brooklyn and got into journalism. After ten years he decided to go down to New Orleans for a little break. He started journalism in New Orleans at the New Orleans Crescent. Then he went back to Brooklyn and wrote at Brooklyn Freedom.

Walt Whitman is known for having some of the most distinct poems in history. His work is instantly recognizable due to his particular traits of: individuality, an emphasis on the natural world, constantly using free verse, usually encompassing numerous subjects in one poem, using personal details, and the speaker speaking for himself and the reader. Many have tried, but very few poets have mastered the techniques Whitman once did. He wrote with a stylistic freedom and proved he was worthy to be an American Poet.

He also worked for 24 years in printing, publishing, and journalism before publishing “Leaves of Grass”. This instilled in him the desire to write and would lead him to eventually, become a major figure in the literary world. Walt Whitman very much looked up to and admired Ralph Waldo Emerson. He was drowning in a world of criticism and Emerson’s praise was like the warmth of the summer sun after an eternal winter storm. Emerson had a unique interpretation of life for this time period and Whitman patterned his poetry after these very ideas.

The dominant themes that are more pervasive in Whitman’s poetry are democracy, life/death cycles, individualism, and nature. These themes play major roles in some of his more notable poems such as “Songs of Myself” or “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry.” He used democracy as a theme to bring society together, and unite everyone based on their general beliefs. He depicted life and death cycles to merge society together on a spiritual level. Despite his eagerness to unite society he also embraced individualism, and is also a persistent theme in most of his poetry. Nature was an important concept that Whitman used to convince people who there were more important things to life than class structure. He used nature connect us all, and encourage people to

“O Captain! My Captain!” is one of the most popular poems ever written by Walt Whitman. Upon the initial reading of this poem, one may perceive the poem to be about a loyal captain who leads his crew on a treacherous, but successful, voyage which ends in devastation. If interpreted literally this is the poem’s only meaning, but for those who look further there is an underlying story behind the words of Whitman. Whitman uses multiple literary elements throughout this poem in order to unmask the story of Abraham Lincoln’s journey and ultimate death as a result of the Civil War and his fight to end slavery.

Walt Whitman, a civil war nurse was a self-taught poet in the 1800s. Whitman is known for using lists, anaphora, free verse, and other literary devices in his poems. In his works, he focuses on American workers, diversity, transcendent approaches to nature, and individualism. “Song of Myself,” a poem written by Whitman, explores themes of nature, sex, democracy, and spirituality. Whitman uses nature to fuel his creativity in using grass as a symbol of comparison to life by using imagery, metaphors, and analogies.

President Abraham Lincoln, admired by Walt Whitman, blossomed in “Whitman's writing and in American mythology”(Eiselein) for his leadership and nobility. Whitman hoped for a rugged, healthy, who knew what real, physical work was, to be the “[r]edeemer [p]resident of [t]hese [s]tates”(Whitman). His hopes came true “as in a dream”(Whitman) when “four years later, just such a beard-faced boatman”(Goodheart) entered the White House. Walt Whitman discovered the “comprehensive, all-directing soul he had long been seeking”(Reynolds) in Abraham Lincoln’s life. Therefore Whitman, a patriotic American, would see Lincoln’s death as not only a grave tragedy but also a “promise [of] ultimate purgation and unification for America.”(Reynolds).