Walt Whitman As A Revolutionary Poet

Walt Whitman was a revolutionary poet who let his emotions run free through his poetry. Whitman was never afraid to express himself no matter how inappropriate or offensive his emotions might have seemed at the time. This is why Whitman's poem still echo that same sentiment and emotion today almost as loudly as when the drums were first tapped.

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

There have been millions of contributions that have shaped America to be what it is today. Being more than a piece of land, America is an inspiring geographical land full of potential and essentially a project, nevertheless, with desire and perseverance. As there still are many divisions in America, for decades America was in a desperate need of some sort of unification. This unification could be achieved possibly through poetry, or anything that could unquestionably transfigure the dormant potential for the divisions in American diversity to become a unified country that would support to eliminate all forces that cause separation. Walt Whitman’s poetry has helped construct the democratic qualities that define what we may call the American self.

Walt Whitman was born on May 31, 1819 and he died on March 26, 1892. He had a nickname that was "Bard of Democracy. When he was 11, his dad took him out of school so he could help around the house and the farm. He started to work as a journalist and he did not really like it because he always had a hard deadline. Whitman became angered about the slavery problems so that is what made him sit down and start writing his feeling which became a poem.

I believe his jobs are what led him to write such amazing poetry. In 1846, Walt became an editor for a daily newspaper, the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, and worked there for about two years (Biography.com Editors 1). He worked in New Orleans as an editor of the Crescents in 1848 (Biography.com Editors 1). “Whitman returned to Brooklyn in the autumn of 1848 and started a new ‘free soil’ newspaper called the Brooklyn Freeman, which eventually became a daily despite initial challenges” (Biography.com Editors 1). He was very successful at all of his jobs that related to writing, which helped when he began working on his poetry.

Biography: Paragraph 1: Walter Whitman Jr. born on May 31, 1819 in West Hills, Long Island, New York and his mother name was Louisa Vanvesor and she was Dutch

Walt Whitman was born in 1819, a second son to a housebuilder and one of 9 children. He worked as a printer at an early age, this is where he became enamored with the written word. Working as a printer in New York until a fire devastated the printing section of the city he was self-taught reading the works of Homer, Dante and the Bible. Whitman worked as a teacher for several years before becoming a journalist, full-time and establishing the paper The Long Islander. He worked as an editor for several papers before moving to New Orleans to become the editor of The Crescent where he first experienced the reality of the slave trade. Returning to his hometown of Brooklyn in Long Island he founded the newspaper the Brooklyn Freeman and continued

Walt Whitman was a compassionate man who also advocated for the illegalization of slavery. Whitman’s romantic partner Peter George Doyle was also a huge influence for some of his poems. In order to somewhat grasp the full scope of the man, some of the earlier biography of Walt Whitman would have to be explained. Considered one of the most unique poets of his time, his poetry was not always appreciated.

Walt Whitman is one of the most influential writers in American History. Although greatly unappreciated in his time, Whitman’s works were truly groundbreaking and served as the basis to usher in a completely new literary movement. Growing up and writing in a era of American History of immense change on numerous spectrums, Walt Whitman’s literary works explored many of these new concepts and ideologies brought forward during this time. As possibly the most important poet of the American Romantic movement, Walt Whitman’s poetry such as “For You O Democracy” and “I Sing the Body Electric” exemplified resurging and new found American ideals stemming from the events of the early to mid nineteenth century. With economic, physical, ideological,

May 31, 1819 was the day that poet Walt Whitman was born. He was born to a housebuilder named Walter Whitman. He started working with printing when he was 12 years. After a devastating fire destroyed that industry, then 17 year old Walt Whitman went to work as teacher in a schoolhouse for five years. He then went to work in the journalism industry. He founded a newspaper called the Long-Islander. He then worked with other newspapers, like the Daily Eagle and the Crescent. He then realized the horrors of slavery during his time in New Orleans with the creation of the Brooklyn Freeman, using his unique sense of poetry. He wrote the first edition of Leaves of Grass, which contained 12 poems. He then created a second book right before the Civil

Whitmans father was an unsuccessful carpenter, and his mother was nearly illiterate. The Whitmans had acquired a small farm and had become wealthy until Mr. Whitman decided to sell his land and pursue other interests. Around the time the famous author was born, his father found it increasingly difficult to make a living. Whitman once said, “The time of my boyhood was a very restless and unhappy one; i did not know what to do.”(Gay Wilson 335) By the time Whitman was in school it was obvious that he was exceptionally talented. When Whitman was just seventeen, he landed a job in Long Island teaching in a one room school house. Whitman also started enjoying poetry at this young age and had many ideas about life that sharply contrasted his fathers pessimistic views. When Whitman started writing for the newspaper, his bosses got mad at him because of his radical ideas opposing slavery, which were later reflected in his poetry. As Whitman's career went on, he was fired from four different news papers in a matter of seven years. The

Walt Whitman was one of the greatest poets in American literature. In his works he celebrated the freedom of the individual and the spirit of American democracy. He exalted the common man, the immigrant, the laborer, and the pioneer, he made the occupations of everyday life a subject of native American poetry. His truly original work , Leaves of Grass, was a landmark in both content and style.

After studying American author, Walt Whitman, it is clear that he has had a long lasting impact on society and the lives of authors and artists who came after him. Through works like Democratic Vistas and Song of Myself, Whitman gave American society tools to promote creative expression and the essence of democracy. However, Whitman’s methods had to be adopted over time to touch/bring attention to different social issues. Two authors who were able to branch off of Whitman’s works and ideas were Isadora Duncan and James Baldwin. By analyzing these two important characters of history, we will be able explore two different social issues in two different eras and how Duncan and Baldwin refined Whitman’s approach in order to make a statement in society. It’s significant to identify the importance of these artists because this process is still relevant in today’s society, adapting from Whitman in order to get points across and make a difference.

After the Civil War, Walt Whitman realized that the American people were in need of their own identity. Therefore, he wrote the book “Leaves of Grass” with the goal of creating a literature piece that was authentic and organic to the United States in every sense. Whitman introduced to literature the idea of the “American Dream” and highlighted how important it was for the American people to develop their own identity. Consequently, he rejected the European writing styles and adapted the use of free-verses to his writing, making it a popular writing style in American poetry. Whitman valued of humanity, nature and spirituality. Therefore, he joined the Transcendental literary movement and

In his poems and life, Walt Whitman celebrated the human spirit and the human body. He sang the praises of democracy and marveled at the technological advances of his era. His direct poetic style shocked many of his contemporaries. This style, for which Whitman is famous, is in direct relation to several major American cultural developments. The development of American dictionaries, the growth of baseball, the evolution of Native American policy, and the development of photography all played a part and became essential components of Whitman’s poetry.