Walt Whitman Research Paper

In early American Literature, there were several famous authors that shaped America and American literature into modern literature. Among those individuals are Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and, Walt Whitman. Of particular interest is Walt Whitman, who has fascinated the masses for over a century with his unorthodox writings. Whitman was inspired by Emerson in the beginning of his career, and later Emerson was the one who helped give Whitman the courage to continue writing after the public did not accept “Leaves of Grass” which was the first work Whitman published. Sadly, Whitman had to publish “Leaves of Grass” privately in the beginning. One poem of importance is from “Leaves of Grass,” that being “For You O Democracy.” As with many of Whitman’s works “For You O Democracy” discussed new ideas and beliefs. The first being the belief that America could stand as one entity; an entity that accepts everyone regardless of their race or social standing. Previously the nation had been divided based upon race and social standing. The second work by Whitman is “America,” a poem which was not published in Whitman’s original work “Leaves of Grass.” Rather, it was one of Whitman’s standalone tributes to the nation. One may wonder why Whitman had to publish his first work privately. Publishing privately had a great deal to do with censorship and the culture during his era. At this time citizens were not open to the idea of accepting the freedom of slaves or homosexuality,

    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 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

The Boston Intelligencer printed a scathing review stating that Whitman ‘must be some escaped lunatic, raving in pitiable delirium” (Levin 6). Regardless of all the negative criticism he received, he continued to improve and write more poems for Leaves of Grass. He didn’t let what people thought of him keep him from doing what he wanted to do. He published nine editions of his book, all slightly different (Bowes 1).

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,

Whitman was able to change people’s views on life and was able to give people something that they wanted and were looking for in his creation of a new writing style. His writing about real life experiences connected him well with the common man, which is another aspect of the Romantic period. Whitman is also thought of as the “father of free verse.” He enjoyed using free verse because it could further distinguish him from other writers of the past, and of his time.

Walt Whitman was a wonderful poet in his lifetime. He with many others influenced the American Literature during the time of the Great Depression. He was an American poet, essayist, novelist, short story writer, journalist, and editor. His work was revolutionary in both its style and content. Whitman promoted himself as the poet of American democracy and of the common man. His exploration and exaltation of sexuality and homosexuality has been downplayed. I plan to talk about Walt Whitman and his life of a poet.

Walt Whitman was a solitary man of many words. He was an extremely famous poet during the 19th century. Whitman influenced pop culture in his era through his many poems. Popular culture is the activities or ideas that the mass of population enjoy. Some say that he was the most influential writer of his era. Whitman went down a long, windy road to get to the point of greatness where he got. Although he started writing as a newspaper editor, he developed into an influential genius. Whitmans most famous writings was a book of poems called “Leaves of Grass” which consisted of over 400 poems. Walt Whitman influenced people of the 19th century by his writings in which he told people to focus on the individual, and that they were the most important

Walt Whitman changed poetry forever. His radical form of poetry changed how poetry was viewed. This is very similar to the rise of Hip Hop and how it has changed music forever.

He claims that he is divine, which means that he fellow man is as well since “every atom belonging to me as good as belongs to you” (Line 3). Therefore, the joining together of two bodies is as much as spiritual experience as a physical one. Whitman uses sexually charged language throughout the poem. This is not to be crude, but to exhibit an accepting mentality of the self, body include.

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

The ability to pinpoint the birth or beginning of the poet lifestyle is rare. It is rare for the observer as it is for the writer. The Walt Whitman poem “Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking” is looked at by most as just that. It is a documentation, of sorts, of his own paradigm shift. The realities of the world have therein matured his conceptual frameworks. In line 147 we read “Now in a moment I know what I am for, I awake.” This awakening is at the same time a death. The naiveté of the speaker (I will assume Whitman) is destroyed. Through his summer long observation, the truths of life are born, or at least reinforced, in him. The obvious elements are birth and death, which are both caused by another instance

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.

Whitman is known for being revolutionary for his use of free form verse in the nineteenth century. This style is evident throughout Song of Myself which aids in his descriptions and devices used to get his meaning across. His grouping of three lines per stanza for this section is common for the entirety of “Song of Myself”, which has variations of three line to occasionally five line stanzas. His freedom in his poem’s style and lack of rhyme scheme allow him to fully showcase his thoughts in a new way for this time period. An overall summary of the poem is Whitman’s pondering of himself and the world in behavior and personality to him being fully confident in himself with no existential crisis. For the first half of section 20, Whitman’s character of himself questions everything beyond the ownership of himself. He questions the integrity of other people’s identities and characters as well as ignoring social norms involving manners and religious behavior. The declaration of a lack of manners and questioning the church would have been scandalous to