What Is Walt Whitman's Impact On American Poetry

        Whitman’s poems are easy to recognize.  He has a distinct style that can be identified, just like Edgar Allen Poe.  One poem that stands out from all the others is “There Was a Child Went Forth” from Leaves of Grass. This poem is literally about a child who goes forward in life, and absorbs things like the materials in his home, the people surrounding his hometown, and the memories will stay with him forever.  Whitman depicts this idea of walking away with memories from a childhood by describing all these images and recollections and then states the fact by writing, “These became part of that child who went forth everyday, and who now goes, and will always go forth every day” (39).

Introduction: He is one of America’s most admired and significant poets. His most famous book, Leaves of Grass, includes a collection of his poems. Although Leaves of Grass was initially ignored because of its harsh and explicit language it quickly became one of the best poems of American History. He had other professions too though, such as: a teacher, a government clerk, and a nurse during the American Civil War. This man, Walt Whitman, significantly changed the poetry realm and encouraged people to become better citizens through the transcendental philosophy that he lived by and based his literature on.

Whitman’s childhood was a short cry from the effortless bliss most children experience. Most of his family was illiterate. Watching his parents struggle to care for his large family inspired Whitman to aspire for

Walter “Walt” Whitman, also known as “the father of free verse,” is one of the most influential writers in American history. Whitman was born, on May 31, 1819, in Long Island, New York. His family settled in North America in the first half of the 17th century. His father and mother, Walter Whitman Sr. and Louisa Van Velsor, got married on June 9, 1816. Together, they had nine children. Whitman's father was of English descent and his mother was Dutch; this ancestry was typical of the region. They were poor farmers with meager amounts of formal education.

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.

They used these new writing styles to express uniquely American ideas. Whitman and Dickinson are well known for modern writers; their writings differ and are common in many ways. Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman are known to be the founders of modern American poetry (Nelson, 21). Both pioneered their own unique style

Walt Whitman was an acclaimed American poet whose work and methods still inspire people today, both young and old. He was influenced in his childhood because he was part of such a big family that struggled on a daily basis. In fact, when he was 11 just eleven years old he concluded formal schooling to get a job and help support his large family. Also, Walt was influenced by Deism, he agreed that everybody's faith was the same. Whitman was named: “The father of free verse” by many people because he had such a strange life which influenced him to write like this.

Walt Whitman was one of the most inspiring and influential poets of America in the 19th century and still is today. He has lived in America his entire life and has seen the positives and the negatives of American life. America is similar to a work in progress to Whitman, a nation that is always evolving into something greater despite the rough times. America is said to be a land of golden opportunity, where all dreams come true and people who arrive there are promised a perfect life full of freedom and happiness. America is great but it could be greater in Whitman’s eyes.

Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman are probably the two of the most innovative poets of the American Literature. One of the most noticeable difference between the two writers is the length of the poems, Dickinson’s poems are short and to the point while Whitman’s are more elaborate and long. Another distinctive different in style in seen in content. Dickinson’s is whimsical while Whitman’s is objective.

Walt Whitman was born in West Hills, Long Island, on May 31, 1819. He is the second son of eight siblings in the family. In his early life, Whitman received a formal education until age of 11 because he needed to help his father to support the big family. His first job as an office boy “opened up the world of literature to him” (Reynolds 6). No longer after that, he became a printer at local newspaper which made him interested in

Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson are both considered two of the greatest poets from their time. In a time of very specific writing styles they changed the face of poetry around the world. They have two very different styles of writing translated into their poems. Two prime examples of these styles would be the poems " The Brain-- is wider than the Sky" and "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer." These poems have the same focus of the brain but there is a great difference in the value each author places on wisdom and knowledge.

Walt used creativity, personal experiences and different ideas in his writing. He moved various times through his childhood, and that may have moved his personality to become slightly neurotic. He has done a lot of things in his life that has changed the way that future poets will write. Walt Whitman entered this world on May thirty-first, eighteen-nineteen in West Hills, New York. He was the second son among nine other children in his household. His parents were Louisa Van Velsor and Walter Whitman, a housebuilder. His name was soon shortened to Walt to keep from getting confused with his father’s similar name. The family commuted to Brooklyn, New York when Walt was only

Walt Whitman, one of the key figures of the American Romantic movement, was born on May 31, 1819 in New York. At the age of twelve, Whitman began to study the printer's trade and educated himself by reading the works of Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, and the Bible. He worked in the printing industry until a fire all but destroyed the industry in 1836, which led Whitman to began his career in teaching. In 1841 Walt Whitman turned to a career in journalism, which was critical in developing his unique style of poetry. Finally, in 1855 Whitman published his first twelve poems in a volume called Leaves of Grass, but it was when he sent a copy to Ralph Waldo Emerson that his career really began. Emerson praised Whitman’s new style of poetry, and the next edition of Leaves of Grass was published with a glowing letter from Emerson, Whitman’s response, and 33 poems, including revisions of poems that had previously been published in the first edition. After the Civil War broke out, Walt traveled to Washington DC to care for his

Walt Whitman’s portfolio of poetry was a crucial staple in the American identity. Whitman used his poetry to contribute to the evolution of self-reliance, human freedom and concepts of democracy. These influences can be seen throughout all of his poems, but more relevantly in “Song of Myself”, “For You O Democracy” and in “Live Oak, with Moss”. After analyzing these works thoroughly, Whitman has undeniably aided in the development of American identity and influenced many more American poets and literary authors. Whitman is able to influence his beliefs by creating personal connections in his poems that will resonate with his audience. During the time of Whitman, the Civil War was on the rise

Walter “Walt” Whitman was born May 31, 1819 in West Hills, NY to Walter Whitman and Louisa Van Velsor. Whitman was the second son of nine children and he grew up in a family of modest means who grew up assuming the concrete existence of their country, because they were of the first generation of Americans who were born in the newly formed United States. Whitman did not grow up with an especially affectionate father, he was a stern and rumored alcoholic, but he did have his mother whom he became quite close with and would have a reoccurring role for emotional support in his life.