Walt Whitman
Walt Whitman was an American poet of the nineteenth century, best known for *Leaves of Grass*, a collection he revised and expanded throughout his life.
His free verse style broke from traditional meter and rhyme, celebrating democracy, the body, and the American experience.
Whitman's influence on modern poetry is immense; he is often called the father of free verse.
Whitman's expansive verse collection
- Song of MyselfExtended lyric celebrating individual identity
- free versePoetry without fixed structure
- catalogingSystematic organization into records
- anaphoraRepeated opening words
cadence · enjambment · long lines · parallelism · chanting · oratory · apostrophe · enumeration
Whitman's expansive verse collection
- grassNarrow-leaved ground cover
- lilacPale purple hue
- calamusAromatic rhizome or reed
- live oakEvergreen oak, spreading canopy
sparrow · mockingbird · sea · meadow · earth · outdoors · pastoral · seasons
Western Long Island borough
- ManhattanNYC's densest borough
- CamdenPlace or name
- Long IslandNYC's suburban peninsula
- Civil WarCountrymen fighting countrymen
Lincoln · Union · frontier · Mississippi · open road · New Orleans · journalism · printing
Philosophy of universal equality
- brotherhoodKinship among men
- republicState with elected leaders
- suffrageRight to cast ballots
- equalitySame status for all
liberty · citizenship · multitudes · en-masse · plurality · commonality · grassroots · civic
Mutual loyalty among companions
- empathySharing another's emotions
- compassionConcern for others' distress
- dignityInnate personal worth
- brotherhoodKinship among men
nursing · Civil War · soldiers · suffering · benevolence · inclusivity · physicality · sensuality
Depending on oneself alone
- nonconformityRejection of prevailing norms
- self-expressionConveying one's inner world
- autonomyIndependent decision-making capacity
- selfhoodIndividual identity, personhood
independence · free-thinker · originality · distinctiveness · self-determination · solitude · singular · idiosyncrasy
Leaves of Grass
Whitman's expansive verse collection
- Song of MyselfExtended lyric celebrating individual identity
- free versePoetry without fixed structure
- catalogingSystematic organization into records
anaphora · cadence · enjambment · long lines · parallelism · chanting · oratory · apostrophe · enumeration · incantation
Leaves of Grass
Whitman's expansive verse collection
live oak · sparrow · mockingbird · sea · meadow · earth · outdoors · pastoral · seasons · renewal
Brooklyn
Western Long Island borough
- ManhattanNYC's densest borough
- CamdenPlace or name
- Long IslandNYC's suburban peninsula
Civil War · Lincoln · Union · frontier · Mississippi · open road · New Orleans · journalism · printing · carpentry
egalitarianism
Philosophy of universal equality
- brotherhoodKinship among men
- republicState with elected leaders
- suffrageRight to cast ballots
equality · liberty · citizenship · multitudes · en-masse · plurality · commonality · grassroots · civic · enfranchisement
comradeship
Mutual loyalty among companions
- empathySharing another's emotions
- compassionConcern for others' distress
- dignityInnate personal worth
brotherhood · nursing · Civil War · soldiers · suffering · benevolence · inclusivity · physicality · sensuality · mortality
self-reliance
Depending on oneself alone
- nonconformityRejection of prevailing norms
- self-expressionConveying one's inner world
- autonomyIndependent decision-making capacity
selfhood · independence · free-thinker · originality · distinctiveness · self-determination · solitude · singular · idiosyncrasy · uniqueness
- poetspoet, Homer, Dante, Milton, Emily Dickinson
- American LiteratureThe Great Gatsby, To Kill a Mockingbird, The Scarlet Letter, Moby-Dick, Moby Dick
- American AuthorsMark Twain, Edgar Allan Poe, Twain, Poe, Hawthorne
- literaturebooks, book, fiction, poetry, stories
- 1800s AmericaOregon Trail, Trail of Tears, transcontinental railroad, Civil War, Abraham Lincoln
- AuthorsShakespeare, William Shakespeare, Mark Twain, Twain, F. Scott Fitzgerald
Walt WhitmanEmily Dickinson
Alexander Pope · T.S. Eliot · Edgar Allan Poe · John Milton · John Donne
Walt Whitmannihilists
Deniers of meaning
pessimists · Emily Dickinson · Edgar Allan Poe · Samuel Beckett · T.S. Eliot
Walt WhitmanEmily Dickinson
Nathaniel Hawthorne · Edgar Allan Poe · Henry James · Herman Melville · T.S. Eliot