25/08/2025
Walt Whitman
"Re-examine all you have been told in school or church or in any book, and dismiss whatever insults your own soul."
"Walter Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse. His work was controversial in its time, particularly his 1855 poetry collection Leaves of Grass, which was described as obscene for its overt sensuality. Born in Huntington on Long Island, as a child and through much of his career he resided in Brooklyn. At age 11, he left formal schooling to go to work. Later, Whitman worked as a journalist, a teacher, and a government clerk. Whitman's major poetry collection, Leaves of Grass, was first published in 1855 with his own money and became well known. The work was an attempt at reaching out to the common person with an American epic. He continued expanding and revising it until his death in 1892."
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Born: Walter Whitman, May 31, 1819, West Hills, New York, U.S.
Died: March 26, 1892, Camden, New Jersey, U.S.
Occupation: Poet, essayist, journalist
Whitman: Leaves of Grass, preface
