Walt Whitman

Early Years

• Born 1819 into a working-class family in Brooklyn, Whitman was largely self-educated, drawing his curriculum from the libraries, museums, and theaters of up-and-coming New York.
• After several years in the newspaper business, mainly for the Brooklyn Eagle, and a five-year stint as a teacher, he began to focus his energies on creative writing.

Leaves of Grass

• After honing his new style for several years, Whitman sponsored his own coming-out party in 1855, putting up the money to publish a collection of 12 poems titled Leaves of Grass.
• At first, the volume didn't excite much enthusiasm in critics or regular readers, but it did serve to solidify Whitman's status as a writer and stated his artistic purpose: “I celebrate myself, And what I assume you shall assume, For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.”

Leaves of Grass

• Eight editions of the title eventually appeared.
• He revised the work copiously, rearranging, adding, and removing poems with each new release.
• In reality, the various editions of Leaves of Grass are different books, each reflecting Whitman's evolving view of American society and the poet's role in it.

Civil War

• When Whitman’s brother George was injured during fighting in Virginia, Walt took his nursing on the road, first to Fredericksburg, Virginia, then to Washington, D.C.
• George recovered and rejoined the military, but Walt stayed in Washington.
• He had become attached to hospital work and spent the remainder of the war conversing with the wounded and dying, writing letters to their families, and bringing them small gifts.

Post-Civil War

• Whitman was traumatized by Lincoln's assassination in 1865 and composed two celebrated elegies mourning the president: When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd and O Captain! My Captain!
• Despite suffering a stroke in 1873, Whitman continued to tinker with Leaves of Grass until his death in 1892.
• By then, he was recognized as a writer of some stature in American literary circles. In Europe, he was appreciated for his celebration of democracy, liberty, and America's cultural diversity.