Walt Whitman

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WALT WHITMAN: THE BOY


- Walt Whitman was born in Long Island, NY on May 31, 1819 and was raised in Brooklyn.
- He did not have a formal education but read the works of Sir Walter Scott, Shakespeare, Homer, and Dante during his spare time.
- He spent most of his early adulthood alternating between printing jobs and newspaper writing.
- He eventually became the editor of a highly respected newspaper called “Brooklyn Eagle” and later had a position on a paper in New Orleans.
- Walt quit journalism in 1850 in order to devote more of his time and energy into writing poetry.

WALT WHITMAN: THE MAN

- Walt passed away at the age of 72 in Camden, New Jersey.
- Whitman’s main inspiration as a poet was Emerson.
- He expressed in each of his works how he viewed the world around him and his core beliefs in democracy, equality, and the spiritual unity of all forms of life.

- Many criticized the first edition of "Leaves of Grass." The amount of criticism received was due to the subject matter of the poem itself and his misuse of poetic devices and forms.

WALT WHITMAN: LEGEND

- Whitman’s well-known nickname was "The Bard of Democracy."
- "Leaves of Grass" is considered to be a landmark in American literature.
- His work celebrated the spirit of America and the common man living in the country.
- His philosophy was composed of his ability to absorb and comprehend everything he observed; he borrowed most of his ideas from other Transcendentalist poets.

"As poet and as person, Walt Whitman remains large
and evasive. We cannot know, even now, much that he
desired us not to know, despite the best efforts of many
devoted and scholarly biographers. The relation between his life and his poetry is far more uncertain than most of his readers believe it to be.
"Yet Whitman is so important to us, so crucial
to an American mythology, so absolutely central to our
literary culture, that we need to go on trying to bring his life and his work together. Our need might have have
delighted Whitman, and might have troubled him, also."

"Leaves of Grass"

Whitman's Literary Style

EPIC POETRY:
a long story about a hero whose adventures embody the
values of a nation

WHITMAN'S EPIC THEME: all people of all times are
connected by their shared
experience of life

FREE VERSE:
poetry
that utilizes an
irregular
meter and line
length, and is supposed
to resemble the spoken
word

Literary Elements

• Long, sprawling lines to create an atmosphere of leisure.
• Catalogs or lists to invoke an "infinite range of elements."
• Anaphora to create a lulling, repetitive cadence.
• His diction is archaic to create a biblical, venerative ambiance.
• Onomatopoeia to create an earthy, intimate, natural feeling. 

Critical Analysis

Is Walt Whitman’s characterization of the United States is still accurate?

His characterization is still extremely accurate in several points. For example, "America does not repel the past or what it has produced under its formsor amid other politics…"
After 9/11 happened, we swore to "Never Forget," and we have not.

What does Whitman address in his first paragraph?

He addresses his belief that, no matter how far America progresses industrially, it will be influenced always by the promises of the open land that formed the country.
The title hints at the concept, not only of the roots of grass implanted in soil, but the roots of the American nation implanted in the freedom of the open earth that called to the founding fathers, the pioneers, and, eventually, the transcendentalists.

What does Walt Whitman mean when he says "the corpse is slowly borne from the eating and sleeping rooms of the house"?

As Americans do rudimentary things (like eating and sleeping) inside, who Americans are as a people will die off. By virtue of being human and American, they are bound to nature. By closing themselves off from the mother of their country and of their lifebreath, they cease to live wholly and fully, not being who they are nor being that well.

What sets America apart from all other nations, according to Whitman?

America is different because we learn from our mistakes. It also has the “fullest poetical nature” in the world.

What is the meaning of Whitman’s notion that the United States is “a teeming nation of nations”?

Because the entire country is founded on and populated by the people emigrating here, America consists of a unique melting pot of different cultures all coexisting in one place.

What is the greatest poem?

United States of America itself is the greatest poem.
A poem is a collection of words written so that every person who reads them gets a different meaning personalized to their own life experience.
America is a collection of vastly different people with different values, cultures, and philosophies that come together to create a country where everyone can get a unique experience commensurate to the situations they are living in.

How is Whitman redefining the idea of a poem?

He is writing poetry not only to get across a point; he is writing to make his poetry mean something to the reader and perhaps change their outlook on everything.
Whitman strives to redefine poetry as a literal thing that can change the lives, minds, and hearts of his readers.
It is fitting, then, that, as he redefines what it means to be a poet, he also redefines what it means to be a reader.

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