Walt Whitman is considered one of the most important and influential American poets both for the style and subject matter of his work.
Walter Whitman was born on May 31, 1819, in West Hills, Town of Huntington, Long Island.
His parents were Walter (1789–1855) and Louisa Van Velsor Whitman (1795–1873). He was immediately nicknamed "Walt" to distinguish him from his father.
Walt dropped out of school at the age of eleven to support his family; they were struggling financially in part due to bad investments. He worked as a law office assistant and later as an apprentice and printer's devil for the weekly Long Island newspaper The Patriot, edited by Samuel E. Clement.
Whitman went onto work for several other newspapers and even founded one himself in Huntington.. The Long-Islander, for which Whitman served as publisher, editor, pressman, and distributor and even provided home delivery, was first published in 1838.
The young Walt Whitman was known as a loafer. He would arrive at the offices of newspaper where he worked at around 11.30am, and leave at 12.30 for a two-hour lunch break. He would work for another hour after lunch before calling it a day.
He contributed freelance fiction and poetry throughout the 1840s and by 1850 had determined to become a poet.
Whitman preached an American version of individual freedom and human brotherhood. His work was considered very controversial in its time, particularly his free verse poetry collection Leaves of Grass, which scandalized the public with for its overt celebration of sexuality.
The first edition of Leaves of Grass was published on July 4, 1855. Whitman paid for it himself and had it printed at a local print shop. A total of 795 copies were printed.
Whitman anonymously published fawning reviews of Leaves of Grass in order to boost sales.
Leaves of Grass was so controversial for its reference to open sexuality and homosexuality, that a major literary weekly publication recommended in its review that Whitman kill himself.
The first edition of Leaves of Grass was 95 pages long and contained 12 poems. It did not sell well.
Whitman kept adding material to Leaves of Grass and expanded the book many times during his life
Among the poems in the collection are "Song of Myself," "I Sing the Body Electric," "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking."
Here are some songs inspired by Leaves of Grass:
I Sing The Body Electric by Cast of Fame
Out Of The Cradle by Rush
Song of Myself by Nightwish
Body Electric by Lana Del Rey
The Body Electric by Hurray for the Riff Raff
Whitman volunteered as a nurse during the American Civil War. He wrote countless letters on behalf of soldiers, some of whom were illiterate or were dying, back home to their loved ones.
In 1865 Whitman published Drum Taps, a volume inspired by his work as an army nurse doing the Civil War.
His 1865 poem "O Captain! My Captain!" was written on the occasion of the death of Abraham Lincoln. First published in The Saturday Press on November 4, 1865, Whitman later included it in his later Leaves of Grass collections and recited the poem at several lectures on Lincoln's assassination. One of Walt Whitman's most popular poems, he grew to be "almost sorry" he wrote it. "
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| Whitman as photographed by Mathew Brady |
Walter Whitman was born on May 31, 1819, in West Hills, Town of Huntington, Long Island.
His parents were Walter (1789–1855) and Louisa Van Velsor Whitman (1795–1873). He was immediately nicknamed "Walt" to distinguish him from his father.
Walt dropped out of school at the age of eleven to support his family; they were struggling financially in part due to bad investments. He worked as a law office assistant and later as an apprentice and printer's devil for the weekly Long Island newspaper The Patriot, edited by Samuel E. Clement.
Whitman went onto work for several other newspapers and even founded one himself in Huntington.. The Long-Islander, for which Whitman served as publisher, editor, pressman, and distributor and even provided home delivery, was first published in 1838.
The young Walt Whitman was known as a loafer. He would arrive at the offices of newspaper where he worked at around 11.30am, and leave at 12.30 for a two-hour lunch break. He would work for another hour after lunch before calling it a day.
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| Whitman at age 28 |
He contributed freelance fiction and poetry throughout the 1840s and by 1850 had determined to become a poet.
Whitman preached an American version of individual freedom and human brotherhood. His work was considered very controversial in its time, particularly his free verse poetry collection Leaves of Grass, which scandalized the public with for its overt celebration of sexuality.
The first edition of Leaves of Grass was published on July 4, 1855. Whitman paid for it himself and had it printed at a local print shop. A total of 795 copies were printed.
Whitman anonymously published fawning reviews of Leaves of Grass in order to boost sales.
Leaves of Grass was so controversial for its reference to open sexuality and homosexuality, that a major literary weekly publication recommended in its review that Whitman kill himself.
The first edition of Leaves of Grass was 95 pages long and contained 12 poems. It did not sell well.
Whitman kept adding material to Leaves of Grass and expanded the book many times during his life
Among the poems in the collection are "Song of Myself," "I Sing the Body Electric," "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking."
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| Leaves of Grass 1860 edition |
Here are some songs inspired by Leaves of Grass:
I Sing The Body Electric by Cast of Fame
Out Of The Cradle by Rush
Song of Myself by Nightwish
Body Electric by Lana Del Rey
The Body Electric by Hurray for the Riff Raff
Whitman volunteered as a nurse during the American Civil War. He wrote countless letters on behalf of soldiers, some of whom were illiterate or were dying, back home to their loved ones.
In 1865 Whitman published Drum Taps, a volume inspired by his work as an army nurse doing the Civil War.
His 1865 poem "O Captain! My Captain!" was written on the occasion of the death of Abraham Lincoln. First published in The Saturday Press on November 4, 1865, Whitman later included it in his later Leaves of Grass collections and recited the poem at several lectures on Lincoln's assassination. One of Walt Whitman's most popular poems, he grew to be "almost sorry" he wrote it. "
Whitman later wrote three other poems about Lincoln,"When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd", and "Hush'd Be the Camps To-Day" also in 1865 and "This Dust Was Once the Man" in 1871.
Whitman published a self-help series called Manly Health and Training under a pen name. It recommended beards, nude sunbathing, getting up early, plenty of fresh air, bathing daily in cold water, eating meat almost exclusively and comfortable shoes.
He never married and is generally assumed to have had a homosexual or bisexual orientation on the basis of his poetry.
Whitman was deeply influenced by deism. He denied any one faith was more important than another, and embraced all religions equally. In "Song of Myself", he gave an inventory of major religions and indicated he respected and accepted all of them.
Whitman spent his last years at his home in Camden, New Jersey. Today, it is open to the public as the Walt Whitman House.
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| Walt Whitman House. By Midnightdreary |
Walt Whitman died on March 26, 1892. The cause of death was officially listed as "pleurisy of the left side, consumption of the right lung, general miliary tuberculosis and parenchymatous nephritis".
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