Walt+Whitman

Walt Whitman •Walter Whitman (May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an   American poet, essayist, journalist, and humanist. • He was a part of the transition between Transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both ways in his works. • Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, a lot of the times called called the father of free verse. • His work was very controversial in its time, particularly his poetry collection Leaves of Grass, which was described as obscene for his overt sexuality. • Born on Long Island, worked as a journalist, a teacher, a government clerk, and a volunteer nurse during the American Civil War in addition to publishing his poetry. • Early in his career, he also put out a temperance novel, Franklin Evans (1842). • major work, Leaves of Grass, was first published in   1855 with his own money. • The work was an attempt at reaching out to the common person with an American epic. • He continued expanding and revising it until he died in 1892. • After a stroke towards the end of his life, he moved to Camden, New Jersey where his health further declined. He died at 72 and his funeral became a public spectacle. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">• Whitman's sexuality is often talked about alongside his poetry. <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">• Whitman was concerned with politics throughout his life. <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';"> <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">• One great moment that he later recalled was when he was lifted <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">in the air and kissed on the cheek by the Marquis de Lafayette during a  <span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif';">celebration in Brooklyn on July 4, 1825.