Walt Whitman Essay

Living through the 1800’s, Whitman was exposed to a civil war that tore his country apart and aftermath that forever defined the U.S. These events influenced his poetry in that he wrote about the ideas that dealt with democracy and the bonds that connected man. In response to America’s new and ever-changing position in the world, Whitman also tried to develop a poetry that was uniquely American, while at the same time, striving to surpass the poets before him. The U.S poet Walt Whitman is considered one of the greatest poets of all time because he was one of the first to utilize free verse and praise the individual in a democratic society in his poetry collection, “Leaves of Grass”.

When Whitman died in 1892, “Leaves of Grass” had since been re-written eight different times and had grown larger with every edition. When his collection was first published in 1885 it spanned a measly 12 poems in length, but Whitman continually expanded his collection throughout the years. Both revising and adding in new poems that he wrote until the year he died, the last edition in 1982 had almost 300 poems in total.

Whitman’s poetry reflected what he saw in the world and as such he put the history and culture of America as a nation in his poetry. “Whitman looked to the Americans living around him for inspiration, perceiving "a teeming nation of nations" that anticipated its centuries-long prominence,” (Schramm). Just by simply reading Whitman’s poetry, we can see that he was always on the lookout for source material to use in his writing. Every poem he wrote, in a sense, has a place in history. For the inspiration that went into its writing came from an experience or thought that came from the world Whitman lived in.

Whitman envisioned democrac...

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...k my Captain lies,

Fallen cold and dead. (lines 17-24 Fuhram)

This last piece of the poem is directly referencing the president’s passing and we can tell by the narrator’s use of the word “my” that he shares a deep connection with the dead captain. This captain’s death is not just a political loss, but a personal one as well.

Whitman’s poetry is democratic because of the language he uses and the subjects he pursues in his poems. Believing that just as America is different from its European counterparts, so too must America’s poetry distinguish itself from previous models, Whitman broke new ground in both subject matter and diction. Walt Whitman will continue to stay one of the greatest poets of all time because he was one of the first to utilize free verse and praise the individual in a democratic society in his poetry collection, “Leaves of Grass”.