Walt Whitman's Accomplishments

Walt Whitman is a praised, renowned poet and journalist whom is recognized for his self-published book, Leaves of Grass. He was born on May 30th, 1819 in Brooklyn to Walter Whitman and Louisa Van Velsor. He shortly moved to Long Island where he and his other seven other siblings were raised. Due to the lack of hands around the house, Whitman, unfortunately, was pulled out of school at the age of 11 in order to help his father. He took up a job in the printing business to ensure there was food on the table. Many believe that Whiteman’s optimism came from his father’s pessimism. His father went through a period of alcohol reliance and upheld a negative view because of his interest in the conspiracies of politics. "I stand for the sunny point

of view," he'd say, "the joyful conclusion." (Walt Whitman, Bio)
Whitman didn’t start writing immediately following learning how to. He started off as a printer in the printing business. Showed no interest in writing, let alone having any skills in doing it until around the time he became an editor. Whitman started teaching at the age of 17 in Long Island. This got his sight set on journals five years later, resulting in the start of his own newspaper, where he later moved to New York City to continue his career in the newspaper business. He became the editor of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle in 1848. However, Whitman was
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known for avidly dabbling into controversial topics; topics of which many were against and didn’t’ exactly agree with him.

He experimented into the topics of women’s property rights, labor issues, and immigrations. Unfortunately, most of his opinions opposed his bosses and this got him exiled from seven different newspapers in a matter of four years. (Walt Whitman, Poetry Foundation & Walt Whitman,

Bio)
Whitman’s book, Leaves of Grass, was not greatly appreciated in his time.

As a matter of fact, it troubled people because his style of poetry was not any anyone had ever seen. He broke many rules of poetry. He wrote poems that were free-verse, meaning they didn’t rhyme and they didn’t follow a set meter. Whitman, himself, described his poetry style as being "a new and national declamatory expression." (Harcourt, Houghton Mifflin) By breaking the rules of poetry, he was able to present a new style that is now used worldwide. Because Whitman used free verse, he was able to express feelings that couldn’t have been done through what he thought were confinements and rules that didn’t really need to be there. He was able to provide many meanings and examples that were extremely different for that time. Whitman had ideas that were looked down upon because they weren’t the “societal norms.” Whitman wrote devotedly on the topics said above and more. He used the literary devise of symbolism to portray his idea better. A symbol is basically sign or a logo. It is a solid object that stands for something theoretical. For example, the cross is a symbol of Christianity, the moon and star, Islam, and a skull is for death. However, a literary symbol has a more extended meaning. A literary symbol may sometime be used for an overall meaning or for different points of the meaning. (Harcourt, Houghton

Mifflin)
Whitman used symbolism in his poem entitled, “O Captain! My Captain!” This poem shows an expression of metaphor and symbolism regarding Abraham Lincoln. Whitman had a very high view of Lincoln. He considered him to be a great leader. There is a wide amount of despair shown in this poem. To start off, the Titular Captain is a symbol of Lincoln. The poem begins with said captain—or Lincoln—being celebrated. The reader is then placed in confusion when the captain’s blood drips onto the deck. The quote reads, “
But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.” (Rooney, Kathleen)
This sudden transition between celebration and death is a symbol of how Lincoln was assassinated. Lincoln was calm and everything was tranquil while he watched a play, when suddenly a shot rang out and people turn to see Lincoln bleeding. The incident was quick and unexpected.
The second example of symbolism in the poem is in the line,
“Our fearful trip is done.” (Rooney, Kathleen)
Whitman uses the “fearful trip” as a symbol for the civil war. It is the task the captain held of which he was to lead to his people. The civil war acted as a divider for the country, leaving more than 600,000 people dead. Whitman was referring to the four years Lincoln helped and led the United Sates through the tragedy of the civil war.

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The port is the final symbol in the poem, symbolized the end of the Lincoln’s life. When he was killed, the Civil War had not officially ceased. It wasn’t until two months post-mortem that the last of the Confederate Army surrendered, finally stopping the fight. This is shown in the poem with the captain nearly reaching the port. Lincoln hadn’t reached the official end to the civil war, but he had been near to doing so.
The main symbol of the poem is presented as the ship. In the beginning, it’s a symbol of the war. However, as we progress further into the poem, the ship wins the “prize” by bringing the civil war to an end. As we come to the end of the poem, it becomes a symbol of Lincoln’s life. Therefore, it’s a metaphor for both Lincoln’s life and the United States of which Lincoln guided through the war. (Magher, Maria)
Whitman used symbolism as a way to get his ideas out there in a way no one had ever seen before. It sent a stronger image of his messages and better portrayed what he had to say. Despite the fact that symbolism and metaphor was not widely used then, Whitman used it avidly because he didn’t mind much what other had to say. He stood for what he believed in and wrote about what he believed in, and because of that, he earned the title of America’s Most Influential Nineneeth Centuries’ Poet.