Transcript Walt Whitman is…

Walt Whitman is…

“This is what you shall do: love the earth and sun,
and animals, despise riches, give alms to every
one that asks, stand up for the stupid and crazy,
devote your income and labor to others, hate
tyrants, argue not concerning God, have patience
and indulgence towards the people, take off your
hat to nothing known or unknown, or to any man
or number of men; go freely with the powerful
uneducated persons, and with the young, and
mothers, of families: read these leaves in the open
air every season of every year of your life: reexamine all you have been told at school or
church, or in any books, and dismiss whatever
insults your soul.”
By Mid 1800’s…
 We
have: Poe, Hawthorne,
Thoreau, Emerson and a myriad of
other writers..but what is missing?
 A THOROUGHLY
DEMOCRATIC WRITER!!
 Enter
Walt Whitman!
Whitman Background
 Born
in 1819 in Long Island – Grew
up in Brooklyn
 Created own newspaper “The
Long Islander” and was a teacher
and politician.
 Influenced by Emerson and loved
Transcendentalist writing
 Left
the East and visited New
Orleans. Saw America’s Diversity
 1850 – Moved back home and took
on a “loafing” lifestyle for 5 years!
 MAJOR SLACKER LIVING
OFF MOM AND DAD!
 Known as his “days of preparation”
 Began to re-create himself in the
form of a book!
“Leaves of Grass”
 Published
in 1855
 First edition contained 12 poems
 Walt’s attempt to “put a person, a
human being freely, fully and truly
on record”
Why is LoG so darn special?
 Whitman
became the first
American to break free of Iambic
pentameter.
 Creator of Free Verse
 Free verse was best for Whitman:
His message was that humankind
was free; free to develop as an
individual in body, mind, and soul
Themes in Leaves of Grass
 Democracy
 Average
Man
 Poetry called the “Divine average”
because it was the kind of poetry an
average person could write…
 BUT…it’s not THAT simple! 
More Leaves of Grass
 Second
edition published in 1856
 20 more poems; congratulatory
letter from Emerson
 Third Edition – 122 poems!
Additions and Omissions.
 The Book grew like…
 1862
Walt and the Civil War
– became a war nurse and lived on
front lines for weeks.
 Wrote book of poetry, “Drum Taps”
about Abe Lincoln
 Walt viewed him as ‘the representative
democratic man’
 When Lincoln died, Whitman wrote the
elegy poem, “When Lilacs Last in the
Dooryard Bloom’d”
The End is Near
 Whitman
died in 1892 at the age of
73.
 Before his death, he published
seven more editions of Leaves of
Grass
 His “Complete Works” was also
published the year he died.
Why Walt is SO Great…
 Unique
and multi-faceted individual
 Free verse affected 20th century poetry
 Identifies with the “common man”
 One of the most deeply democratic
and inspirational artists we’ve ever
known…
Walt Whitman is considered “The
Father of American Poetry”
Which is Why…
Homework
TP-CASTT
Whitman’s
“Song of Myself” #52. You
can google it, or find it on
page 318 of your book.