Walt Whitman
American poet whose Leaves of Grass, published in multiple editions from 1855, created a new kind of poetry: expansive, democratic, physically exuberant, and frankly sexual. Song of Myself is his masterwork.
Works
- Leaves of GrassPoetic celebration of democracy, individualism, and American spiritual ideals
- Song of MyselfFoundational poem declaring universal self and democratic human potential
- Drum-TapsWar poetry depicting Civil War soldiers and American national crisis
- Democratic VistasEssays on democratic aesthetics, American culture, and political philosophy
- November BoughsLate poems reflecting on aging, mortality, and American experience