Leaves of Grass
Walt Whitman’s Novel That Changed Poetry
Introduction
Walt Whitman wrote many history-altering novels during his lifetime. His works have continued to shape history even after his death. One of his most influential works is Leaves of Grass which I will be discussing today. I will discuss Walt Whitman as well as the book and why it was such an influential piece of work at the time it was published as well as now.
About the Author
Walt Whitman was a journalist as well as an essayist and a poet. Walt Whitman is viewed as one of the most influential American poets. He is often accredited for being the father of free verse which was a new poem formatting. Walt Whitman grew up in Brooklyn during the 19th century and got very limited formal education. He had a number of jobs including a school teacher a reporter and an editor but it’s obviously more well known as a poet in today’s world. During the civil war Whitman was a clerk in Washington. During that time he would volunteer to help injured soldiers. Then in 1865 he released a series of poems based off of the experiences he got from that. In 1873 Walt Whitman suffered from a rather serious stroke which led him to move with his brother. During his time alive he was not necessarily seen as the great poet he is today but after his death his art got more acknowledgement and recognition and is now seen as a turning point for poets. His influence on literature can be seen through the other poets he influenced with his work. “The poet insists he is inseparable from his poems, that he is his poems, that he creates himself by writing poems, and that his readers and he become part of each other when the poems are read.”(Poets.org, 1999) Whitman was a different kind of poet and this thinking contributes to it.
About the Art
Leaves of grass by Walt Whitman is a collection of poetry by the American poet. The original publication occurred in 1855 but throughout his entire life he would rewrite and revise it multiple times. “Whitman’s poems do not describe actual or psychological events; they are the events.” (Poets.org, 1999) As was discussed in the quote Whitman had a different style of writing which is seen in these poems leaves of grass. This collection of poems is loosely connected with the overarching idea of body and the material world. In these collection of poems Whitman discusses the philosophy of life as well as humanity. In leaves of grass he praises nature and each individual persons human role in nature.
The Legacy of Leaves of Grass
Although Whitman’s ideas were influential the reason leaves of grass specifically is such an influential piece of work for poetry and literature is more to do with the introduction of free verse something that was not used before or seeing as an accredited poetry style. Although critics had mixed reviews about his work most were not positive and he was not seen as the great poet he is seen as today during his time. ” Whitman uses anaphora to mimic biblical syntax and give his work a weighty, epic feeling, but also to create the hypnotic rhythms that take the place of more formal verse.”(Black, 1998) as discussed by the critic Stephen black he uses a different style of poetry in this collection which helped open the way for a new type of poetry that expressed feelings very differently. “One critic noted, in an 1855 review in Life Illustrated, “It is like no other book that ever was written, and therefore, the language usually employed in notices of new publications is unavailable in describing it.” (Black, 1998) the same critic discuss is how the collection of poems is difficult to critique and understand because it is like no other that came before it. As is seen by Walt Whitman legacy himself it can be very difficult to introduce a different way of writing but because of his work the world has seen so many other artists succeed because of him. Although the legacy of leaves of grass is not necessarily attributed to the actual themes discussed it is important to note that what he discusses in the actual collection of poems was also influential because it was seen more as a new type of connection to poetry as well as nature and the physical form of humans.
Citations
Black, Stephen A. “The Walt Whitman Archive.” Stephen A. Black, “Leaves of Grass” (Criticism) — The Walt Whitman Archive, 1998, https://whitmanarchive.org/criticism/current/encyclopedia/entry_29.html.
Poets.org. “A Guide to Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass.” Poets.org, Academy of American Poets, 1999, https://poets.org/text/guide-walt-whitmans-leaves-grass.
