Walt Whitman “Uncle Walt”

Biographical Information Walt Whitman grew up in Brooklyn, NY. He attended school only until the age of 11. At that time he began working as a printer’s assistant. He never became a “scholar” and never went to college, but he loved to read. By age 20, he became fascinated with writing and started a career in journalism.

After ten years, Whitman became editor of The Freeman. In addition to editing, Whitman also was a carpenter and poet. In 1855, he published a collection of poetry at his own expense under the title Leaves of Grass. The publication went largely unnoticed.

He started to self-promote his collection and sent samples to people whose endorsement he thought might be useful. One of these samples reached Ralph Waldo Emerson. Emerson immediately wrote Walt Whitman a letter complimenting him on what he considered “the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom that America has yet contributed.”

What distinguished Whitman’s writing was that he abandoned the formal measures of English poetry. Instead he wrote in the natural rhythms and speech patterns of free verse.

Leaves of Grass has been compared to an epic. The epic is that kind of poetry in which the ideals and values of a society are embodied in the experiences of a hero or a heroine. Usually, these epic heroes set out on a quest for knowledge. Who is the hero of Leaves of Grass? The poet himself. His journey is the one the speaker takes as he becomes a poet.