1. WALT WHITMAN

2. Major Work Leaves of Grass Published 1st edition in 1855
Little or no interest from literary community until Whitman sent a copy to Ralph Waldo Emerson
Revised and republished 8 times (9 total versions)
Last edition published in 1891 (one year before Whitman’s death)

3. Leaves of Grass
Whitman was the first American poet NOT to copy the themes, styles, and subjects of European poets
Early influences
Sir Walter Scott
Italian Opera
Shakespeare
Bible
Epic poems of Greeks (The Iliad, The Odyssey)

4. Leaves of Grass
Whitman considered this collection of poems an EPIC POEM
Epic: a long narrative poem which recounts the deeds of a heroic character who embodies the values of a particular society.
WHO IS THE HERO OF LEAVES OF GRASS?
The poet, as an American “Everyman”
Saw himself as a model for all Americans
Looked toward and embraced the progress of the future rather than the past
WHAT IS THE JOURNEY OF THE HERO?
The journey of the American experience--LIFE

5. Leaves of Grass JOURNEY OF THE HERO IN LEAVES OF GRASS
Chapter 1: Song of Myself
Speaker is a solitary individual
“I celebrate myself and sing myself”
Final Chapter in 9th edition: Gathered Leaves
Speaker has become identified with every element in the universe, and in death, will be reborn as something divine
“NOW, dearest comrade, lift me to your face, We must separate awhile—Here! take from my lips this kiss. Whoever you are, I give it especially to you; So long!—And I hope we shall meet again.”

6. Leaves of Grass Themes in Leaves of Grass
America/The American Experience
America’s diversity
“I Hear America Singing”, Children of Adam
America’s Pain
Drumtaps, Ashes of Soldiers, President Lincoln’s Burial Hymn
America’s growth
Song of Myself

7. Leaves of Grass THEMES (cont) Immortality of the soul
The love of comrades/friends
Equality of all people
Beauty of death
Sacredness of the self and individual

8. Leaves of Grass Literary Devices used by Whitman
Free Verse: Poetry that is written without regard for rhyme or meter
Imagery: visual, auditory, tactile, olfactory
Catalog: long lists of related things people or events
Anaphora/parallel structure: repetition of the same or similar words, phrases, clauses or sentences
Alliteration, onomatopoeia, assonance, consonance
Cadence: the natural, rhythmic rise and fall of language as it is normally spoken
Ignores meter and relies on the poet’s own sense of spacing and timing