1. Transcendentalist Poet
Walt Whitman
Transcendentalist Poet

2. Walt Whitman
“The United States themselves are essentially the greatest poem.” – Walt Whitman

3. Access Prior Knowledge
What do we know about Transcendentalism?
What do we know about Romanticism?
What do we know about what was going on with poetry during the period of British Romanticism (Victorian Age)? (e.g. What styles of poems were popular?)

4. A Little Bit About Whitman
Spent his entire life composing one long series of poems, called Leaves of Grass
1855 – first edition contained 12 poems
1891 – “deathbed” edition contained 383 poems
Sort of like an “urban” Transcendentalist
Loved NYC, not “nature dweller”
Worked as an office boy, doctor’s helper, printer, journalist, typesetter, volunteer nurse during Civil War
First poet to write in free verse
His poetry celebrated democracy and the common man

5. Guiding Questions
How are these poems quintessential Whitman poems (and, therefore, quintessential Transcendentalist poems)?
How do the poems’ structures and literary devices contribute meaning?

6. Let’s Read and Analyze the Poems
“I Hear America Singing”
“When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer”