Leaves of Grass

Leaves of Grass, by American poet Walt Whitman, is a collection of poems, the most well-known of which are "Song of Myself", "I Sing the Body Electric", "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking", and his homage to the assassinated U.S. President Abraham Lincoln, "O Captain! My Captain!".

Related Topics:
American - Walt Whitman - Poem - Song of Myself - Abraham Lincoln - O Captain! My Captain!

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The book is notable for its frank delight in and praise of the senses, during a time when such candid displays were considered immoral. Where much previous poetry, especially English, relied on symbolism, allegory, and meditation on the religious and spiritual, Leaves of Grass (particularly the first edition) exalted the body and the material world. Influenced by the Transcendentalist movement, itself an offshoot of Romanticism, Whitman's poetry praises nature and the individual human's role therein. However, Whitman does not diminish the role of the mind or the spirit; rather, he elevates the human form and the human mind, deeming both worthy of poetic praise.

Related Topics:
English - Transcendentalist - Romanticism

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There is no definitive edition of Leaves of Grass — Whitman continually revised his masterwork, adding poems to the book and, occasionally, removing them. The first edition, published on July 4, 1855 in Brooklyn, New York, was remarkable for its sense of "newness" — the style and subject matter were almost entirely unknown before its publication. Whitman paid for and did much of the typesetting for the first edition, which he published anonymously. However, again flouting convention, a picture of Whitman appeared on the front, dressed in work clothes, arms at his side and wearing a jaunty hat, embodying the everyman persona he exalts in his poetry. The last version of Leaves of Grass, called the "Death Bed Edition", was published in 1891. By the time this last edition was completed, Leaves of Grass had grown from a small book of 12 poems to a hefty tome containing almost 400 poems. As the volume changed, so did the pictures of Whitman used to illustrate them — the last edition depicts an older Whitman with a full beard and jacket, appearing more sophisticated and wise.

Related Topics:
July 4 - 1855 - Brooklyn, New York - 1891

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Leaves of Grass has its genesis in an essay called "The Poet" published in 1843 by Ralph Waldo Emerson. http://www.vcu.edu/engweb/transcendentalism/authors/emerson/essays/poettext.html In the essay, Emerson expressed the need for America to have its own new and unique poet to write about the new country's virtues and vices. Whitman, reading the essay, consciously set out to answer Emerson's call as he began work on the first edition of Leaves of Grass. When the book was first published, Whitman sent a copy to Emerson, whose letter in response helped launch the book to success. In his response, Emerson called the book "the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom America has yet contributed."

Related Topics:
1843 - Ralph Waldo Emerson

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In 1882, Whitman faced the possibility of legal prosecution over Leaves of Grass, on the ground that it was obscene. But the publicity arising from the charge against Leaves of Grass increased sales and Whitman's royalties from the book.

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Late in life, Whitman used the phrase Leaves of Grass to refer to the calamus or sweet flag plant: ?Leaves of Grass! The largest leaves of grass known! Calamus! Yes, that is Calamus! Profuse, rich, noble, upright, emotional!?{{ref|schmid}}

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The 'Drum-Taps' section was added in 1865, after the death of Abraham Lincoln.

Related Topics:
1865 - Abraham Lincoln

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In 1890, the critic and gay intellectual John Addington Symonds proposed a homosexual reading of the 'Calamus' poems. Whitman, indignant, denied what he presumably considered an accusation of immorality.

Related Topics:
1890 - Critic - Intellectual - John Addington Symonds

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An unusual technical analysis of Whitman's use of language occurs in ?Figures of Repetition in Whitman?s ?Songs of Parting,?? Bulletin of the New York Public Library, Vol. 69 #2, February 1965, Vernon V Chatman III. Available thru New York Public Library: http://www.nypl.org/

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