From one of the most celebrated American poets, Walt Whitman, comes a profound and uniquely written anthology of poems. Leaves of Grass is a rousing collection of poems inspired largely by Ralph Waldo Emerson's plea for the arrival of a great new American Poet. Originally published in 1855, Whitman worked on this collection of poems for the entirety of his life. He continued to revise and make better his anthology; in its final publication Leaves of Grass contained over 400 pages of remarkable poetry. The poems within ...
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From one of the most celebrated American poets, Walt Whitman, comes a profound and uniquely written anthology of poems. Leaves of Grass is a rousing collection of poems inspired largely by Ralph Waldo Emerson's plea for the arrival of a great new American Poet. Originally published in 1855, Whitman worked on this collection of poems for the entirety of his life. He continued to revise and make better his anthology; in its final publication Leaves of Grass contained over 400 pages of remarkable poetry. The poems within reflected many of Whitman's values and beliefs, specifically pertaining to his philosophy of transcendentalism and the role of man within nature. Unafraid of straying from normal conventions of poetry, Whitman's work is considered to be one of the most important and lasting contributions to literature made by an American poet.
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You may like Walt Whitman or you may not, but you can't claim to know American literature if you've never read Whitman. There it is. Get used to it. If it helps any, remember: you only have to do it once. Wear a bib, you won't get any on ya!
Rosie1954
Jul 2, 2007
Wonderful
One should slowly drink in Whitman, take your time and savour it like a fine aged wine. I most enjoy The Body Electric among his many great works, all in one volume. I thought how odd that he appeared such a rugged, almost cowboy like, tough exterior of a man, to write such passionate, deep, and profusely beautiful poetry. Awww we are not what we look like. Leaves of Grass stands alone as an exceptional and wonderful piece of work.