Walt Whitman: 1819-1892
Transcendental Poet
Early Childhood:
 Born on Long Island & raised in Brooklyn,
NY.
 Left school at age eleven to work as an
office boy. By 12 he was working in the
printing office of a newspaper. By 15, he
was on his own.
 Became a newspaperman & editor of
Brooklyn Eagle but was dismissed in 1848
due to his opposition to slavery.
Traveled America:
 Traveled USA &
began to write his
observations of
America – worked as
journalist, carpenter,
school teacher, as well
as a variety of other
jobs.
Walt Whitman Bridge
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
A new form of poetry
 Impressed by a comment made by Emerson
about a new kind of American poet
emerging, Whitman began jotting down
ideas and scraps of poetry.
 “His work broke every poetic tradition of
rhyme and meter as it celebrated America
and the common man.” Prentice Hall
 Poetry was termed Free Verse by critics –
Define Free Verse
1855 – 1st book of poetry Leaves
of Grass published –
Leaves of Grass
 1st edition had only 12 poems – unsigned & untitled.
 Book was so controversial that publishers would not




publish it, so Whitman published it himself.
Critics attacked the subject matter & abandonment of
traditional poetic devices and forms
The Saturday Review (a literary magazine) told readers to
BURN the book if they ran across a copy.
Whitman embraced by Transcendentalists. Why might
they have been attracted to Whitman?
Whitman revised his volume of poetry Leaves of Grass
until his death. 9 editions - 383 poems in book.
The essence of his poetry
 Again, Whitman wrote solely in free verse - the
first American poet to do so.
 Whitman’s poetry captures the spirit & essence of
American people, life, and political activism.
 “Today, he is widely recognized as one of the
greatest and most influential poets the US has ever
produced.” Prentice Hall
 Whitman proclaimed himself the “National Poet
of the United States.”
 Most popularly known is “O Captain, my Captain”
his tribute to Abraham Lincoln.
193. O Captain! My Captain!
1
O CAPTAIN! my Captain! our fearful trip is done;
The ship has weather’d every rack, the prize we
sought is won;
The port is near, the bells I hear, the people all
exulting,
While follow eyes the steady keel, the vessel
grim and daring:
But O heart! heart! heart!
O the bleeding drops of red,
Where on the deck my Captain lies,
Fallen cold and dead.
2
O Captain! my Captain! rise up and hear the bells;
Rise up—for you the flag is flung—for you the
bugle trills;
For you bouquets and ribbon’d wreaths—for you
the shores a-crowding;
For you they call, the swaying mass, their eager
faces turning;
Here Captain! dear father!
This arm beneath your head;
It is some dream that on the deck,
You’ve fallen cold and dead.