This is Walt Whitman

1. This is Walt Whitman Yawp!

2. Overview of Awesomeness • Whitman as a poet = identity in verse • His book Leaves of Grass is “a landmark in the history of American literature” • The uber-famous “Song of Myself” is a sectioned poem within Leaves of Grass • Urged Americans to be “large and generous in spirit, a new race nurtured in political liberty, and possessed of united souls and bodies” • Other ideas: nature can restore human life; human soul is immortal

3. More awesome • Harshly denounced at first, but in time gained in popularity • “The proof of a poet is that his country absorbs him as affectionately as he absorbed it.” • Greatly admired by writers and intellectuals, including Ralph Waldo Emerson

4. Poet, essayist, journalist • Born on Long Island in 1819, but was raised in Brooklyn, NY • Was first a printer then a journalist • The Brooklyn Eagle fired him for opposing slavery • Traveled to New Orleans for a new job ; his first exposure to America’s diversity of people and landscapes • Returned to NY in 1850 to concentrate on writing poetry

5. The Poet at Work • His style was unconventional, breaking poetic traditions • Many of his poems contain a natural cadence; written in free verse • They often contain long lines, catalogues, anaphora, and onomatopoeia • Critics slammed his work, but Emerson called it “the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom that America has yet contributed.”

6. The suffering of thousands • In 1862, he traveled to VA to care for his brother who had been wounded in battle • Whitman stayed and volunteered to assist in the medical field units and hospitals • He witnessed first-hand the horrors of the Civil War, which would affect his poetry

7. “The Bard of Democracy” • Whitman greatly admired Abraham Lincoln • He wrote “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d” and “O Captain! My Captain!” about Lincoln’s assassination/death • Whitman added to, revised, and reshaped his life’s work, Leaves of Grass , until his death in 1892

8. “The Good Gray Poet” • He viewed the volume as a single long poem that expressed his evolving vision of the world • Whitman’s philosophy grew out of the ideas of the Transcendentalists, shaped by his ability to absorb and comprehend all that he observed

9. Journal No. 2(Keep in your binder) Describe an experience in which you felt connected to many different people around you at once. What experience did you share? Was it positive or negative? What common thoughts, emotions, or experiences do you think you had? Why was it memorable to you? After reflecting on it, what do you think this experience reveals about the nature of people? Try to write about ½ page.