COME, said my Soul,
Such verses for my Body let us write, (For we are one)
That should I invisibly after death invisibly return,
Or, long, long hence, in some other spheres,
There to some groups of mates the chants resuming,
(Tallying Earth's soil, trees, winds, tulmultuos waves,)
Ever with pleas's smile I may keep on,
Ever and ever the verses coming- as, first, I here and now,
Sign them to my name,

A man with wisdom beyond his years with the sensitivity and innocence of a child, Walt Whitman has captivated a certain group of Americana since his explosion into literature in 1855- the Transcendentalist. Yet, a hundred forty-two years later, he remains one of the signature poets of America.

Oddly enough, the first volume of Leaves of Grass was not at all well accepted in the United States. Branded as offensive and obscene, it was banned through the majority of America. Criticism became so severe of the work that it was soon the most controversial book of its time. England, however, took to it immediately, and Whitman became somewhat a celebrity in Europe. Whitman did not gain respectability among his fellow Americans until the publication of Drum Taps in 1866. By that time, he was already a well respected poet abroad.

The Poetry-

Walt Whitman's poetry, inspired by the works of Emerson, instill and encompass the transcendentalist ideals of his age. Confined by neither rhyme nor meter, Whitman's work is a free-flowing piece with no one unifying theme. His purpose was to encompass every experience in life, death and spirituality. It was his unsoftened approach to death and sexuality that caused the most contraversy. Descriptions of nature, such as Song of Myself are his most vivid. Many focuses were of the body and soul, and the effects of love. His ideas for a perfect society are infused throught his work, and are the focus of several books at the turn of the century. These included Walt Whitman by Wiliam Clarke, Browning and Whitman- a Study in Democracy, by by Oscar L. Triggs and Whitman- A Study by John Addison Simonds. The idealism, wisdom and imagery have made his work a favorite for nearly a hundred and fifty years.

Choose one of the following Leaves by the links down below...

Innocence-- A good spot for beginners.

Love-- A personal favorite. The first pullings and uncertainties of a new love are a reoccurring theme.

The Soul-- A good representation of those Transcendentalist ideals.

Sensuality-- There were some far more explicit, but I'm keeping this a clean site, folks...

Spirituality-- Another shot of Transcendentalism.

Nature-- His most famous views-- Song of Myself, etc.

Death-- His earlier works accepted death as a part of life. This optimistic tone was replaced by mourning after the death of Lincoln, with whom he felt a close bond.

War-- Whitman believed in the cause of the Civil War, but the violence appalled him. His contribution was healing, where it is fabled he personally attended 100,000 wounded men.

The Whitman Sampler-- A quote randomly picked for your enjoyment from Leaves of Grass, changed daily...

Other true Whitman fans...

--Try downloading the entire Leaves of Grass at The Internet Public Library...

--Great selection, bios, and a Whitman Gallery at The Whitman Project...

--Another tribute to Whitman...A good spot to check for individual poems.

Created by Whitman's Ghost.
Last revised: January 2, 1998

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