Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman

The Bard of Democracy

Walt Whitman (1819-1892)

Born May 31, 1819 in West Hills on Long Island, New York

Second of eight children Father was a carpenter 1825-30 attended public

school in Brooklyn. Quit school in 1830 to

take his first job.


Despite leaving school, he received most of his important education at home.– Socialist Literature– Quaker Literature

(Liberal, free thinking)– Religious Literature

(Deism – religion based on reason and morality rather than revelation.)


1st job was in a law office at age 11 as a copy boy– Allowed him to improve his

writing skills– Exposed him to libraries

Summer of 1831 he worked for a newspaper; The Long Island Patriot.– Editor shared the liberal views of

Whitman’s family.– Provided Whitman his first

opportunity to be published.

Walt Whitman (1819-1892) Most of the rest of his life was

spent alternating between teaching and printing.

The only book he ever published was Leaves of Grass.– First edition published 1855– Published (at least) nine

editions between 1855 and 1892.

– Last edition published in 1892 after his death – called the “deathbed edition.”


After the publication of the first edition, Ralph Waldo Emerson sent him a letter stating, “I greet you at the beginning of a great career.”

Whitman used part of this letter to sell future editions of the book.

This made Emerson angry, but he still continued to support Whitman’s writings.


Public reaction to Leaves of Grass was mixed:– Most called it “barbaric” because of

the base and vulgar content and language.

– A few realized the genius within. 1860 He added a new section

“Children of Adam” to Leaves of Grass, which dealt openly with sexual activity between men and women.

During the Civil War he volunteered as a nurse, a “wound dresser,” in military hospitals.

In 1865 he added the section “Drum Taps,” a collection of civil war poems.

Walt Whitman (1819-1892) 1860 He met Fred Vaughan, an

Irish immigrant stage driver, and began a relationship, which fell apart due to Vaughan’s drinking and subsequent marriage.

1865 He began a relationship with Peter Doyle, a horse-car conductor in Washington, D.C.

1867 He added a section entitled “Calamus” which dealt openly with homosexual topics and imagery.

This section, did not raise many objections, but “Children of Adam” would later cause his works to be suppressed by critics and government officials.

In the end, these attempts at suppression only increased the popularity of Whitman’s poetry. Whitman and Peter Doyle

Walt Whitman (1819-1892) In 1876 he politely turned down a

marriage proposal from a devoted British fan, Anne Gilchrist, but they later became close, life-long friends.

Whitman served as a father figure for her three children from her first marriage, and they lived together as a family for a number of years, until her return to England.

1876 He also began a relationship with Henry Stafford, which would continue until Whitman’s death.

This relationship was a stormy one, and Stafford apparently rejected Whitman a number of times, returning the ring Whitman had given him, and then taking it back later.

Whitman and Henry Stafford

Walt Whitman (1819-1892) 1873 He suffered a stroke and

spent the rest of his life being cared for by a small group of devoted friends, including Doyle, Stafford and others.

1879 He traveled west as far as Colorado before falling ill, and returning to St. Louis to stay with his brother Jeff while convalescing.

Traveled through Lawrence, KS, spending three days in the Usher home at 1425 Tennessee.

Described Lawrence and Topeka as “large, bustling, half-rural handsome cities.”


He continued to write and revise his poetry until his death in 1892.

Over the course of his life he wrote and published over 400 poems. This was an unheard of number.

Whitman’s Philosophy

Whitman’s poems are a mixture of the commonplace, raw experience, sentimentalism, and poetic inspiration, advancing romanticism to its logical end.

Whitman’s view of humanity is optimistic and basic– Common people are highly respected.– All that is human is good and valuable (humanism)

• In his writings, the reader experiences humanity, which is glorified in all its aspects.

• This includes “sex, womanhood, maternity, lusty animations, organs, acts.”

• Whitman wanted to be a “Cosmic Consciousness” Proclaimed himself to be the “Bard of Democracy,”

and promoted issues of social equality and justice.

Whitman’s Legacy

He opened American literature to the most basic of human feelings, actions, desires, etc.

He legitimized free verse as an art form. He made private intensity an acceptable and

necessary part of art in the 20th century. He made language in literature accurately represent

reality (and made this acceptable).– Uses slang terms– Uses regional names for people– Uses foreign words interchangeably with English, much

like the American language does. He is the ultimate Romantic, carrying the ideas of

Romanticism to their logical ends.

Whitman’s Voice

America Centre of equal daughters, equal sons All, all alike endear'd, grown, ungrown, young or old, Strong, ample, fair, enduring, capable, rich, Perennial with the Earth, with Freedom, Law and Love, The last two lines, not in this recording, are: A grand, sane, towering, seated Mother, Chair'd in the adamant of Time.

Credits

All images and recording taken from www.whitmanarchive.org

Presentation created by Jeff Plinsky for his legions of adoring American Lit students.

Documents

Walt Whitman