Walt Whitman

1819 - 1892 *

American poet and journalist, most famous for his controversial but technically brilliant early poetry

American poet, journalist and essayist, best known for LEAVES OF GRASS (1855), which was occasionally banned, and the poems 'I Sing the Body Electric' and 'Song of Myself.' Whitman incorporated natural speech rhythms into poetry. He disregarded metre, but the overall effect has a melodic character. Harold Bloom has stated in The Western Canon (1994) that "no Western poet, in the past century and half, not even Browning, or Leopardi or Baudelaire, overshadows Walt Whitman or Emily Dickinson."

"Swiftly arose and spread around me the peace and joy and
----knowledge that pass all... [read entire biography]

          Source: Petri Liukkonen

WHITMAN, WALT (1819—1892), American poet, was born at West Hills, on Long Island, New York, on the 31st of May 1819. His ancestry was mingled English and Holland Dutch, and had flourished upon Long Island more than 150 years—long enough to have taken deep root in the soil and to have developed, in its farmers and seafaring men, many strong family traits. His father, Walter Whitman, was a farmer and carpenter; his mother, Louisa Van Velsor, was the granddaughter of a sea captain. There do not app... [read entire biography]

          Source: External Publication

These essays offer analysis of the author's life and works. Many of them have been submitted by users, and are assigned an Editorial Rating on a scale from one to five stars to assist you in evaluating their worth. See also: Note on Essays, Editorial Policy.

     

Carving the New Wood: Walt Whitman and Modernism -- Walt Whitman as the post-romantic poet who imagined a Modernism.
By Jeremy Davies, Undergraduate Student	Editorial Rating:

Is the Word or the Image the Basic Entity in Poetry? -- A review of theories and and attitudes to the Word in poetry
By Julian Scutts, Student	Editorial Rating:

     

Miscellaneous

		Walt Whitman Archive, The -- a comprehensive site on Whitman, including some useful critical introductions to early publications http://www.iath.virginia.edu/whitman/ Editorial Rating: Number of Visitors: 1043 6 users have rated it an average of 3 stars     [rate it] Whitman at Bartleby.com -- excellent online versions of Whitman's poems, along with an encyclopedia article and quotations. http://www.bartleby.com/people/WhitmnW.h... Editorial Rating: Number of Visitors: 439 0 users have rated it an average of 0 stars     [rate it] Whitman at the Academy of American Poets -- a biography, online versions of several poems, and links to related resources. http://www.poets.org/poets/poets.cfm?prm... Editorial Rating: Number of Visitors: 334 0 users have rated it an average of 0 stars     [rate it]

     

Star of resplendent front! Thy glorious eye
Shines on me still from out yon clouded sky. -- Arcturus (To Edgar Allen Poe).

Sarah Helen (Power) Whitman

Tell him I lingered alone on the shore,
Where we parted, in sorrow, to meet nevermore;
The night-wind blew cold on my desolate heart
But colder those wild words of doom,--"Ye must part." -- Our Island of Dreams.

Sarah Helen (Power) Whitman

The sweet imperious mouth, whose haughty valor
Defied all portents of impending doom. -- The Portrait. (Of Poe.)

Sarah Helen (Power) Whitman

Warm lights are on the sleepy uplands waning
Beneath dark clouds along the horizon rolled,
Till the slant sunbeams through the fringes raining
Bathe all the hills in melancholy gold. -- A still Day in Autumn.

Sarah Helen (Power) Whitman

Enchantress of the stormy seas,
Priestess of Night's high mysteries. -- Moonrise in May.

Sarah Helen (Power) Whitman

The summer skies are darkly blue,
The days are still and bright,
And Evening trails her robes of gold
Through the dim halls of Night. -- Summer's Call.

Sarah Helen (Power) Whitman

Raven from the dim dominions
On the Night's Plutonian shore,
Oft I hear thy dusky pinions
Wave and flutter round my door--
See the shadow of thy pinions
Float along the moonlit floor. -- The Raven.

Sarah Helen (Power) Whitman

I will write the evangel-poem of comrades and of love. -- Starting from Paumanok. 6.

Walt Whitman

I say the whole earth and all the stars in the sky are for religion's sake. -- Starting from Paumanok. 7.

Walt Whitman

None has begun to think how divine he himself is and how certain the future is. -- Starting from Paumanok. 7.

Walt Whitman

More quotes by this author are available...

Additional searches

Whitman at Encarta Encyclopedia

Whitman at Britannica Encyclopedia

Whitman at Xrefer.com