Walter Whitman (May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an
AmericanThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
poetThe poetry of the United States arose first during its beginnings as the constitutionally unified thirteen colonies . Unsurprisingly, most of the early colonists' work relied on contemporary British models of poetic form, diction, and theme...
,
essayAn essay is usually a short piece of writing. It is often written from an author's personal point of view. Essays can be literary criticism, political manifestos, learned arguments, observations of daily life, recollections, and reflections of the author....
ist,
journalistJournalism is the craft of conveying news, descriptive material and comment via a widening spectrum of media. These include newspapers, magazines, radio and television, the internet and even, more recently, the mobile phone...
, and
humanistHumanism is a perspective common to a wide range of ethical stances that attaches importance to human dignity, concerns, and capabilities, particularly rationality. Although the word has many senses, its meaning comes into focus when contrasted to the supernatural or to appeals to authority...
. He was a part of the transition between
TranscendentalismTranscendentalism was a group of new ideas in literature, religion, culture, and philosophy that emerged in New England in the early to middle 19th century...
and
realismLiterary realism most often refers to the trend, beginning with certain works of nineteenth-century French literature and extending to late-nineteenth- and early-twentieth-century authors in various countries, towards depictions of contemporary life and society "as they were." In the spirit of...
, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of
free verseFree verse - also known as vers libre - is a term describing various styles of poetry that are written without using a strict rhyme scheme, but still recognizable as poetry by virtue of complex patterns of one sort or another that readers will perceive to be part of a coherent whole.-Types:Philip...
. His work was very controversial in its time, particularly his poetry collection
Leaves of GrassLeaves of Grass is a poetry collection by the American poet Walt Whitman. Among the poems in the collection are "Song of Myself," "I Sing the Body Electric," "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking," and in later editions, Whitman's elegy to the assassinated President Abraham Lincoln, "When Lilacs...
, which was described as obscene for its overt sexuality.
Born on
Long IslandLong Island is an island located in southeastern New York, United States, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City, and two of which are mainly suburban...
, Whitman worked as a journalist, a teacher, a government clerk, and a volunteer nurse during the
American Civil WarThe American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several other names, was a civil war in the United States of America. Eleven Southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America...
in addition to publishing his poetry. Early in his career, he also produced a
temperanceA temperance movement is a social movement against the use of Alcoholic beverages. Temperance movements may criticize excessive alcohol use, promote complete abstinence, or pressure the government to enact anti-alcohol legislation....
novel,
Franklin Evans (1842). Whitman's major work,
Leaves of Grass, was first published in 1855 with his own money. The work was an attempt at reaching out to the common person with an American
epicAn epic is a lengthy narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation. Oral poetry may qualify as an epic, and Albert Lord and Milman Parry have argued that classical epics were fundamentally an oral poetic form...
. He continued expanding and revising it until his death in 1892. After a stroke towards the end of his life, he moved to
Camden, New JerseyThe City of Camden is the county seat of Camden County, New Jersey, in the United States. It is located across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
where his health further declined. He died at age 72 and his funeral became a public spectacle.
Whitman's sexuality is often discussed alongside his poetry. Though biographers continue to debate his sexuality, he is usually labeled as either
homosexualHomosexuality is the romantic or sexual attraction or behavior among members of the same sex, situationally or as an enduring disposition. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality is considered to lie within the heterosexual-homosexual continuum of human sexuality, and refers to an individual’s...
or
bisexualBisexuality is sexual behavior with or physical attraction to both sexes , or a bisexual orientation. People who have a bisexual orientation "can experience sexual, emotional, and affectional attraction to both their own sex and the opposite sex"; "it also refers to an individual’s sense of...
. It is not clear if Whitman had sexual relationships with men. Whitman was concerned with politics throughout his life. He supported the
Wilmot ProvisoThe Wilmot Proviso, one of the major events leading to the Civil War, would have banned slavery in any territory to be acquired from Mexico in the Mexican War or in the future, including the area later known as the Mexican Cession, but which some proponents construed to also include the disputed...
and opposed the extension of slavery generally. His poetry presented an egalitarian view of the races, and at one point he called for the abolition of slavery, but later he saw the abolitionist movement as a threat to democracy.
Early life
Walter Whitman was born on May 31, 1819, in
West HillsWest Hills is a hamlet and census-designated place in the town of Huntington, Suffolk County, New York, United States. The population was 5,607 at the 2000 census.-Geography:West Hills is located at ....
,
Town of HuntingtonThe Town of Huntington is a town located on the North Shore of Long Island, in northwestern Suffolk County, New York. Just east of Nassau County, it was founded in 1653. Huntington is part of the New York metropolitan area...
,
Long IslandLong Island is an island located in southeastern New York, United States, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City, and two of which are mainly suburban...
, to parents with interest in Quaker thought, Walter and Louisa Van Velsor Whitman. He was the second of nine children and was immediately nicknamed "Walt" to distinguish him from his father. Walter Whitman Sr. named three of his seven sons after American leaders: Andrew Jackson, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson. The oldest was named Jesse and another boy died unnamed at the age of six months. The couple's sixth son, the youngest, was named Edward. At age four, Whitman moved with his family from West Hills to
BrooklynBrooklyn is one of the five boroughs of New York City, located southwest of Queens on the western tip of Long Island. An independent city until its consolidation with New York in 1898, Brooklyn is New York City's most populous borough, with 2.5 million residents, and second largest in area...
, living in a series of homes in part due to bad investments. Whitman looked back on his childhood as generally restless and unhappy due to his family's difficult economic status. One happy moment that he later recalled was when he was lifted in the air and kissed on the cheek by the Marquis de Lafayette during a celebration in Brooklyn on July 4, 1825.
At age eleven Whitman concluded formal schooling. He then sought employment, due to his family's financial situation, originally as an office boy for two lawyers and later as an
apprenticeApprenticeship is a system of training a new generation of practitioners of a skill. Apprentices or protégés build their careers from apprenticeships...
and
printer's devilA printer's devil was an apprentice in a printing establishment who performed a number of tasks, such as mixing tubs of ink and fetching type...
for the weekly Long Island newspaper the
Patriot, edited by Samuel E. Clements. There, Whitman learned about the printing press and
typesettingTypesetting involves the presentation of textual material in graphic form on paper or some other medium. Before the advent of desktop publishing, typesetting of printed material was produced in print shops by compositors or typesetters working by hand, and later with machines.The general principle...
. He may have written "sentimental bits" of filler material for occasional issues. Clements aroused controversy when he and two friends attempted to dig up the corpse of
Elias HicksElias Hicks was an itinerant Quaker preacher from Long Island, New York. He promoted doctrines that embroiled him in controversy that led to the first major schism within the Religious Society of Friends...
to create a plaster mold of his head. Clements left the
Patriot shortly after, possibly as a result of the controversy.
Early career
The following summer Whitman worked for another printer, Erastus Worthington, in Brooklyn. His family moved back to West Hills in the spring, but Whitman remained and took a job at the shop of Alden Spooner, editor of the leading
WhigThe Whig Party was a political party of the United States during the era of Jacksonian democracy. Considered integral to the Second Party System and operating from 1833 to 1856, the party was formed in opposition to the policies of President Andrew Jackson and the Democratic Party...
weekly newspaper the
Long-Island Star. While at the
Star, Whitman became a regular patron of the local library, joined a town debating society, began attending theater performances, and anonymously published some of his earliest poetry in the
New York MirrorThe New-York Mirror was a newspaper published in New York City under many variant titles, including The Evening Mirror from 1844 to 1898.-History:...
. At age 16 in May 1835, Whitman left the
Star and Brooklyn. He moved to
New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
to work as a compositor though, in later years, Whitman could not remember where. He attempted to find further work but had difficulty in part due to a severe fire in the printing and publishing district and in part due to a general collapse in the economy leading up to the
Panic of 1837The Panic of 1837 was a panic in the United States built on a speculative fever. The bubble burst on May 10, 1837 in New York City, when every bank stopped payment in specie...
. In May 1836, he rejoined his family, now living in
Hempstead, Long IslandHempstead is a village located in the town of Hempstead, Nassau County, New York, United States. It is sometimes referred to "Hempstead Village" to distinguish it from the town of Hempstead. Hempstead is one of the few Black and Latino majority neighborhoods on Long Island...
. Whitman taught intermittently at various schools until the spring of 1838, though he was not satisfied as a teacher.
After his teaching attempts, Whitman went back to Huntington, New York to found his own newspaper, the
Long IslanderLong Islander News is a chain of weekly newspapers covering the town of Huntington, New York.Currently, Long Islander News owns four papers:*Half Hollow Hills, which covers Dix Hills and Melville...
. Whitman served as publisher, editor, pressman, and distributor and even provided home delivery. After ten months, he sold the publication to E. O. Crowell, whose first issue appeared on July 12, 1839. No copies of the
Long-Islander published under Whitman survive. By the summer of 1839, he found a job as a typesetter in
Jamaica, QueensJamaica is a neighborhood in the borough of Queens in New York City, New York, United States. It was settled under Dutch rule in 1656 in New Netherland as Rustdorp. Under British rule, the Village of Jamaica became the center of the Town of Jamaica...
with the
Long Island Democrat, edited by James J. Brenton. He left shortly thereafter, and made another attempt at teaching from the winter of 1840 to the spring of 1841, During this time, he published a series of ten editorials called "Sun-Down Papers—From the Desk of a Schoolmaster" in three newspapers between the winter of 1840 and July 1841. In these essays, he adopted a constructed persona, a technique he would employ throughout his career. Whitman moved to New York City in May, initially working a low-level job at the
New World, working under
Park Benjamin, Sr.Park Benjamin, Sr. was well known in his time, as an American poet, journalist, editor and founder of several newspapers.-Biography:...
and
Rufus Wilmot GriswoldRufus Wilmot Griswold was an American anthologist, editor, poet, and critic. Born in Vermont, Griswold left home when he was 15. He worked as a journalist, editor, and critic in Philadelphia, New York City, and elsewhere. He built up a strong literary reputation, in part due to his 1842 collection...
. He continued working for short periods of time for various newspapers; in 1842 he was editor of the
Aurora and from 1846 to 1848 he was editor of the
Brooklyn EagleThe Brooklyn Eagle, also called The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, was a daily newspaper published in Brooklyn, New York from October 26, 1841 to March 16, 1955, and is also a successor daily newspaper by the same name. It was the most popular afternoon paper in the United States at one point. Walt Whitman...
. He also contributed freelance fiction and poetry throughout the 1840s. Whitman lost his position at the
Brooklyn Eagle in 1848 after siding with the free-soil "
BarnburnerThe Barnburners were the more radical faction of the New York state Democratic Party in the mid 19th century. The term barnburner was derived from the idea of someone who would burn down his own barn to get rid of a rat infestation, in this case those who would destroy all banks and corporations,...
" wing of the Democratic party against the newspaper's owner, Isaac Van Anden, who belonged to the conservative, or "
HunkerThe Barnburners were the more radical faction of the New York state Democratic Party in the mid 19th century. The term barnburner was derived from the idea of someone who would burn down his own barn to get rid of a rat infestation, in this case those who would destroy all banks and corporations,...
", wing of the party. Whitman was a delegate to the 1848 founding convention of the
Free Soil PartyThe Free Soil Party was a short-lived political party in the United States active in the 1848 and 1852 presidential elections, and in some state elections. It was a third party that largely appealed to and drew its greatest strength from New York State. The party leadership consisted of former...
.
Leaves of Grass
Whitman claimed that after years of competing for "the usual rewards", he determined to become a poet. He first experimented with a variety of popular literary genres which appealed to the cultural tastes of the period. As early as 1850, he began writing what would become
Leaves of Grass, a collection of poetry which he would continue editing and revising until his death. Whitman intended to write a distinctly American
epicAn epic is a lengthy narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significant to a culture or nation. Oral poetry may qualify as an epic, and Albert Lord and Milman Parry have argued that classical epics were fundamentally an oral poetic form...
and used
free verseFree verse - also known as vers libre - is a term describing various styles of poetry that are written without using a strict rhyme scheme, but still recognizable as poetry by virtue of complex patterns of one sort or another that readers will perceive to be part of a coherent whole.-Types:Philip...
with a
cadenceIn Western musical theory, a harmonic cadence is a progression of two chords that concludes a phrase, section, or piece of music. A rhythmic cadence is a characteristic rhythmic pattern indicating the end of a phrase...
based on the Bible. At the end of June 1855, Whitman surprised his brothers with the already-printed first edition of
Leaves of Grass. George "didn't think it worth reading".
Whitman paid for the publication of the first edition of
Leaves of Grass himself and had it printed at a local print shop during their breaks from commercial jobs. A total of 795 copies were printed. No name is given as author; instead, facing the title page was an engraved portrait done by Samuel Hollyer, but in the body of the text he calls himself "Walt Whitman, an American, one of the roughs, a kosmos, disorderly, fleshly, and sensual, no sentimentalist, no stander above men or women or apart from them, no more modest than immodest". The book received its strongest praise from
Ralph Waldo EmersonRalph Waldo Emerson was an American essayist, philosopher, and poet, best remembered for leading the Transcendentalist movement of the early 19th century. His teachings directly influenced the growing New Thought movement of the mid 1800s...
, who wrote a flattering five page letter to Whitman and spoke highly of the book to friends. The first edition of
Leaves of Grass was widely distributed and stirred up significant interest, in part due to Emerson's approval, but was occasionally criticized for the seemingly "obscene" nature of the poetry. Geologist
John Peter Lesley Peter Lesley was an American geologist, born in Philadelphia. It is recorded by Sir Archibald Geikie that he was christened Peter after his father and grandfather, and at first wrote his name Peter Lesley, Jr., but disliking the Christian appellation that had been given to him, he eventually...
wrote to Emerson, calling the book "trashy, profane & obscene" and the author "a pretentious ass". On July 11, 1855, a few days after
Leaves of Grass was published, Whitman's father died at the age of 65.
In the months following the first edition of
Leaves of Grass, critical responses began focusing more on the potentially offensive sexual themes. Though the second edition was already printed and bound, the publisher almost did not release it. In the end, the edition went to retail, with 20 additional poems, in August 1856.
Leaves of Grass was revised and re-released in 1860 again in 1867, and several more times throughout the remainder of Whitman's life. Several well-known writers admired the work enough to visit Whitman, including Bronson Alcott and
Henry David ThoreauHenry David Thoreau was an American author, poet, naturalist, tax resister, development critic, surveyor, historian, philosopher, and leading transcendentalist...
.
During the first publications of
Leaves of Grass, Whitman had financial difficulties and was forced to work as a journalist again, specifically with Brooklyn's
Daily Times starting in May 1857. As an editor, he oversaw the paper's contents, contributed book reviews, and wrote editorials. He left the job in 1859, though it is unclear if he was fired or chose to leave. Whitman, who typically kept detailed notebooks and journals, left very little information about himself in the late 1850s.
Civil War years
As the
American Civil WarThe American Civil War , also known as the War Between the States and several other names, was a civil war in the United States of America. Eleven Southern slave states declared their secession from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America...
was beginning, Whitman published his poem "Beat! Beat! Drums!" as a patriotic rally call for the North. Whitman's brother George had joined the
UnionDuring the American Civil War, the Union was a name used to refer to the federal government of the United States, which was supported by the twenty-three states which were not part of the secession attempt by the 11 states that tried to form the Confederacy...
army and began sending Whitman several vividly detailed letters of the battle front. On December 16, 1862, a listing of fallen and wounded soldiers in the
New York TribuneThe New York Tribune was an American newspaper, first established by Horace Greeley in 1841, which was long considered one of the leading newspapers in the United States...
included "First Lieutenant G. W. Whitmore", which Whitman worried was a reference to his brother George. He made his way south immediately to find him, though his wallet was stolen on the way. "Walking all day and night, unable to ride, trying to get information, trying to get access to big people", Whitman later wrote, he eventually found George alive, with only a superficial wound on his cheek. Whitman, profoundly affected by seeing the wounded soldiers and the heaps of their amputated limbs, left for Washington on December 28, 1862 with the intention of never returning to New York.
In Washington, D.C., Whitman's friend Charley Eldridge helped him obtain part-time work in the army paymaster's office, leaving time for Whitman to volunteer as a nurse in the army hospitals. He would write of this experience in "The Great Army of the Sick", published in a New York newspaper in 1863 and, 12 years later, in a book called
Memoranda During the War. He then contacted Emerson, this time to ask for help in obtaining a government post. Another friend, John Trowbridge, passed on a letter of recommendation from Emerson to
Salmon P. ChaseSalmon Portland Chase was an American politician and jurist in the Civil War era who served as U.S. Senator from Ohio and Governor of Ohio; as U.S...
, Secretary of the Treasury, hoping he would grant Whitman a position in that department. Chase, however, did not want to hire the author of such a disreputable book as
Leaves of Grass.
The Whitman family had a difficult end to 1864. On September 30, 1864, Whitman's brother George was captured by Confederates in Virginia, another brother, Andrew Jackson, died of
tuberculosisTuberculosis is a common and often deadly infectious disease caused by mycobacteria...
compounded by
alcoholismAlcoholism is a term with multiple and sometimes conflicting definitions. In common and historic usage, alcoholism is any condition that results in the continued consumption of alcoholic beverages, despite health problems and negative social consequences...
on December 3. That month, Whitman committed his brother Jesse to the Kings County Lunatic Asylum. Whitman's spirits were raised, however, when he finally got a better-paying government post as a low-grade clerk in the
Bureau of Indian AffairsThe Bureau of Indian Affairs is an agency of the federal government of the United States within the US Department of the Interior charged with the administration and management of 55.7 million acres of land held in trust by the United States for Native Americans in the United States, Native...
in the Department of the Interior – thanks to his friend William Douglas O'Connor. O'Connor, a poet, daguerreotypist and an editor at the
Saturday Evening Post, had written to
William Tod OttoWilliam Tod Otto was an American judge and the eighth reporter of decisions of the United States Supreme Court, serving as reporter from 1875 to 1883....
, Assistant
Secretary of the InteriorThe United States Secretary of the Interior is the head of the United States Department of the Interior.The US Department of the Interior should not be confused with the concept of Ministries of the Interior as used in other countries...
, on Whitman's behalf. Whitman began the new appointment on January 24, 1865, with a yearly salary of $1,200. A month later, on February 24, 1865, George was released from capture and granted a
furloughA furlough is a temporary leave of absence from employment, duty in the armed services, or from a prison term. It may be voluntary or involuntary....
because of his poor health. By May 1, Whitman received a promotion to a slightly higher clerkship and published
Drum-Taps.
Effective June 30, 1865, however, Whitman was fired from his job. His dismissal came from the new Secretary of the Interior, former
IowaIowa is a state located in the Midwestern region of the United States of America, an area often referred to as the "American Heartland." It derives its name from the Ioway people, one of the many American Indian tribes that occupied the state at the time of European exploration. Iowa was a part of...
Senator
James HarlanJames Harlan was a member of the United States Senate and a U.S. Cabinet Secretary.-Biography:Harlan represented the state of Iowa in the United States Senate as a member of the Free Soil Party in 1855. In 1857 the Senate declared the seat vacant because of irregularities in the legislative...
. Though Harlan dismissed several clerks who "were seldom at their respective desks", he may have fired Whitman on moral grounds after finding an 1860 edition of
Leaves of Grass. O'Connor protested until J. Hubley Ashton had Whitman transferred to the Attorney General's office on July 1. O'Connor, though, was still upset and vindicated Whitman by publishing a biased and exaggerated biographical study,
The Good Gray Poet, in January 1866. The fifty-cent pamphlet defended Whitman as a wholesome patriot, established the poet's nickname and increased his popularity. Also aiding in his popularity was the publication of "
O Captain! My Captain!"O Captain! My Captain!" is an extended metaphor poem written in 1865 by Walt Whitman, concerning the death of American president Abraham Lincoln.-Analysis:...
", a relatively conventional poem on the death of
Abraham LincolnAbraham Lincoln was the 16th President of the United States, serving from March 1861 until his assassination in April 1865. He successfully led his country through its greatest internal crisis, the American Civil War, preserving the Union and ending slavery...
, the only poem to appear in anthologies during Whitman's lifetime.
Part of Whitman's role at the Attorney General's office was interviewing former Confederate soldiers for Presidential
pardonA pardon is the forgiveness of a crime and the penalty associated with it. It is granted by a head of state, such as a monarch or president, or by a competent church authority. Clemency is an associated term, meaning the lessening of the penalty of the crime without forgiving the crime itself. The...
s. "There are real characters among them", he later wrote, "and you know I have a fancy for anything out of the ordinary." In August 1866, he took a month off in order to prepare a new edition of
Leaves of Grass which would not be published until 1867 after difficulty in finding a publisher. He hoped it would be its last edition. In February 1868
Poems of Walt Whitman was published in England thanks to the influence of
William Michael RossettiWilliam Michael Rossetti was an English writer and critic.-Biography:Born in London, he was a son of immigrant Italian scholar Gabriele Rossetti, and the brother of Maria Francesca Rossetti, Dante Gabriel Rossetti and Christina Georgina Rossetti.He was one of the seven founder members of the...
, with minor changes that Whitman reluctantly approved. The edition became popular in England, especially with endorsements from the highly respected writer Anne Gilchrist. Another edition of
Leaves of Grass was issued in 1871, the same year it was mistakenly reported that its author died in a railroad accident. As Whitman's international fame increased, he remained at the attorney general's office until January 1872. He spent much of 1872 caring for his mother who was now nearly eighty and struggling with
arthritisArthritis is a group of conditions involving damage to the joints of the body....
. He also traveled and was invited to
Dartmouth CollegeDartmouth College is a private, coeducational university located in Hanover, New Hampshire, USA. Incorporated as "Trustees of Dartmouth College," it is a member of the Ivy League and one of the nine Colonial Colleges founded before the American Revolution...
to give the commencement address on June 26, 1872.
Health decline and death
Early in 1873, Whitman suffered a paralytic
strokeA stroke is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by thrombosis or embolism or due to a hemorrhage...
; his mother died in May the same year. Both events were difficult for Whitman and left him depressed. He moved to
Camden, New JerseyThe City of Camden is the county seat of Camden County, New Jersey, in the United States. It is located across the Delaware River from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
to live with his brother George, paying room and board until he bought his own
house on Mickle St.The Walt Whitman House is a historic building in Camden, New Jersey which was the last residence of American poet Walt Whitman, in his declining years before his death. It is located at 330 Mickle Boulevard, known as Mickle St...
in 1884. Around this time, he began socializing with Mary Oakes Davis, the widow of a sea captain, who lived nearby. She moved in with Whitman on February 24, 1885 to serve as his housekeeper in exchange for free rent. She brought with her a cat, a dog, two turtledoves, a canary, and other assorted animals. During this time, Whitman produced further editions of
Leaves of Grass in 1876, 1881, and 1889.
As the end of 1891 approached, he prepared a final edition of
Leaves of Grass, an edition which has been nicknamed the "Deathbed Edition". He wrote, "L. of G.
at last complete—after 33 y'rs of hackling at it, all times & moods of my life, fair weather & foul, all parts of the land, and peace & war, young & old". Preparing for death, Whitman commissioned a
graniteGranite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite has a medium to coarse texture, occasionally with some individual crystals larger than the groundmass forming a rock known as porphyry. Granites can be pink to dark gray or even black, depending on their...
mausoleumA mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or persons. A monument without the interment is a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be considered a type of tomb or the tomb may be considered to be within the...
shaped like a house for $4,000 and visited it often during construction. In the last week of his life, he was too weak to lift a knife or fork and wrote: "I suffer all the time: I have no relief, no escape: it is monotony — monotony — monotony — in pain."
Whitman died on March 26, 1892. An
autopsyAn autopsy–also known as a post-mortem examination, necropsy , autopsia cadaverum, or obduction–is a medical procedure that consists of a thorough examination of a corpse to determine the cause and manner of death and to evaluate any disease or injury that may be present...
revealed his lungs had diminished to one-eighth their normal breathing capacity, a result of bronchial pneumonia, and that an egg-sized abscess on his chest had eroded one of his ribs. The cause of death was officially listed as "pleurisy of the left side, consumption of the right lung, general
miliary tuberculosisMiliary tuberculosis is a form of tuberculosis that is characterized by a wide dissemination into the human body and by the tiny size of the lesions...
and parenchymatous nephritis." A public viewing of his body was held at his Camden home; over one thousand people visited in three hours and Whitman's oak coffin was barely visible because of all the flowers and wreaths left for him. He was buried in his tomb at
Harleigh CemeteryHarleigh Cemetery is a historic cemetery located in both Collingswood and Camden, New Jersey. Harleigh Cemetery and Crematorium is one of the oldest cemeteries in New Jersey. Named Camden County Veterans Cemetery in 2007, the current President is Louis Cicalese. Harleigh cemetery is over of lush...
in Camden four days after his death. Another public ceremony was held at the cemetery, with friends giving speeches, live music, and refreshments. Whitman's friend, the orator
Robert IngersollColonel Robert Green Ingersoll was a Civil War veteran, American political leader, and orator during the Golden Age of Freethought, noted for his broad range of culture and his defense of agnosticism.-Biography:...
, delivered the eulogy. Later, the remains of Whitman's parents and two of his brothers and their families were moved to the mausoleum.
Writing
Whitman's work breaks the boundaries of poetic form and is generally prose-like. He also used unusual images and symbols in his poetry, including rotting leaves, tufts of straw, and debris. He also openly wrote about death and sexuality, including prostitution. He is often labeled as the father of
free verseFree verse - also known as vers libre - is a term describing various styles of poetry that are written without using a strict rhyme scheme, but still recognizable as poetry by virtue of complex patterns of one sort or another that readers will perceive to be part of a coherent whole.-Types:Philip...
, though he did not invent it.
Poetic theory
Whitman wrote in the preface to the 1855 edition of
Leaves of Grass, "The proof of a poet is that his country absorbs him as affectionately as he has absorbed it." He believed there was a vital, symbiotic relationship between the poet and society. This connection was emphasized especially in "
Song of Myself"Song of Myself" is a poem by Walt Whitman that is included in his work Leaves of Grass.-Publication history:The poem was first published without sections and appeared as the first of twelve untitled poems in the 1855 edition of Leaves of Grass. Today it is one of the best-known poems in the book...
" by using an all-powerful first-person narration. As an American epic, it deviated from the historic use of an elevated hero and instead assumed the identity of the common people.
Leaves of Grass also responded to the impact that recent urbanization in the United States had on the masses.
Alcohol
Whitman was a vocal proponent of
temperanceA temperance movement is a social movement against the use of Alcoholic beverages. Temperance movements may criticize excessive alcohol use, promote complete abstinence, or pressure the government to enact anti-alcohol legislation....
and in his youth rarely drank alcohol. He once claimed he did not taste "strong liquor" until he was thirty and occasionally argued for prohibition. One of his earliest long fiction works, the novel
Franklin Evans; or, The Inebriate, first published November 23, 1842, is a temperance novel. Whitman wrote the novel at the height of popularity of the
Washingtonian movementThe Washingtonian movement was a 19th century fellowship founded on April 2, 1840 by six hard drinkers at Chase's Tavern on Liberty Street in Baltimore, Maryland...
though the movement itself was plagued with contradictions, as was
Franklin Evans. Years later Whitman claimed he was embarrassed by the book and called it a "damned rot". He dismissed it by saying he wrote the novel in three days solely for money while he was under the influence of alcohol himself. Even so, he wrote other pieces recommending temperance, including
The Madman and a short story "Reuben's Last Wish". Later in life he was more liberal with alcohol, enjoying local wines and champagne.
Religion
Whitman was deeply influenced by
deismDeism or is a religious and philosophical belief that a supreme being created the universe, and that this can be determined using reason and observation of the natural world alone, without a need for either faith or organized religion...
. He denied any one faith was more important than another, and embraced all religions equally. In "Song of Myself", he gave an inventory of major religions and indicated he respected and accepted all of them – a sentiment he further emphasized in his poem "With Antecedents", affirming: "I adopt each theory, myth, god, and demi-god, / I see that the old accounts, bibles, genealogies, are true, without exception". In 1874, he was invited to write a poem about the Spiritualism movement, to which he responded, "It seems to me nearly altogether a poor, cheap, crude humbug." Whitman was a religious skeptic: though he accepted all churches, he believed in none. Whitman however was not an atheist and did believe in God.
Sexuality
Whitman's sexuality is generally assumed to be homosexual or
bisexualBisexuality is sexual behavior with or physical attraction to both sexes , or a bisexual orientation. People who have a bisexual orientation "can experience sexual, emotional, and affectional attraction to both their own sex and the opposite sex"; "it also refers to an individual’s sense of...
based on his poetry, though that has been at times disputed. His poetry depicts love and sexuality in a more earthy, individualistic way common in American culture before the
medicalizationMedicalization is the process by which health or behavior conditions come to be defined and treated as medical issues. The term refers to the process by which certain events or characteristics of everyday life become medical issues, and thus come within the purview of doctors and other health...
of sexuality in the late 1800s. Though
Leaves of Grass was often labeled pornographic or obscene, only one critic remarked on its author's presumed sexual activity: in a November 1855 review,
Rufus Wilmot GriswoldRufus Wilmot Griswold was an American anthologist, editor, poet, and critic. Born in Vermont, Griswold left home when he was 15. He worked as a journalist, editor, and critic in Philadelphia, New York City, and elsewhere. He built up a strong literary reputation, in part due to his 1842 collection...
suggested Whitman was guilty of "that horrible sin not to be mentioned among Christians". Whitman had intense friendships with many men and boys throughout his life. Some biographers have claimed that he may not have actually engaged in sexual relationships with males, while others cite letters, journal entries and other sources which they claim as proof of the sexual nature of some of his relationships.
Peter Doyle may be the most likely candidate for the love of Whitman's life, according to biographer David S. Reynolds. Doyle was a bus conductor whom Whitman met around 1866 and the two were inseparable for several years. Interviewed in 1895, Doyle said: "We were familiar at once — I put my hand on his knee — we understood. He did not get out at the end of the trip — in fact went all the way back with me." In his notebooks, Whitman disguised Doyle's initials using the code "16.4". A more direct second-hand account comes from
Oscar WildeOscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde was an Irish playwright, poet and author of numerous short stories and one novel. Known for his biting wit, he became one of the most successful playwrights of the late Victorian era in London, and one of the greatest "celebrities" of his day...
. Wilde met Whitman in America in 1882 and wrote to the homosexual rights activist
George Cecil IvesGeorge Ives was a German-English poet, writer, penal reformer and early gay rights campaigner.-Life and career:...
that there was "no doubt" about the great American poet's sexual orientation — "I have the kiss of Walt Whitman still on my lips," he boasted. The only explicit description of Whitman's sexual activities is second hand. In 1924
Edward CarpenterEdward Carpenter was an English socialist poet, anthologist, early gay activist and socialist philosopher....
, then an old man, described an erotic encounter he had had in his youth with Whitman to Gavin Arthur, who recorded it in detail in his journal. Late in his life, when Whitman was asked outright if his series of "
CalamusThe "Calamus" poems are a cluster of poems in Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman. These poems celebrate and promote "the manly love of comrades"...
" poems were homosexual, he chose not to respond.
Another possible lover was Bill Duckett. As a young teenage boy he lived in on the same street in Camden and moved in with Whitman, living with him a number of years and serving him in various roles. Their relationship was close, with the youth sharing Whitman's money when he had it. Whitman described their friendship as "thick." Though some biographers describe him as a boarder, others identify him as a lover.Their photograph [pictured] is described as "modeled on the conventions of a marriage portrait," part of a series of portraits of the poet with his young male friends, and encrypting male-male desire.Yet another intense relationship with a young man was the one with Harry Stafford, with whose family he stayed when at Timber Creek, and whom he first met when the young man was 18, in 1876. Whitman gave young Stafford a ring, which was returned and given back over the course of a stormy relationship lasting a number of years. Of that ring Stafford wrote to Whitman, "You know when you put it on there was but one thing to part it from me, and that was death."
There is also some evidence that Whitman may have had sexual relationships with women. He had a romantic friendship with a New York actress named Ellen Grey in the spring of 1862, but it is not known whether or not it was also sexual. He still had a photo of her decades later when he moved to Camden and referred to her as "an old sweetheart of mine". In a letter dated August 21, 1890 he claimed, "I have had six children - two are dead". This claim has never been corroborated. Toward the end of his life, he often told stories of previous girlfriends and sweethearts and denied an allegation from the
New York HeraldYork Herald of Arms in Ordinary is an officer of arms at the College of Arms. The first York Herald is believed to have been an officer to Edmund of Langley, Duke of York around the year 1385, but the first completely reliable reference to such a herald is in February of 1484, when John Water...
that he had "never had a love affair". As Whitman biographer Jerome Loving wrote, "the discussion of Whitman's sexual orientation will probably continue in spite of whatever evidence emerges."
Shakespeare authorship
Whitman was a proponent of the Shakespeare authorship question, refusing to believe in the historic attribution of the works to
William ShakespeareWilliam Shakespeare was an English poet and playwright, widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's preeminent dramatist. He is often called England's national poet and the "Bard of Avon"...
of
Stratford-upon-AvonStratford-upon-Avon is a market town and civil parish in south Warwickshire, England. It lies on the River Avon, south east of Birmingham and south west of the county town, Warwick. It is the main town of the District of Stratford-on-Avon, which uses the term "on" to indicate that it covers a...
. Whitman comments in his
November Boughs (1888) regarding Shakespeare's historical plays:
Slavery
Whitman opposed the extension of slavery in the United States and supported the
Wilmot ProvisoThe Wilmot Proviso, one of the major events leading to the Civil War, would have banned slavery in any territory to be acquired from Mexico in the Mexican War or in the future, including the area later known as the Mexican Cession, but which some proponents construed to also include the disputed...
. At first he was opposed to
abolitionismAbolitionism was a movement to end the slave trade and emancipate slaves in western Europe and the Americas. The slave system aroused little protest until the 18th century, when rationalist thinkers of the Enlightenment criticized it for violating the rights of man, and Quaker and other evangelical...
, believing the movement did more harm than good. In 1846, he wrote that the abolitionists had, in fact, slowed the advancement of their cause by their "ultraism and officiousness". His main concern was that their methods disrupted the democratic process, as did the refusal of the Southern states to put the interests of the nation as a whole above their own. In 1865, in
The Eighteenth Presidency, addressing the men of the South, he wrote "you are either to abolish slavery or it will abolish you". Whitman also subscribed to the widespread opinion that even free African-Americans should not vote and was concerned at the increasing number of African-Americans in the legislature.
Legacy and influence
Walt Whitman has been claimed as America's first "poet of democracy", a title meant to reflect his ability to write in a singularly American character. A British friend of Walt Whitman, Mary Smith Whitall Costelloe, wrote: "You cannot really understand America without Walt Whitman, without
Leaves of Grass... He has expressed that civilization, 'up to date,' as he would say, and no student of the philosophy of history can do without him."
ModernistModernism, in its broadest definition, is modern thought, character, or practice. More specifically, the term describes both a set of cultural tendencies and an array of associated cultural movements, originally arising from wide-scale and far-reaching changes to Western society in the late...
poet
Ezra PoundEzra Weston Loomis Pound was an American expatriate poet, critic and intellectual who was a major figure of the Modernist movement in the first half of the 20th century. He is generally considered the poet most responsible for defining and promoting a modernist aesthetic in poetry...
called Whitman "America's poet... He
is America."
Andrew CarnegieAndrew Carnegie was a Scottish industrialist, businessman, entrepreneur, and a major philanthropist....
called him "the great poet of America so far". Whitman considered himself a messiah-like figure in poetry. Others agreed: one of his admirers, William Sloane Kennedy, speculated that "people will be celebrating the birth of Walt Whitman as they are now the birth of Christ".
The literary critic,
Harold BloomHarold Bloom is an American writer and literary critic, currently Sterling Professor of the Humanities at Yale University...
wrote, as the introduction for the 150th anniversary of
Leaves of Grass:
Whitman's vagabond lifestyle was adopted by the
Beat movementThe Beat Generation is a term used to describe a group of American writers who came to prominence in the 1950s, and the cultural phenomena that they wrote about and inspired...
and its leaders such as
Allen GinsbergIrwin Allen Ginsberg was an American poet. Ginsberg is best known for the poem "Howl" , in which he celebrates fellow members of the Beat Generation and critiques what he saw as the destructive forces of materialism and conformity in the United States.-Early life and family:Ginsberg was born into...
and
Jack KerouacJack Kerouac was an American author, poet and painter. Alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, he is considered a pioneer of the Beat Generation....
in the 1950s and 1960s as well as anti-war poets like
Adrienne RichAdrienne Cecile Rich is an American poet, essayist and feminist. She has been called "one of the most widely read and influential poets of the second half of the [20th] century."-Early life:...
and
Gary SnyderGary Snyder is an American poet , as well as an essayist, lecturer, and environmental activist . Snyder is a winner of a Pulitzer Prize for Poetry...
. Whitman also influenced
Bram StokerAbraham "Bram" Stoker was an Irish novelist and short story writer, best known today for his 1897 Gothic novel Dracula. During his lifetime, he was better known as the personal assistant of actor Henry Irving and business manager of the Lyceum Theatre in London, which Irving owned.-Early life:He...
, author of
DraculaDracula is an 1897 novel by Irish author Bram Stoker, featuring as its primary antagonist the vampire Count Dracula.Dracula has been attributed to many literary genres including vampire literature, horror fiction, the gothic novel and invasion literature. Structurally it is an epistolary novel,...
, and was the model for the character of
DraculaCount Dracula is a fictional character, the titular antagonist of Bram Stoker's 1897 Gothic horror novel Dracula. Some aspects of his character may have been inspired by the 15th century Romanian voivode, Vlad III the Impaler...
. Stoker said in his notes that Dracula represented the quintessential male which, to Stoker, was Whitman, with whom he corresponded until Whitman's death.
Whitman is a 2009 inductee of the
New Jersey Hall of FameThe New Jersey Hall of Fame is an organization that honors individuals from the U.S. state of New Jersey who have made contributions to society and the world beyond....
.
See also
- Walt Whitman Bridge
The Walt Whitman Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Delaware River from Philadelphia to Gloucester City, New Jersey. Named after the poet Walt Whitman, who resided in nearby Camden toward the end of his life, the Walt Whitman Bridge is one of the larger bridges on the east coast of the...
, connecting Philadelphia to Gloucester City, New JerseyGloucester City is a city in Camden County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the city population was 11,484.-Geography:Gloucester City is located at ....
, is named for Walt Whitman.
- Walt Whitman Mall
Walt Whitman Mall is a shopping mall located in Huntington Station, NY on Walt Whitman Rd and Jericho Turnpike . It has many stores including main anchors Bloomingdale's, Lord & Taylor, Macy's and Saks Fifth Avenue. It also has restaurants such as Legal Sea Foods, California Pizza Kitchen and...
in Huntington, New YorkThe Town of Huntington is a town located on the North Shore of Long Island, in northwestern Suffolk County, New York. Just east of Nassau County, it was founded in 1653. Huntington is part of the New York metropolitan area...
- Walt Whitman High School
Walt Whitman High School is a public secondary institution serving roughly the western part of Bethesda--an unincorporated suburban area of Washington, DC, in Montgomery County, Maryland. The school is named in honor of the American poet. It is fed into by Thomas W. Pyle Middle School.-History:The...
in Huntington, New YorkThe Town of Huntington is a town located on the North Shore of Long Island, in northwestern Suffolk County, New York. Just east of Nassau County, it was founded in 1653. Huntington is part of the New York metropolitan area...
- American philosophy
American philosophy is the philosophical activity or output of Americans, both within the United States and abroad. The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy notes that while American philosophy lacks a "core of defining features, American Philosophy can nevertheless be seen as both reflecting and...
External links
- Poems by Walt Whitman An extensive collection of Whitman's poetry
- Poets.org – Biography, related essays, poems, and reading guides from the Academy of American Poets
The Academy of American Poets is a non-profit organization dedicated to the art of poetry that was incorporated as a "membership corporation" in New York State in 1934...
- Walt Whitman: Online Resources at the Library of Congress
- The Walt Whitman Archive includes all editions of "Leaves of Grass" in page-images and transcription, as well as manuscripts, criticism, and biography
- Walt Whitman Page by Camden County, New Jersey Historical Society
- MS Lowell 15. Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892. Passage to India : autograph manuscript; Washington, 1870. 21s. (21p.) Houghton Library, Harvard University.
- Walt Whitman household in NJ in 1880 census
- Walt Whitman letters from the Civil War - taken from the 'Wound Dresser'
Sites