Walt Whitman (1819-1892)
Whitman had little formal education and began work at the age of eleven as
an office boy. He went on to become a printer, a travelling school teacher
and contributor to and editor of at least ten newspapers and magazines, as
well as entering politics as a Democrat.
Whitman was a voracious reader, reading everything from Shakespeare to
the Bible, including the Greek and Hindu poets, all of which would influence
his later work either in rhyme or thought. His early poems and short stories
were conventional and unexciting and it has been argued that a love affair
with a local girl during the poet's 1848 stay in New Orleans was a driving
force in altering his character and work.
On his return from New Orleans, Whitman was also much affected by a visit
to the frontier. In Brooklyn he now adopted the dress of a "rough", having
previously dressed as a dandy. He was also profoundly influenced by his
experience as a volunteer hospital visitor amongst the wounded during the
Civil War. Drum Taps is considered the best collection of poetry on the Civil
War by any American writer.
Whitman's Leaves of Grass was a poetry collection so radical it made him
into a revolutionary figure. It was constantly revised by Whitman during his
life, with a further 21 poems added to the original 12 in 1856, a further 122
for the 1860 edition and a further six editions each expanded and revised. At
its centre lies a democratic desire for equality and brotherhood, with
movement forward rather than a dependence on the corrupted past.
Whitman was a great admirer of Emerson who provided inspiration for the
first edition of Leaves of Grass. Emerson was one of the few to appreciate
the early work and one of Whitman's rare travels in his final years was to
visit Emerson, though his work was by now entirely original.
Whitman was the first American poet to achieve a truly international
reputation, and his work has influenced writers such as Henry Miller and D.H.
Lawrence.
Download
0 comments:
Post a Comment