Walt Whitman Birth:
Walt Whitman was born on May 31, 1819 in West Hills, New York. His mother, Louisa Van Velsor, was descended from a long line of New York Dutch farmers; his father, Walter Whitman, was a Long Island farmer and carpenter. His mother was Louisa Van Velsor.
In 1823, the family moved to Brooklyn in search of work. The second of nine children in an undistinguished family, Whitman received little in the way of formal education. He still managed to read the works of Homer, Dante, and Shakespeare.
Walt Whitman was born on May 31, 1819 in West Hills, New York. His mother, Louisa Van Velsor, was descended from a long line of New York Dutch farmers; his father, Walter Whitman, was a Long Island farmer and carpenter. His mother was Louisa Van Velsor.
In 1823, the family moved to Brooklyn in search of work. The second of nine children in an undistinguished family, Whitman received little in the way of formal education. He still managed to read the works of Homer, Dante, and Shakespeare.
Walt Whitman Death:
A sunstroke in 1885 and another paralytic stroke made Walt Whitman increasingly dependent on others. He died of complications from a stroke on March 26, 1892.
A sunstroke in 1885 and another paralytic stroke made Walt Whitman increasingly dependent on others. He died of complications from a stroke on March 26, 1892.
Walt Whitman Occupations & Travels:
At the age of 17, Whitman began teaching at various Long Island schools and continued to teach until he went to New York City to be a printer for the New World and a reporter for the Democratic Review in 1841. For much of the next years, he made his livelihood through journalism. Besides reporting and freelance writing, he also edited several Brooklyn newspapers, including the "Daily Eagle," the "Freeman," and the "Times."
At the age of 17, Whitman began teaching at various Long Island schools and continued to teach until he went to New York City to be a printer for the New World and a reporter for the Democratic Review in 1841. For much of the next years, he made his livelihood through journalism. Besides reporting and freelance writing, he also edited several Brooklyn newspapers, including the "Daily Eagle," the "Freeman," and the "Times."
In 1848, Whitman met and was hired by a representative of the New Orleans Crescent. Although the job lasted only a few months, the journey by train, stagecoach, and steamboat helped to broaden his view of America.
Lines from "Song of Myself":
"A child said What is grass? fetching it to one with full hands
How could I answer the child? I do not know what it is any more than he.
I guess it must be the flag of my disposition, out of the hopeful green stuff woven.
of I guess it is the handkerchief of the Lord,
A scented gift and remembrancer designedly dropt,
Bearing the owner's name someway in the corners,
that we may see and remark, and say Whose?...
And now it seems to me the beautiful uncut hair of graves."
"A child said What is grass? fetching it to one with full hands
How could I answer the child? I do not know what it is any more than he.
I guess it must be the flag of my disposition, out of the hopeful green stuff woven.
of I guess it is the handkerchief of the Lord,
A scented gift and remembrancer designedly dropt,
Bearing the owner's name someway in the corners,
that we may see and remark, and say Whose?...
And now it seems to me the beautiful uncut hair of graves."
Lines from "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd":
When lilacs last in the door-year bloom'd,
And the great star early droop'd in the western sky in the night,
I mourn'd--and yet shall mourn with ever-returning spring."
"Come lovely and soothing death,
Undulate round the world, serenely arriving, arriving,
In the day, in the night, to all, to each,
Sooner or later, delicate death."
When lilacs last in the door-year bloom'd,
And the great star early droop'd in the western sky in the night,
I mourn'd--and yet shall mourn with ever-returning spring."
"Come lovely and soothing death,
Undulate round the world, serenely arriving, arriving,
In the day, in the night, to all, to each,
Sooner or later, delicate death."
Lines from "I Dream'd in a Dream":
"I dream'd in a dream I saw a city invincible to the attacks of the whole of the rest of the earth,
I dream'd that was the new city of Friends."
"I dream'd in a dream I saw a city invincible to the attacks of the whole of the rest of the earth,
I dream'd that was the new city of Friends."
Lines from "Song of the Open Road":
"Now I see the secret of the making of the best persons.
It is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth."
"Now I see the secret of the making of the best persons.
It is to grow in the open air and to eat and sleep with the earth."
Lines from "Song of the Rolling Earth":
"Whoever you are, motion and reflection are especially for you,
The divine ship sails the divine sea for you."
"I swear the earth shall surely be complete to him or her who shall be complete,
The earth remains jagged and broken only to him or her who remains jagged and broken."
"Whoever you are, motion and reflection are especially for you,
The divine ship sails the divine sea for you."
"I swear the earth shall surely be complete to him or her who shall be complete,
The earth remains jagged and broken only to him or her who remains jagged and broken."
Walt Whitman Brief Biography & Discussion of Works:
(1819-1892) American writer. Walt Whitman is known for his famous, and controversial, collection of poems, "Leaves of Grass." Whitman received little money with the first edition of "Leaves of Grass," but he did receive some attention, including a letter from Ralph Waldo Emerson.
The second edition in 1860 with the "Calamus" poems and the third edition of Leaves created controversy for readers, but the Civil War turned all eyes on the battlefields.
Whitman traveled to Virginia to search for his brother, George, and found him wounded. He stayed to help tend wounded soldiers in Washington DC; and wrote some of his famous war poetry, printed partially as "Drum Taps" and "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd." He witnessed Lincoln's second inauguration and mourned the assassination of Lincoln in April.
In the years after the war, Whitman's reputation increased both in England and in the US. In January of 1873, he suffered a paralytic stroke. Several months later, in May, his mother died. Unable to work, he returned to live with his brother in Camden, New Jersey.
He was able to take trips to New York, Boston, and even to Colorado to see the Rocky Mountains, but his declining health mostly provided him with the opportunity to restructure and revise his most famous work, "Leaves of Grass," the culmination of so many previously published collections.
(1819-1892) American writer. Walt Whitman is known for his famous, and controversial, collection of poems, "Leaves of Grass." Whitman received little money with the first edition of "Leaves of Grass," but he did receive some attention, including a letter from Ralph Waldo Emerson.
The second edition in 1860 with the "Calamus" poems and the third edition of Leaves created controversy for readers, but the Civil War turned all eyes on the battlefields.
Whitman traveled to Virginia to search for his brother, George, and found him wounded. He stayed to help tend wounded soldiers in Washington DC; and wrote some of his famous war poetry, printed partially as "Drum Taps" and "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd." He witnessed Lincoln's second inauguration and mourned the assassination of Lincoln in April.
In the years after the war, Whitman's reputation increased both in England and in the US. In January of 1873, he suffered a paralytic stroke. Several months later, in May, his mother died. Unable to work, he returned to live with his brother in Camden, New Jersey.
He was able to take trips to New York, Boston, and even to Colorado to see the Rocky Mountains, but his declining health mostly provided him with the opportunity to restructure and revise his most famous work, "Leaves of Grass," the culmination of so many previously published collections.
