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Loading... Leaves of Grass (1855)by Walt Whitman, Lawrence Clark Powell (Editor)
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I read this over the course of a few months, and probably should have read it more slowly. Some of his poems really resonate for me, especially "Song of the Open Road" and "Song of Myself." Many of his poems have beautiful individual lines, but taken as a whole just become a jumble of words and lists, rapidly becoming tedious. I love his total acceptance of everyone, regardless of sex, his comfort with sexuality and physicality. I feel he was very authentic, especially given the times he lived in. His poems are a celebration of America and its people, rather than a call for change. (  ) TheGalaxyGirl | Aug 30, 2023 |  classic poetry  SrMaryLea | Aug 22, 2023 | Walt Whitman was a visionary, a tolerant and kind man, who spoke out about injustices and did not allow himself to conform. Looking into the soul of human motivation and reaction, he purposefully chose everyday people to demonstrate his loftiest ideas. He had deep feelings about humanity's return to the earth, completing the cycle of life. The war greatly influenced his ideals, and probably was a trigger for him to create updated editions of this poem, and with each he honed the lines and the placement. In many ways, this self educated and self published author was also a book maker - taking into account everything about the physical book as well as the content. He rejected censorship and joined in with other bohemian writers of the day. I read this poem slowly with a class over a period of weeks, and we discussed a lot of the background, and how his words were influenced by the events of the day. Walt Whitman's vision and words are relevant still today. Excerpt from section Full Of Life Now "When you read these I that was visible am become invisible, Now it is you, compact, visible, realizing my poems, seeking me, Fancying how happy you were if I could be with you and become your comrade; Be it as if I were with you. (Be not too certain but I am now with you.)" (  ) ElisabethZguta | Jul 18, 2023 | I own this as a digital audiobook (not CDs). For some reason, GoodReads won't let me mark this as to-read.... leslie.98 | Jun 27, 2023 | Walt does go on and on, at length, but often so well. His poetry is best read in small doses. (  ) mykl-s | Jun 11, 2023 |
 Whitman's verse-technique is still of interest to the prosodist. His basic rhythm is an epic one—the Virgilian dactyl-spondee—and his line often hexametric. He sometimes sounds like Clough's Amours de Voyage, though it would be hard to imagine a greater disparity of tone and attitude than that which subsists between these two Victorians. Nevertheless, both Clough and Whitman saw that the loose hexameter could admit the contemporary and sometimes the colloquial.. He has only one subject—acceptance of the life-death cycle and reverence for it—and, since he uses an invariable technique, Leaves of Grass has a unity to be found in few other poets' collected volumes... But Whitman's aim is rather to present a universal democratic vista in terms of the American myth. The America of his poems sometimes seems as symbolic as that of Blake, and the bearded figure that strides across it with a big hello—the Answerer, all things to all men—is as much a home-made archetype as the Giant Albion. Nature may have given the hint to the author of the "Leaves of Grass", but there exists no book or fragment of a book, which can have given the hint to them. All beauty, he says, comes from beautiful blood and a beautiful brain... Who then is that insolent unknown? Who is it, praising himself as if others were not fit to do it, and coming rough and unbidden among writers to unsettle what was settled, and to revolutionize, in fact, our modern civilization? You have come in good time, Walt Whitman! In opinions, in manners, in costumes, in books, in the aims and occupancy of life, in associates, in poems, conformity to all unnatural and tainted customs passes without remark, while perfect naturalness, health, faith, self-reliance, and all primal expressions of the manliest love and friendship, subject one to the stare and controversy of the world. Belongs to Publisher SeriesIs contained inWhitman: Poetry and Prose by Walt Whitman (indirect) Leaves of Grass and Other Writings [Norton Critical Edition, 2nd Edition] by Walt Whitman (indirect) Leaves of Grass: First and "Death-Bed" Editions by Walt Whitman (indirect) ContainsIs abridged inInspiredHas as a student's study guideNotable Lists
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HTML: Leaves of Grass is a collection of poems by Walt Whitman originally published in 1855 at the poet's own expense. Criticized when first released for Whitman's use of free verse and his rather racy depictions of sexual love and the senses, Leaves of Grass is a celebration of the human form, the material world and nature. .No library descriptions found. 
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 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)811.3Literature English (North America) American poetry Middle 19th century 1830–1861LC ClassificationRatingAverage: (4.11)
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