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200 years ago today, Walt Whitman was born in West Hills, N.Y.
200 years ago today, Walt Whitman was born in West Hills, N.Y.
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Walt Whitman
Walt Whitman, 1887
Born: Walter Whitman, May 31, 1819; West Hills, New York, U.S.
Died: March 26, 1892 (aged 72); Camden, New Jersey, U.S.
Signature:
Walt Whitman (/ˈhwɪtmən/; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist, and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse. Mary Smith Whitall Costelloe argued: "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." Modernist poet Ezra Pound called Whitman "America's poet ... He is America." His work was controversial in its time, particularly his poetry collection Leaves of Grass, which was described as obscene for its overt sensuality. Whitman's own life came under scrutiny for his presumed homosexuality.
Born in Huntington on Long Island, Whitman worked as a journalist, a teacher, and a government clerk. At age 11, he left formal schooling to go to work. Early in his career he settled in Brooklyn, he also produced a temperance 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 epic. He continued expanding and revising it until his death in 1892. During the American Civil War, he went to Washington, D.C. and worked in hospitals caring for the wounded. His poetry often focused on both loss and healing. After a stroke towards the end of his life, he moved to Camden, New Jersey, where his health further declined. When he died at age 72, his funeral was a public event.
Walt Whitman, 1887
Born: Walter Whitman, May 31, 1819; West Hills, New York, U.S.
Died: March 26, 1892 (aged 72); Camden, New Jersey, U.S.
Signature:
Walt Whitman (/ˈhwɪtmən/; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist, and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse. Mary Smith Whitall Costelloe argued: "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." Modernist poet Ezra Pound called Whitman "America's poet ... He is America." His work was controversial in its time, particularly his poetry collection Leaves of Grass, which was described as obscene for its overt sensuality. Whitman's own life came under scrutiny for his presumed homosexuality.
Born in Huntington on Long Island, Whitman worked as a journalist, a teacher, and a government clerk. At age 11, he left formal schooling to go to work. Early in his career he settled in Brooklyn, he also produced a temperance 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 epic. He continued expanding and revising it until his death in 1892. During the American Civil War, he went to Washington, D.C. and worked in hospitals caring for the wounded. His poetry often focused on both loss and healing. After a stroke towards the end of his life, he moved to Camden, New Jersey, where his health further declined. When he died at age 72, his funeral was a public event.
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May 31, 2019 at 10:49 am EDT | by Patrick Folliard
Walt Whitman bicentennial inspires spate of local events
Walt Whitman in 1869 during his years in Washington. (Photo from ‘A Life of Walt Whitman’ by Henry Bryan Binns via Wikimedia)
After publishing his first edition of “Leaves of Grass” in 1855, Walt Whitman set the stage to become America’s greatest and most transformational poet.
A collection of poems that would expand and evolve throughout the rest of Whitman’s life, the book innovatively features free verse, new diction (American slang and working-class language) emphasis on self, urban life and most significantly his insertion of sexuality — gay and straight — into poetry. Though considered too risqué by the day’s literary establishment, Whitman’s work ultimately changed poetry, at home and abroad, forever.
In his work, Whitman celebrated existence, practical and optimistic democracy, urban life and language. He was a vociferous fan of Abraham Lincoln and became the poetic voice of the American Civil War. And Whitman was about as openly gay as you could be in a time when the concept of homosexuality barely existed.
In celebration of Whitman’s bicentennial (born May 31, 1819), a nationwide party is taking place replete with exhibitions, readings, parties, performances and walking tours. And because Washington figures prominently in the poet’s life, professionally and personally, he’s being remembered locally with The Walt Whitman 200 Festival, a city-wide string of events emphasizing the poet’s continuing influence on American culture and city’s culture. For a list of remaining Walt200 celebratory events, go to walt200.org.
When descending the escalator of the Dupont Metro Station’s Q Street entrance, one sees words carved into its massive curving stone wall. It’s a passage from Walt Whitman’s poem “The Wound Dresser” (1865) alluding to the poet’s experiences as a volunteer in D.C. hospitals during the Civil War.
The engraving was added to the station in 2006 as a tribute to caregivers of people living with HIV/AIDS in the early years of the epidemic.
....
Walt Whitman bicentennial inspires spate of local events
Walt Whitman in 1869 during his years in Washington. (Photo from ‘A Life of Walt Whitman’ by Henry Bryan Binns via Wikimedia)
After publishing his first edition of “Leaves of Grass” in 1855, Walt Whitman set the stage to become America’s greatest and most transformational poet.
A collection of poems that would expand and evolve throughout the rest of Whitman’s life, the book innovatively features free verse, new diction (American slang and working-class language) emphasis on self, urban life and most significantly his insertion of sexuality — gay and straight — into poetry. Though considered too risqué by the day’s literary establishment, Whitman’s work ultimately changed poetry, at home and abroad, forever.
In his work, Whitman celebrated existence, practical and optimistic democracy, urban life and language. He was a vociferous fan of Abraham Lincoln and became the poetic voice of the American Civil War. And Whitman was about as openly gay as you could be in a time when the concept of homosexuality barely existed.
In celebration of Whitman’s bicentennial (born May 31, 1819), a nationwide party is taking place replete with exhibitions, readings, parties, performances and walking tours. And because Washington figures prominently in the poet’s life, professionally and personally, he’s being remembered locally with The Walt Whitman 200 Festival, a city-wide string of events emphasizing the poet’s continuing influence on American culture and city’s culture. For a list of remaining Walt200 celebratory events, go to walt200.org.
When descending the escalator of the Dupont Metro Station’s Q Street entrance, one sees words carved into its massive curving stone wall. It’s a passage from Walt Whitman’s poem “The Wound Dresser” (1865) alluding to the poet’s experiences as a volunteer in D.C. hospitals during the Civil War.
“Thus in silence in dreams’ projections
Returning, resuming, I thread my way through the hospitals
The hurt and wounded I pacify with soothing hand
I sit by the restless all the dark night — some are so young
Some suffer so much — I recall the experience sweet and sad.”
The engraving was added to the station in 2006 as a tribute to caregivers of people living with HIV/AIDS in the early years of the epidemic.
....