Weekend Writing: Celebrating Walt Whitman

Yesterday, May 31, marked the 200th birthday of Walt Whitman, the Father of American Poetry. The iconic poet left behind a legacy for the world and we have many reasons to celebrate him. As a humanist, Whitman is regarded as one of the most influential poets in American literature, sometimes referred to as the Father of Free Verse Poetry. Art historian Mary Smith Whitall Costelloe remarked, "You cannot really understand America without Walt Whitman, without Leaves of Grass..." Modernist poet Ezra Pound added that Whitman is "America's poet...He is America."

I couldn't agree more.

Born as Walter Whitman on May 31, 1819, in West Hills, New York, Whitman was the second of nine children to his Quaker parents. He was quickly nicknamed Walt to distinguish himself apart from his father, Walter Whitman Sr. When Whitman was just four years old, his family packed everything up and moved to the big city of Brooklyn, and his parents would move from house-to-house because of their lack of proper investments. Whitman later remarked that his childhood was unhappy. He was poor--at the bottom of nothing and he would have to work awfully hard to rise above that.

By the time he was 11 years old, Whitman left his school and started working. He knew he had to help his family. He worked as an office boy for lawyers and later an apprentice and "printer's devil" (the person who mixed tubs of ink) for the weekly Long Island newspaper, the Patriot. 

Walt Whitman (photo/Brain Pickings)

Eventually, Whitman left the newspaper to work for another printer in Brooklyn. He also joined the staff of the leading Whig party weekly newspaper, the Long-Island Star. While there, Whitman became immersed in writing and art culture. He became a patron of the local library, joined a debating society, attended regular theater performances, and began writing poetry in his spare time, even anonymously publishing his work in the New-York Mirror. Whitman's life as a young man was drastically different than his childhood and he couldn't get enough of it.

When he was just 16 years old, Whitman left Brooklyn to move to New York City. He worked in the publishing business, often as a compositor. While New York City seemed glamorous, Whitman couldn't find enough work. Fearing he would "end up" like his father--broke and moving from home-to-home--Whitman moved to Long Island to teach at various schools.

But for someone who wanted to write, teaching wasn't enough for him. He wanted to write and publish, so he finally decided to create his own job. He started his own newspaper, the Long-Islander, which is still in publication today! Whitman was the publisher, editor, head writer, distributor, and he even made home deliveries--making sure everyone in Long Island could get a copy of his newspaper.

In the 1840s, Whitman began working for a variety of newspapers in New York City, making the city his current home. He served as the editor of the Aurora and the Brooklyn Eagle. During this time, he also worked as a freelance fiction writer and poet. Eventually, Whitman grew tired of working as a newspaperman and decided poetry was his calling. He was determined to become a poet.

So, he became a poet.

As early as 1850, Whitman began drafting poems for his famous collection, Leaves of Grass. One day, he surprised his family with a selection of his poems. His brother, George, "didn't think it was worth reading." Boy, was he ever wrong!

In 1855, Whitman paid for the publication of Leaves of Grass, having it printed at a local print shop. Only 795 copies were printed and Whitman decided to leave his name off of the manuscript. But 500 lines into the book, the poet refers to 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." 

Walt Whitman's "Leaves of Grass" (photo/WSHU).

Leaves of Grass received praise, specifically from Ralph Waldo Emerson. The collection stirred up interest in Whitman's writing, mostly because Emerson kept recommending it to his friends. Thank goodness for Emerson! Due to the success, Whitman decided to write more poems for the collection, making multiple reprints. Leaves of Grass has witnessed many reprints over the years, with the collection now containing all of Whitman's most-famous poems, including I Sing the Body Electric, Song of Myself, Song of the Open Road, O Captain! My Captain!, I Hear America Singing, and others.

Walt Whitman's "I Hear America Singing" (photo/Balancing Act - Tumblr).

Whitman continued to write poetry during the 1860s--at the height of the American Civil War. The poet became involved in the war, but not as a soldier. After traveling to visit his brother, George, who fought for the Union, Whitman was distraught after seeing the wounded soldiers. He went to Washington, D.C., where he worked part-time in the army paymaster's office and as a nurse in the army hospitals. Whitman often wrote about his experiences, seeing the impact of war right in front of his eyes. Whitman's most-famous Civil War poem, of course, is O Captain! My Captain!, where the poet honored President Abraham Lincoln after his assassination in 1865.

Walt Whitman (photo/Lapham's Quarterly)

In 1873, Whitman suffered a paralytic stroke and was forced to move from Washington to Camden, New Jersey, to live with his brother, George. He was still productive, publishing three new editions of Leaves of Grass. He would have frequent guests, including Oscar Wilde (who biographers believe was one of his sexual partners). Shortly before his death, Whitman completed a final edition of Leaves of Grass, nicknamed the "Deathbed Edition."

He wrote, "L. of G. at last complete--after 33 years of hackling at it, all times and moods of my life, fair weather and foul, all parts of the land, and peace and war, young and old." 

On March 26, 1892, Whitman passed away at 74 years old. But like many people, his legacy has lived on. We remember him for his poetry. He used unusual images and symbols, often writing about death and sexuality. He wasn't afraid to write about the human body. Whitman wanted to write "epics," and he certainly did. He wrote epic poetry that is still widely read today.

Whitman's poetry deserves to be read. It deserves to be studied and loved. His writing is still relevant today, which is a little sad that we haven't grown enough as a society since the 1860s. We still need to read Whitman's poetry. He wrote about democracy. He wrote about America. He wrote about us. 

We need to listen to him now more than ever before. He heard America singing. Are you listening?

O Captain, My Captain, we hear you, Whitman. We thank you.

-KJL-

(photo/Everyday Power)