Research Guides: Walt Whitman: Home

Walt Whitman (May 31, 1819 - March 26, 1892)

In January, 1865, Whitman became a clerk in the Department of the Interior, and in March he attended the second inauguration of President Abraham Lincoln. A month after Lincoln’s assassination in April, 1865, Whitman’s poems of the war, Drum-Taps, were printed at his own expense. A sequel to Drum-Taps, containing the great elegy to Lincoln, “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d,” followed in September. In the meantime, however, Whitman had been fired from his job on the grounds that Leaves of Grass was indecent. After a friend intervened, Whitman was employed the next day in the attorney general’s office. In 1867, Whitman’s reputation began to develop internationally, stimulated by the interest of William Michael Rossetti in England, who published an expurgated edition of the fourth edition of Leaves of Grass (which Whitman had printed in 1867). Continue . . .

Source: Aubrey, Bryan. “Walt Whitman.” Critical Survey of American Literature, Dec. 2016, pp. 3186–3197. From Literary Reference Center Plus database.

Book Collection

Walt Whitman and the Culture of American Celebrity

Resources

The Walt Whitman Archive The Walt Whitman Archive, edited by Ed Folsom and Kenneth M. Price, is published by the Center for Digital Research in the Humanities at the University of Nebraska–Lincoln under a Creative Commons License.
Celebrating 200 Years of WALT WHITMAN The article profiles poet Walt Whitman in the U.S. It mentions that Whitman was born in Long Island, New York where he also worked as a schoolteacher and a journalist. It also notes the challenges he experienced with producing long poems and established his personal print shop as well as produced the poem "Leaves of Grass."
The Casualties of Walt Whitman This essay explores homosexual themes and references in the poems of American poet Walt Whitman and aims to establish the poet's sexuality. The Calamus section of the poetry collection "Leaves of Grass" presents an opportunity to determine Whitman's sexual identity. The poems in this section contain references to semi-sexual emotions and actions that occur between men. Yet editors of the Norton Critical Edition of "Leaves of Grasses" note that Whitman denounced homosexuality, alleging his normal sexuality. Indeed, several Whitman biographers refer to the Calamus section as Whitman's tribute to male comradeship rather than love. Yet, Whitman's poem, Live-Oak, with Moss, written in the late 1850s, contains another reference to homosexuality. Against all odds, this poem tells of homosexual desire, loss, and loneliness in a poet whose enormous body of work is, on the whole, obsessively optimistic and exuberant. And the reader will realize that this poem is, without a doubt, a side of Whitman rarely seen and therefore very important to understanding him as the queer poet he was. This is Whitman at his most naked. Here, in Whitman's gayest, most forthright poem, he is vulnerable, soft-spoken, weak—stances he would not have wished revealed to his public. Thus, he censored himself and never printed this great poem in its original form, becoming his own casualty, nearly taking from us a poem that was revolutionary not only in Whitman's time but in our own.
"Leaves of Grass" and American Culture This essay discusses the book "Leaves of Grass" by Walt Whitman. "Leaves of Grass" first appeared in 1855, a thin volume of a dozen poems. By the final impression in 1891-1892, the volume had expanded into the text we study today. In this essay it discusses various poems from the book such as "Song of Myself" and how Whitman is reflected in them compared to other authors.

From Films On Demand Database:

Walt Whitman: A Concise Biography This introduction to the life and poetry of Walt Whitman from the Famous Authors series begins by contextualizing the writer's early life in 19th-century Brooklyn and Long Island, New York. Whitman took a trip to New Orleans in an attempt to start a newspaper, but he was deeply opposed to slavery and did not fare well in the South. While Leaves of Grass was eliciting both praise and disgust, he became a medical orderly for soldiers in Washington in an attempt to contribute to the Civil War. Finally, Whitman settled in Camden, New Jersey, where he reconnected with nature at Timber Creek. (33 minutes)
Walt Whitman and the Civil War From the historic battlefield at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, distinguished actor Richard Kiley and The First Poetry Quartet present a memorable program of Walt Whitman's poems about the Civil War. Out of the turmoil of this war came Whitman's Drum-Taps—poetry that spoke not only of the tragedy of the conflict, but also to the promise of a young nation and its people.
Walt Whitman - From Series: Six Poets: Searching for Rhyme and Reason A self-styled sketch runs, “Walt Whitman, an American, one of the roughs, a kosmos.” He could have added journalist, carpenter, nurse, and one of the greatest poets in English. This program presents a unique literary biography, tracing Whitman’s childhood, various careers, and the evolution of the masterpiece that proved his lifelong work, Leaves of Grass. A collage of photos, paintings, and manuscripts accompanies excerpts of letters from Whitman and Ralph Waldo Emerson, as well as readings from sections of Leaves of Grass, such as “Song of Myself,” “I Sing the Body Electric,” and “Native Moments.” (22 minutes)
Walt Whitman - From Series: Voices & Visions Brilliant readings of Whitman's poems demonstrate his American vision and style and vividly convey their poignancy and sheer power. Whitman's sources, including Emerson, the King James Bible, opera, and political oratory, are revealed.
American Road “Afoot and light-hearted, I take to the open road…” Using Walt Whitman’s poetry as a touchstone, this fascinating documentary examines the mystique of the road in American literature, art, and music. The film looks at how the motif has manifested throughout the nation’s history, inspiring the creation of a lore in which ramblers, hobos, beatniks, and backpackers become iconic representations of the American soul. The wanderings of Mark Twain, Woody Guthrie, Jack Kerouac, and others are contextualized within their work and with historical events, while commentary on the road as a symbol of freedom and transformation is provided by Anne Waldman, John Nichols (The Milagro Beanfield War), J. D. Hall, and historian Adam Green. With Ed Asner as the voice of Walt Whitman. (106 minutes)
"Leaves of Grass" Whitman self-publishes “Leaves of Grass.” He becomes the first truly American poet with his content, style, and colloquialism. The book is not well received except by Emerson. Contains nudity.