Walt Whitman

Born on May 31, 1819, in West Hills, Long Island, Walt Whitman worked as a printer, teacher, journalist, and editor before becoming one of the defining poets of the United States. His great life’s work was Leaves of Grass, first published in 1855 and revised again and again until the final edition of 1891–1892.

Whitman’s poetry broke with many older rules of verse and spoke in a free, expansive style that embraced common people, city life, nature, friendship, and the democratic spirit. During the American Civil War, he spent years visiting wounded soldiers in Washington hospitals, an experience that shaped both his life and later writing, including Drum-Taps.

In his later years he lived in Camden, New Jersey, where his reputation continued to grow. Today he is remembered not only as the author of Leaves of Grass, but as a writer who helped redefine what poetry could sound like and who it could speak for.