Walt Whitman Changes the Face of Literature Essay -- Biography Biograp

Walt Whitman Changes the Face of Literature When Walt Whitman published the first edition of Leaves of Grass it was received with a wide variety of reactions. From critics to fellow poets the reactions to his first volume were often admiring, but also dubious. This pattern continued with each of the six editions of Leaves. Many wondered where this 36 year-old "poet of the people" came from. The very way he presented his first volume of poetry was controversial. Whitman presented himself in this self-published volume as, "Walt Whitman, an American, one of the roughs, a Kosmos, a Disorderly, fleshy and sensual".eating drinking and breeding." (2725) This style of self declaration was unheard of at that time. "It was as if the beasts spoke," commented Henry David Thoreau on Whitman's departure from the typical literature of the time. (2725) Critical reviews of his work ranged from high praise to near disdain. It was written in United States Review that, "Self-Reliant, with haughty eyes, assuming to himself all the attributes of his country, steps Walt Whitman into literature, talking like a man unaware that there was hitherto such a such a production as a book, or such a being as a writer." (205) It was Whitman's style of self-proclamation that caused such a stir. When one reads Whitman poetry they must decide , "does this poet really speak for me, as he claims to?" The review of his works recognizes this question. Whitman proded people toward a new way of thinking. It was written that, "With strong and steady call he addresses men. Come, he seems to say, from the midst of all that you have been your whole life surrounding yourself with: Leave all the preaching and teaching of others, and mind only... ...ars to intend, his last literary effort, it closes firmly and fitly the literary career of a poet who has with pride and fidelity obeyed his own genius, and who has sought to understand and speak--in his oracular, strange voice--the experience of common humanity." (305) Works Cited Buchanan, Robert. "Walt Whitman." Broadway Magazine. November 1867, 188-95. Dana, Charles. "New Publications: Leaves of Grass." New York Daily Tribune. July 23, 1855, p. 3. Lauter, Paul. The Heath Anthology of American Literature. 1998 Houghton Mifflin Co, New York. Literary World 22. "Goodbye My Fancy." September 12, 1891. 305 Morse, Sidney. "The Second Annex to Leaves of Grass." Conservator 2. September 1891, 51-2. New York Tribune. "A Melancholy Book". August 16, 1891. p. 14. United States Review. "Walt Whitman and His Poems". September 5, 1855. 205-12.