More than any other poet, Walt Whitman (1819-1892) opened the door separating traditional English verse from modern American poetry. With confidence and passion, he cast aside restrictions on poetic propriety and wrote candidly about himself and the American experience. Whitman was at various times a teacher, a newspaper reporter and editor, a printer, and a carpenter. But first and foremost, he was a poet. From the time he started working on the first edition of Leaves of Grass until he finished the final edition nearly forty years later, Whitman devoted his life to writing poems that contained American voices and subjects. His efforts inspired other poets and led to the development of modern American poetry. With selections of Whitman's own works accompanying photographs, artwork, and biographical text, this Voices in Poetry title provides a memorable introduction to one of the greatest poets of all time.
