Leaves of Grass

Walt Whitman spent most of his professional life writing and re-writing Leaves of Grass, revising it multiple times until his death. The first edition was a small book of twelve poems and the last, a compilation of over 400. The poems of Leaves of Grass represent Whitman's celebration of his philosophy of life and humanity. His poetry praises nature and the individual human's role in it. Leaves of Grass (First Edition): Song of Myself A Song for Occupations To Think of Time The Sleepers I Sing the Body Electric Faces Song of the Answerer Europe the 72d and 73d Years of These States A Boston Ballad There Was a Child Went Forth Who Learns My Lesson Complete Great Are the Myths Leaves of Grass (Final Edition): Inscriptions One's-Self I Sing As I Ponder'd in Silence In Cabin'd Ships at Sea To Foreign Lands To a Historian To Thee Old Cause Eidolons For Him I Sing When I Read the Book Beginning My Studies Starting from Paumanok Song of Myself Children of Adam From Pent-Up Aching Rivers I Sing the Body Electric A Woman Waits for Me Spontaneous Me One Hour to Madness and Joy Out of the Rolling Ocean the Crowd Calamus Salut au Monde! Song of the Open Road Crossing Brooklyn Ferry Song of the Answerer Our Old Feuillage A Song of Joys Song of the Broad-Axe Song of the Exposition Song of the Redwood-Tree A Song for Occupations A Song of the Rolling Earth Birds of Passage A Broadway Pageant Sea-Drift By the Roadside Drum-Taps First O Songs for a Prelude Eighteen Sixty-One Beat! Beat! Drums! From Paumanok Starting I Fly Like a Bird Song of the Banner at Daybreak Rise O Days from Your Fathomless Deeps Virginia-The West City of Ships The Centenarian's Story Cavalry Crossing a Ford Memories of President Lincoln By Blue Ontario's Shore Autumn Rivulets Proud Music of the Storm Passage to India Prayer of Columbus The Sleepers To Think of Time Whispers of Heavenly Death Thou Mother with Thy Equal Brood From Noon to Starry Night Songs of Parting Sands at Seventy Good-Bye My Fancy

Walt Whitman (1819-1892) was an American poet, essayist, and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse. His work was controversial in its time, particularly his poetry collection Leaves of Grass. Whitman's work breaks the boundaries of poetic form and is generally prose-like. He is often labeled as the father of free verse.