Walt Whitman (1819-1892) was a notable American poet and journalist, famous for his poetry collection called Leaves of Grass, which hit the shelves in 1855. He’s still a big deal in American literature, and his work really shows how much the world around him influenced him. A lot of what he wrote revolved around the idea of democracy (Mead, 555).
You can explore the entire of his career in Whitman Archive website.
Early Life
Walt Whitman was born on May 31, 1819, in a tiny village on Long Island, New York. His dad, Walter Whitman Sr., had English roots, while his mom, Louisa Van Velsor, came from Dutch-Quaker ancestry. Both of them were descendants of the early settlers in Long Island. Walt was the second child and son in the family. His father worked as a farmer but also used his carpentry skills during Brooklyn’s building boom, moving the family there in 1823. According to Walt, his dad always leaned towards democratic and unconventional ideas. His parents instilled in him a basic understanding of political liberalism and a deistic belief shaped by Quaker teachings, which made him a lifelong liberal.
After dropping out of school at eleven, he took jobs at a law firm and a doctor’s office. Even though he didn’t have much formal education, Whitman was an avid reader. He devoured everything from Sir Walter Scott’s works to 19th-century novels, English Romantic poetry, European classics, and the New Testament. By twelve, he was working at a newspaper called the Long Island Patriot, where he even started writing pieces for publication. He later moved on to the Star, a Whig newspaper, and by fifteen, he was already contributing poems to a Manhattan paper called The Mirror. In the 1840s, New York had around 15 to 20 newspapers, and Whitman got involved with many of them as a contributor or editor. At the Patriot and the Star, he picked up the printing trade as a compositor or journeyman printer. However, when his family went back to Long Island, he stayed behind, enjoying his free time at theaters and debate clubs. After two fires hit the printing industry in 1835, he had to return home, but no matter the challenges, he never gave up on his dream of writing.
Early Publications
For a bit, he gave teaching a shot at some small-town schools. He was brought on to be a father figure and teach the basics, but at just 17, he was younger than quite a few of his students. While people thought he was a decent teacher, many parents saw him as lazy for not getting more involved in after-school stuff. However, his students felt differently and were sad to see him go, finding him both fun and challenging. Whitman still had his sights set on becoming a writer. At 19, he snagged a used printing press and some type, rented a spot above a stable, and in June 1838, he launched a weekly newspaper called Long Islander, which would eventually be sold by his backers. By 1840, at 21, he moved back to Manhattan, writing poetry and prose for the Long Island Democrat, while also campaigning and speaking at Democratic rallies at City Hall. Plus, he published The Last of the Sacred Army, one of eight pieces he wrote for the popular Democratic magazine, the Democratic Review, between 1841 and 1842.
By 1841, he started working at the New York World, a literary weekly, as a compositor. Two years later, in 1843, he became the chief editor of the daily paper, the Aurora. He was responsible for filling the front page with news and editorials, and thanks to his leadership, the paper’s readership grew. But even with the paper doing well, Whitman got fired and was publicly accused of being lazy and laid-back. He quickly found a job at the Evening Tattler. In November 1842, he released his temperance novel, Franklin Evans or the Inebriate. Over the next three years, he published several stories and sketches while also dipping his toes into politics.
In 1845, he went back to Brooklyn for two years, where he started contributing to the Star, covering special events in Manhattan like musicals and theater shows, as well as reviewing books, which sparked his love for opera.By the time he hit 27, he was already the editor of the Brooklyn Eagle, where he penned literary reviews for big names like Ralph Waldo Emerson, Thomas Carlyle, Herman Melville, and Johann Wolfgang von Goethe. On the political side, he was a pretty outspoken Democrat. At first, he backed the Mexican-American War (1846-1848), which happened during James K. Polk’s presidency (1845-1849). However, his strong political beliefs eventually got him booted from the Eagle. He was against popular sovereignty and joined the Free-Soil movement, opposing any new land being taken for the sake of expanding slavery.
Leaves of Grass
Walt Whitman moved to New Orleans in February 1848, hoping to work for a newspaper. He took on the role of editor at the Daily Crescent, but he quit by May and headed back to Brooklyn. The paper’s owners were worried that his political views would cause problems during the upcoming presidential election, so he had no choice but to leave. Once back home, he became a delegate at the Free-Soil convention and, with some financial backing, launched the Brooklyn Freeman, a weekly aimed at supporting Martin Van Buren and Charles Francis Adams, who were against expanding slave territories.
During this time, Whitman focused on studying and writing, gave talks at the Brooklyn Art Union, and even dabbled in carpentry. In July 1855, he released Leaves of Grass, which included twelve poems printed in 795 copies at his own expense through James and Thomas Rome’s printing shop. All the poems in this first edition, including the famous I Sing the Body Electric, didn’t have titles until later versions. The longest piece was Song of Myself, which also remained untitled until the 1881 edition. In the opening lines, Whitman expressed his connection to everyone when he wrote, “I celebrate myself.” He identified as a Yankee, a Hoosier, and a Georgian, saying, “I am young and old, of the foolish as much as the wise… a child as well as a man.”
Sales were pretty low, and many early reviews were lukewarm at best. Some people even thought it was offensive and inappropriate. One reviewer went as far as tossing his copy into the fire and calling it vulgar. However, there were some bright spots. Ralph Waldo Emerson praised it as an amazing work full of wit and wisdom, saying, “I greet you at the beginning of a great career.” On October 10, 1855, Emerson’s letter was published in Horace Greeley’s New York Tribune. Charles Dana, the managing editor of the Tribune, acknowledged the poem’s bold ideas and appreciation for beauty but found its style to be rough and awkward.
Whitman kept editing and revising Leaves of Grass, eventually making eight revisions and expanding the original twelve poems to over 400.Over time, Whitman kept tweaking and rewriting Leaves, going through eight different versions and turning the original twelve poems into more than 400. Even though it got some bad reviews at first, Emerson’s prediction turned out to be spot on, and by 1871, Whitman was getting some serious recognition from England. In the preface of Leaves, he said, “A true poet is one whose country embraces him just as much as he embraces it” (Whitman, 26).
More Affairs
Drum-Taps
In 1856, Whitman released a second edition of Leaves that included 33 poems. Even though he was busy with Leaves, he still had a passion for journalism and took on the role of editor at the Brooklyn Times while also writing poetry from 1857 to 1859. When the Civil War kicked off in 1861, he frequently visited injured soldiers at a hospital in New York City. After hearing that his brother George was wounded (but not seriously) in Washington, he rushed over there. In the city, he volunteered as a caregiver at the Armory Square Hospital, helping soldiers from both sides of the war. Listening to their stories from the battlefield inspired him to write. He created the poem Beat! Beat! Drums! in 1861 as a patriotic call to action for Union troops, which later made it into the 1867 edition of Leaves.
While in Washington, he worked as a clerk at the Department of Interior but got fired after Secretary James Harlan read Leaves of Grass. He then found a job in the Attorney General’s office. In 1865, he started working on a poetry collection called Drum-Taps. Just two days after President Abraham Lincoln passed away on April 17, Whitman paused everything to write a mourning poem titled Hush’d Be the Camps To-day. After delaying for another two years, he wrote O Captain! My Captain! and When Lilacs Last in Dooryard Bloom’d, both honoring Lincoln. In these poems, he switched from his usual free verse style to a more traditional rhyme and meter.
Later Life
After the war, Whitman kept his job at the Attorney General’s office in Washington, but as his health started to go downhill, he lost that clerk position. In September 1871, he read a lengthy poem at the American Institute of New York’s annual industrial arts fair. The next June, he delivered the commencement speech at Dartmouth.
In 1873, Whitman had his first stroke, which led him to move in with his brother George in Camden, New Jersey. George was practical and didn’t really get Whitman’s passion for writing; he thought his brother was a bit aimless. When George and his wife relocated, Whitman bought his own place on Merkle Street in Camden. Even though his health was declining, he kept writing and editing Leaves, and took some time to work on Specimen Days in 1882. The final edition of Leaves, released just before he passed away, was basically a reprint of the 1881 version with two new poems added. On March 26, 1892, Whitman died from pulmonary emphysema after his left lung completely collapsed. He was laid to rest at Harleigh Cemetery in Camden.
