From the highly controversial Leaves of Grass, with its overt sexual imagery and delight of sensual pleasures, to the iconic Captain, oh my captain immortalised in the film Dead Poets Society, this short collection is the ideal introduction to the poetry of Walt Whitman.
One of the greats, he was celebrated both during his lifetime and ever since - he is widely considered to be the father of free verse. During the American Civil War he worked in hospitals caring for the wounded, and his own funeral in 1892 was a public event.
In the words of the modernist poet Ezra Pound, Walt Whitman was 'America's poet . . . he is America'.
Walt Whitman (1819-1892) was born on Long Island and had a variety of occupations, including journalism, printing and teaching, before publishing Leaves Of Grass in 1855, which was highly praised by Waldo Emerson. He helped nurse the wounded in the American Civil War, and was recognised as a major poet before his death.
