# Walt Whitman

## Biography

Walt Whitman, born on Long Island, New York, in 1819, became one of America's most influential and innovative poets. Growing up in Brooklyn, he received a limited formal education, leaving school around age eleven to work as an office boy and later a printer. Whitman pursued various professions including journalist, teacher, and government clerk throughout his early life, often editing newspapers.

His groundbreaking collection of poetry, *Leaves of Grass*, was self-published in 1855. This work, which he continued to revise and expand throughout his life, was revolutionary for its use of free verse and its candid celebration of democracy, nature, and the human body. Initially controversial, *Leaves of Grass* cemented his status as a pivotal figure in American literature, earning him the title "father of free verse." During the American Civil War, Whitman volunteered as a nurse in Washington D.C., caring for wounded soldiers, an experience that profoundly influenced his later poetry, including works like "O Captain! My Captain!" and "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd," elegies for Abraham Lincoln. Whitman’s unique voice and democratic spirit continue to inspire readers and writers worldwide.

## Books

- [Leaves of Grass](https://samolit.com/books/95812)