Walt Whitman (1819-1892) was one of the premier poets of American verse, and one of the most influential poets in both American and world literature. One of the first poets to utilize free verse—poetry that employs neither a strict rhyme scheme nor a strict metrical or stanza pattern—Whitman serves as a prelude to modernist poets such as Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot. Whitman collected his poems in a single volume, Leaves of Grass, which celebrates humanity in all its forms and occupations, and also sang the praises of the unique contributions which American democracy and republicanism have made to human freedom and human dignity.
Walt Whitman (1819-1892) was one of the premier poets of American verse, and one of the most influential poets in both American and world literature. One of the first poets to utilize free verse—poetry that employs neither a strict rhyme scheme nor a strict metrical or stanza pattern—Whitman serves as a prelude to modernist poets such as Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot. Whitman collected his poems in a single volume, Leaves of Grass, which celebrates humanity in all its forms and occupations, and also sang the praises of the unique contributions which American democracy and republicanism have made to human freedom and human dignity.