Walt Whitman Quick Facts - Quick Facts

Birth

May 31, 1819

Death

March 26, 1892

Place of Birth

West Hills, New York

Known for

His unorthodox, personal, and dynamic poetic style, which disregarded traditional rules of rhyme and meter

His many editions of Leaves of Grass, a work that celebrates individuality, sensuality, fertility, and nature

Milestones

1830-1845 Worked as a printer, taught briefly, and served as a reporter and editor for numerous New York periodicals

1846-1854 Edited the Brooklyn Eagle for two years, traveled to New Orleans, and moved back to New York where he continued to work as a journalist

1855 Whitman anonymously published the first edition of Leaves of Grass, which contained 12 untitled poems in free verse, including works later called 'I Sing the Body Electric' and 'Song of Myself.' The personal tone of these poems startled many readers.

1856 Published the second edition of Leaves of Grass

1857-1859 Edited the Brooklyn Times

1860 Published the third and greatly expanded edition of Leaves of Grass, which included more than 120 new poems, including 'Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking'

1862-1864 Traveled to Virginia to care for his brother, who had been injured in the American Civil War; then went to Washington, D.C., to help others wounded in battle

1865 Published Drum-Taps, a book of poetry based on his Civil War experiences, which was later folded into Leaves of Grass

1873 Suffered a stroke that caused partial paralysis, and moved to Camden, New Jersey, to be closer to his brother; stayed in New Jersey and continued to refine Leaves of Grass and other works until his death in 1892

1882 Published a collection of prose writing in Specimen Days and Collect

1892 Published the final edition of Leaves of Grass, known as the 'deathbed edition'

Quote

'I celebrate myself, and sing myself ...' Leaves of Grass, 'Song of Myself,' (1855)

Did You Know

Though he received little formal education, Whitman often attended the opera and also spent time studying great works of literature in the libraries of New York City.

The first edition of Leaves of Grass was not well received by the public, but was praised by American essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson in a letter that Whitman published in the second edition.

In 1865 Whitman was fired from a government job with the Department of the Interior after he was discovered to be the author of Leaves of Grass