Even
though he did not complete formal schooling, Walt Whitman educated himself by
hungrily reading the literary classics and his favorite American poet, Ralph Waldo
Emerson, whose love of natured mirrored his own. Later, he sent a copy of his
self-published book of poetry, Leaves of Grass to Emerson. The famous poet
wrote back and thanked him, saying "I am very happy in reading it..." Emerson
then became one of Whitman's most devoted fans. Over the years, Whitman traveled
and worked in many parts of the country and even attended the wounded and dying
Union soldiers in the Civil War. Although he disdained politics and politicians,
he idolized Abraham Lincoln and American ideals as is obvious in his famous poems
"I Hear America Singing" and "O Captain! My Captain!" written on the occasion
of Lincoln's assassination. But it was Whitman's focus on humanity and nature
in his lyrical, almost musical poetry that set him apart from other poets of his
time. He considered all life, no matter what form or expression it took, as miraculous.
As he wrote in his introduction to Leaves of Grass: "...to speak in literature
with the perfect rectitude and insouciance of the movements of animals and the
unimpeachableness of the sentiment of trees in the woods and grass by the roadside
is the flawless triumph of art."
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© Larry Auld
