Overview of the Poetry Collection “Leaves of Grass” by Walt Whitman

December 29, 2020 by Essay Writer

The poems of Leaves of Grass are loosely connected, with each representing Whitman’s celebration of his philosophy of life and humanity. This book is notable for its discussion of delight in sensual pleasures during a time when such candid displays were considered immoral. Where much previous poetry, especially English, relied on symbolism, allegory, and meditation on the religious and spiritual, Leaves of Grass (particularly the first edition) exalted the body and the material world. Influenced by Ralph Waldo Emerson and the Transcendentalist movement, itself an offshoot of Romanticism, Whitman’s poetry praises nature and the individual human’s role in it. However, much like Emerson, Whitman does not diminish the role of the mind or the spirit; rather, he elevates the human form and the human mind, deeming both worthy of poetic praise.

In the poetry collection by Walt Whitman called, “Leaves of Grass”, the author celebrates in many different writings, his life and his ability to be a human being. The different poems inside this book focused on the pleasures of the world along with the materials in the world. This book of poems was very influenced by the fact that the transcendentalist movement was going on. Whitman was highly interested in the author, Ralph Waldo Emerson and his writings.

The different poems switch formats as far as the way they are set up. There are not rules that the author seems to follow when setting up the lines and the different parts of the poems. This book was most likely looked down on by many different people because of the amount of sexual imagery in it. The sexual content seems to be a little much and is probably not talked about in schools.

The book is sectioned into many different areas, with different names and titles. However, the focus of all of the poems seems to focus on one’s self and an individual. A lot of the poems seem to have an influence on the Civil War, where he actually served in. He related his poems to the time frame and period he wrote them but not as much as anyone else.

Whitman was one of the only authors that doesn’t speak about the time period he lives in as much, more about themselves and the different things happening in his life instead of during his time period. It’s nice to hear about other things other than the time he lives in and the history. He writes about materialistic things, how things affect life and more.

The author is an American poet that seemed to influence many people in the world with his writings. He was influenced by many; however, he influenced many others himself and was the hero of other authors. He was a very good writer and wrote about things he wanted to no matter what others seemed to say. His topics were not time period based, but they were so much better.

Read more