Walt Whitman (1819-1892).

By far the most interesting and important figure among the New York writers of this generation is that presented in the picturesque personality of Walt Whitman. Strictly speaking, he was not so much a member as one outside the literary circle just described. Not only in what he had to say as a poet was Whitman unconventional; he was unconventional also in the manner of saying. He violated the established rules of poetical expression as boldly and as confidently as he disregarded the ordinary rule of silence concerning the topics which he discussed with such amazing frankness. He was an innovator, a representative of new ideas. In the literary history of America he stands unique. In the minds of many he appears a man of undoubted genius, elemental, impressive; to some he is the teacher of new-found truths, the prophet and the poet of democracy.

In 1855 appeared the first edition of Whitman's poems, entitled “Leaves of Grass”. This first volume was perhaps more widely talked about than widely read. To most of those who did read it, it was both mystifying and repellent. Not only did they find here a startling freedom of speech which shocked them and an apparent egotism that amazed, but they found also a form of expression that bade defiance to every principle of constructive art. This indeed seemed anarchy rather than art, and it is not surprising that a new generation of readers was born before the real significance of this strange verse began to be clear. In time it became evident that the “Song of Myself” was to be interpreted as typical and universal rather than egotistic, and that the spirit of Walt Whitman's poetry was democratic rather than personal.

The peculiar verse-form Whitman persistently maintained. It represents his revolt from artificiality. In later years Whitman's poetry became less turgid and, at times, even symmetrical. The objectionable freedoms of the early work disappeared entirely and the poetical quality grew more tangible.

The Civil War stirred Whitman mightily. The spirit of his verse during this period attains a dignity and strength. In “Drum-Taps” (1865) are included some of his finest compositions, notably the vivid descriptive poems “Cavalry Crossing a Ford”, “Bivouac on a Mountain-side”, “An Army Corps on the March”, and “By the Bivouac's Fitful Flame”, pictures intense in their realism. The death of Lincoln inspired two poems which command universal admiration: “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd” and “O Captain! My Captain!” This last poem is in rhymed stanzas, and shows Whitman's poetical power at its best.

The sea is the subject of many fine passages in these strange compositions.

“A Paumanok Picture”, “Patroling Barnegat”, “With Husky-Haughty Lips”, “O Sea” may be cited as examples, this last especially a marvel of descriptive power. To the poems of this interesting group, many as impressively suggestive could easily be added. The bird-songs in “Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking” and “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd” are remarkable lyrics. “To the Man-of-War-Bird” is another poem easily to be appreciated. A picture dramatic in spirit and singularly vivid, is that descriptive of the old mariner's passing in “Old Salt Kossabone”.

More and more, as one learns to read Whitman, -- and the reading should be aloud, -- his strength grows upon the reader. The eccentricity, the uncouth forms, the jargon of names and words, disturb him less. In some degree he must respond to the pervading spirit of comradeship, of sympathy -- boundless, indiscriminate. All mankind is brother and sister; everything in nature is wholesome and divine.

“Specimen Days and Collect”, autobiographical data in prose, was published in 1882. A new collection of verse “November Boughs”, appeared in 1888. The seventieth birthday of the poet was marked by greetings from all parts of the world. A new edition of “Leaves of Grass” was issued, together with the new poems collected under the title “Sands at Seventy”. A final volume “Good-bye my Fancy” (1891), contained his last poems. Whitman died March 26, 1892.

The influence of Whitman upon his immediate contemporaries appeared negligible; but the notable development of free verse twenty years later owes much to his example. The spirit of Whitman, indeed, speaks again in the voices of the "new" poets appearing in the second decade of the twentieth century.

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