Back أوراق العشب Arabic Fulles d'herba Catalan Grashalme German Folioj de Herbo Esperanto Hojas de hierba Spanish برگهای علف Persian Feuilles d'herbe French Vlati trave Croatian Խոտի տերևներ Armenian Foglie d'erba Italian
 This steel engraving of Whitman served as the frontispiece to the first edition of Leaves of Grass, published on July 4, 1855 | |
| Author | Walt Whitman |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Poetry |
| Publisher | Self |
Publication date | July 4, 1855 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Text | Leaves of Grass at Wikisource |
Leaves of Grass is a poetry collection by American poet Walt Whitman. After self-publishing it in 1855, he spent most of his professional life writing, revising, and expanding the collection until his death in 1892.[1] Either six or nine separate editions of the book were produced, depending on how one defines a new edition.[2] The continual modifications to Leaves of Grass resulted in vastly different copies of it circulating in Whitman's lifetime. The first edition was a slim tract of twelve poems, and the last was a compilation of over 400 poems.
The book represents a celebration of Whitman's philosophy of life and humanity in which he praises nature and the individual's role in it. He catalogues the expansiveness of American democracy.[3] Rather than dwell on religious or spiritual themes, he focuses primarily on the body and the material world. With very few exceptions, Whitman's poems do not rhyme or follow conventional rules for meter and line length.[4]
Leaves of Grass was notable for its discussion of delight in sensual pleasures at a time when such candid displays were considered immoral. The book was highly controversial for its explicit sexual imagery, and Whitman was subject to derision by many contemporary critics.[5] Over the decades, however, the collection has infiltrated popular culture and become recognized as one of the central works of American poetry.
Among the poems in the early Leaves of Grass editions (albeit sometimes under different titles) were "Song of Myself", "Song of the Open Road", "I Sing the Body Electric", "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking", and "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry". Later editions would contain Whitman's elegy to the assassinated President Abraham Lincoln, "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd".
- ^ Miller 1962, p. 57.
- ^ White, William (September 1, 1973). "Editions of Leaves of Grass: How Many?". Walt Whitman Review. 19 (3). Detroit: 111 – via ProQuest.
- ^ Mason, John B. (1998). Cohen, Matt; Folsom, Ed; Price, Kenneth M. (eds.). "Catalogues". The Walt Whitman Archive.
- ^ Sillen, Samuel, ed. (1944). Walt Whitman: Poet of American Democracy. New York: International Publishers. pp. 25–27.
- ^ Miller Jr., James E. (1998). Cohen, Matt; Folsom, Ed; Price, Kenneth M. (eds.). "Sex and Sexuality". The Walt Whitman Archive.