an American poet,essayist,and journalist.A humanist,he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism,incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon,often called the father of free verse.[1]His work was very controversial in its time,particularly his poetry collection Leaves of Grass,which was described as obscene for its overt sexuality.Along with Emily Dickinson,he is considered one of America's most important poets. Poetic theory Whitman wrote in the preface to the 1855 edition of Leaves ofGrass,"The proof of a poet is that his country absorbs him as affectionately as he has absorbed it."He believed there was a vital,symbiotic relationship between the poet and society.This connection was emphasized especially in "Song of Myself"by using an all-powerful first-person narration.As an American epic,it deviated from the historic use of an elevated hero and instead assumed the identity of the common people. Fame and influence Walt Whitman has been claimed as America's first "poet of democracy",a title meant to reflect his ability to write in a singularly American character.A British friend of Walt Whitman,Mary Smith Whitall Costelloe,wrote:"You cannot really understand America without Walt Whitman,without Leaves of Grass...He has expressed that civilization,'up to date,'as he would say,and no student of the philosophy of history can do without him."Modernist poet Ezra Pound called Whitman "America's poet... He is America."Andrew Carnegie called him "the great poet of America so far". Whitman considered himself a messiah-like figure in poetry.Others agreed:one of his admirers,William Sloane Kennedy,speculated that "people will be celebrating the birth of Walt Whitman as they are now the birth of Christ". The literary critic,Harold Bloom wrote,as the introduction for the 150th anniversary of Leaves of Grass: If you are American,then Walt Whitman is your imaginative father and mother, even if,like myself,you have never composed a line of verse.You can nominate a fair number of literary works as candidates for the secular Scripture of the United States. They might include Melville's Moby-Dick,Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and Emerson's two series of Essays and The Conduct of Life.None of those,not even Emerson's,are as central as the first edition of Leaves of Grass. Major Works: 77 an American poet, essayist, and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. ￾hitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse.[1] His work was very controversial in its time, particularly his poetry collection Leaves of Grass, which was described as obscene for its overt sexuality. Along with Emily Dickinson, he is considered one of America’s most important poets. Poetic theory ￾hitman wrote in the preface to the 1855 edition of Leaves of Grass, "The proof of a poet is that his country absorbs him as affectionately as he has absorbed it." He believed there was a vital, symbiotic relationship between the poet and society. This connection was emphasized especially in "Song of Myself" by using an all-powerful first-person narration. As an American epic, it deviated from the historic use of an elevated hero and instead assumed the identity of the common people. Fame and influence ￾alt ￾hitman has been claimed as America's first "poet of democracy", a title meant to reflect his ability to write in a singularly American character. A British friend of ￾alt ￾hitman, Mary Smith ￾hitall Costelloe, wrote: "You cannot really understand America without ￾alt ￾hitman, without Leaves of Grass... He has expressed that civilization, 'up to date,' as he would say, and no student of the philosophy of history can do without him." Modernist poet Ezra Pound called ￾hitman "America's poet... He is America." Andrew Carnegie called him "the great poet of America so far". ￾hitman considered himself a messiah-like figure in poetry. Others agreed: one of his admirers, ￾illiam Sloane Kennedy, speculated that "people will be celebrating the birth of ￾alt ￾hitman as they are now the birth of Christ". The literary critic, Harold Bloom wrote, as the introduction for the 150th anniversary of Leaves of Grass: If you are American, then ￾alt ￾hitman is your imaginative father and mother, even if, like myself, you have never composed a line of verse. You can nominate a fair number of literary works as candidates for the secular Scripture of the United States. They might include Melville's Moby-Dick, Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, and Emerson's two series of Essays and The Conduct of Life. None of those, not even Emerson's, are as central as the first edition of Leaves of Grass. Major Works: