FREE ESSAY ON A BIOGRAPHY OF WALT WHITMAN

A BIOGRAPHY OF WALT WHITMAN

Whitman, Walt (1819-1892), American poet, whose work boldly asserts the worth of the
individual and the oneness of all humanity. Whitman's defiant break with traditional
poetic concerns and style exerted a major influence on American thought and literature.
Born near Huntington, New York, Whitman was the second of a family of nine children. His
father was a carpenter. The poet had a particularly close relationship with his mother.
When Whitman was four years old, his family moved to Brooklyn, New York, where he
attended public school for six years before being apprenticed to a printer. Two years
later he went to New York City to work in printing shops. He returned to Long Island in
1835 and taught in country schools. In 1838 and 1839 Whitman edited a newspaper, the
Long-Islander, in Huntington. When he became bored with the job, he went back to New York
City to work as a printer and journalist. There he enjoyed the theater, the opera,
and-always an omnivorous reader- the libraries. Whitman wrote poems and stories for
popular magazines and made political speeches, for which Tammany Hall Democrats rewarded
him with the editorship of various short-lived newspapers (see Tammany Society). For two
years Whitman edited the influential Brooklyn Eagle, but he lost his position for
supporting the Free-Soil party. After a brief sojourn in New Orleans, Louisiana, he
returned to Brooklyn, where he tried to start a Free-Soil newspaper. After several years
spent at various jobs, including building houses, Whitman began writing a new kind of
poetry and thereafter neglected business.
Bibliography
Gibaldi, joseph. MLA Handbook for writers of Research papers. 4th ed. New York: MLA,
1995