Walt Whitman is regarded as one of the most important American poets, with many scholars agreeing that only Emily Dickinson rivals him in both his status and influence in the nation’s canon. In popular culture, he is an important influence in the film Dead Poets Society as well as the hit TV show Breaking Bad; however, despite this, “at 39, Walt Whitman was broke, unemployed, and living with his mom.” It took a long while for Whitman to begin getting recognition for the merit of his work, having only made poorly received fiction in newspapers in his early life prior to his titular work Leaves of Grass, working on the book until his death in 1892 at 72 years old.

The civil war in America began when the poet was 42 years old, and Whitman was a fierce opponent of slavery and supported the free-soil platform, working as a nurse for the Union tirelessly, earning himself the title of “Good Grey Poet” and finding comradery with President Lincoln. Whitman’s work has been called the birth of free verse poetry. Unlike the traditional techniques and rhyming schemes that were almost always used, Whitman had no explicit style restrictions in his work, in other words, there was no strict metering or rhyme at all. Instead, the Good Grey Poet preferred to show the natural pacing and cadence of language as one would when speaking. By extension of this practice, his work also used extended lines, which bled over the margins and kept going into the next line. This practice was also used with enumerations, where lines would begin with the same wording or phrasing, and act as a listing or catalog. The technical word for this is Anaphora (or epanaphora) and “refers to the repetition of the same word or words at the beginning of lines” which is often used in biblical texts and religious sermons.

Though Whitman’s poetry often celebrated diversity, his personal letters and notebooks contained racist and elitist views. He made disparaging remarks about Native Americans, referring to them as “savages” and arguing they should be removed from their lands. He also held anti-immigrant views, denigrating Irish, German, and Chinese immigrants in his private writings. Some scholars argue these prejudiced attitudes reflect wider societal views at the time rather than pure malice from Whitman. However, his offensive comments complicate his reputation as an egalitarian poet.

Although Whitman was terribly elitist and at times racist in his private life and letters, his poetry celebrated the diversity of America and her commonplace citizens. In the excerpt of “Song of Myself” I am going to be reading, he specifically writes in section 6:

“Growing among black folks as among white / Kanuck, Tuckahoe, Congressman, Cuff, I give them the same, I receive them the same.”

And later in section 21:

“I am the poet of the woman the same as the man, And I say it is as great to be a woman as to be a man”.

Thanks to the influence from Ralph Waldo Emerson, who mentored Whitman before lambasting him for his later risqué work, the poet was somewhat of a transcendentalist. To oversimplify, this meant that he saw humans as equal to all elements in nature and believed that there is an inherent goodness in both, and emphasis on independence and self-reliance.

Whitman’s transcendentalist outlook led him to view the world with a sense of mysticism. He saw divinity in nature and people, believing that everyone contained a spiritual essence connecting them to the universe. This is evident in his poetry through catalogues and lyrical celebration of human bodies, nature, and everyday life. The mystical quality of his writing leads readers to a feeling of transcendence, as if gaining insight into a higher meaning. His rhapsodic free verse creates an incantatory effect, evoking spiritual connections. This adds a layer of profundity to his tributes to ordinary people and experiences.

Although there wasn’t a vocabulary for it at the time, Whitman’s writing and personal life were at times homoerotic in nature, and he would be regarded as one of America’s earliest and most well-known queer poets. Whitman’s most notable gay relationship was with Peter Doyle, a bus conductor Whitman met in 1865 when he was 45 and Doyle was 21. They were romantically involved for years until 1876. Whitman left Doyle gifts and notes signing “your lover” and was heartbroken when the relationship ended. Some scholars believe his Calamus poems, focused on affection between men, may reference Doyle. Though Whitman never explicitly addressed his sexuality in writing, his homoerotic expressions and known relationships with men like Doyle make him an important early queer poet in America.

Over a century after his death, Whitman remains deeply influential in American culture. Modern poets from Allen Ginsberg to Adrienne Rich cite him as an inspiration for free verse and socially-conscious writing. He frequently appears in films and TV shows, representing a cornerstone of the American literary canon. Public figures from Ronald Reagan to Lyndon Johnson have quoted his work, moved by his patriotic poetry. Both celebrated and controversial, Whitman’s legacy as a pioneer of free verse lives on. For me personally, what is most striking and appealing with Whitman’s work is his unapologetic and unabashed optimism, as well as his ability to seek and successfully find beauty in the mundane and ordinary, making himself the proletariat bard. To fully allow yourself into his work and sink into his words means viewing yourself as something grandiose and mystical.