Walt Whitman And Individualism

Walt Whitman was an an author of the transcendentalism period, and related a lot of work to the time period. His works, like the poem “Leaves of Grass”, are considered to be a landmark in the history of American literature (biography.com), talks about nature, and his poem, “Song of Myself”, talks about individualism, and how we are connected to each other. Both ideas are themes of the transcendentalism period. Walt Whitman’s life was characteristic of the time period in which he lived in (shmoop.com).

Walt Whitman was born May 18, 1918 at West Hills, NY, and was the second of nine children. When Whitman was 11, his father took him out of school so Whitman could help out with household income. Whitman started to work as an office boy for a

Released in 1855, the poem was a mix of romanticism and realism. Some people consider this poem to be every egotistic, and say that it might be the most egotistic poem ever written. The poem was initially titled, “Poem of Walt Whitman, an American”. By the title, a person can expect the poem to be very egotistic. Some people consider this poem to be the most influential poem. By the title, a person can infer about how Whitman celebrates individualism, one of the main themes of the the transcendentalism period, the period in which Whitman lived. In the poem, Whitman tries to make friends with anyone he sees. This is because the poem was written a few years prior to the Civil War outbreak, and Whitman had seen friendship as the only hope to restore the broken union. This poem became really popular due to the poem describing an ordinary American citizen, and his patriotism towards the country.. Released in 1865 another one of Whitman’s big works was “O Captain! My Captain”, in which the captain refers to Abraham Lincoln, who Whitman considered a hero, and how an ideal leader should be.The death of Lincoln caused Whitman to lament, and write this poem. Whitman, in this poem, wants the American people to put trust in their leaders.Another one of Whitman’s classics was “I Hear America Singing”. Released in 1966, this poem by Whitman is about American pride. He describes the citizens’ pride in work, and imagines them singing after work, and creates a vision of America being unified by song and hard work. In this poem, Whitman makes it seem that an average mason is as important as the president of The United States. This poem looks like it was made to encourage the people who work a lot, and those who hate their jobs