Life of Walt Whitman - World of Biography

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Walt Whitman The Pioneers Of Democracy

At the turn of the 19th century, the United States of America was bequeathed upon by two men, one of whom later changed the political history of the nation, while the other contributed equally in the field of literature. Just a decade after Abraham Lincoln's birth, the great American poet Walt Whitman was born on May 31, 1819. Both the legends lived and died defending the basic right of a human being : freedom. Both advocated democracy and contributed immensely in molding the American mindset to support democracy anywhere on the Earth.

Walt Whitman was second of the nine children born to Walter Whitman Sr, who was of English descent. His mother, Louisa Van Velsor, was a Dutch. They were ordinary farm people with little formal education. A large tract of land owned by the Whitman family had to be forfeited by the time Walt was born. Walter Whitman Sr had to take up carpentry to earn his livelihood. The first four years of Walt’s life were spent at South Huntington. Then Walter Whitman Sr moved to Brooklyn. Here, he speculated in real estate but his poor management failed to provide for his large family of nine children.

The Brooklyn Years

Brooklyn was the heart of activities at that time as it was inhabited by immigrants who had come to accomplish 'the great American dream'. Walt's childhood was interspersed with vivid memories of the neighborhood and residents. The event that always stood foremost in his memory was his meeting the great French Hero of American Revolution, General Lafayette. Six year old Walt was a part of a crowd cheering the arrival of their hero in New York. General picked up Walt from the crowd and carried him along for a while. Walt was delighted to be the chosen one and he cherished the memory of the incident all through his life. He later reviewed it as a symbolic union of the Hero of the Revolution and the future poet of democracy.

Brooklyn also provided him an opportunity to live near East River, where he enjoyed the ferry rides to and from New York city. He loved the ferries and liked to observe the ferrymen carrying on their daily business. His experience here always stayed with him and he put it into words in Crossing Brooklyn Ferry.

Self-Education

Though there is little information of his education, it is learnt that he studied at a public school in Brooklyn. The Whitmans could not afford the expensive private school, so Walt studied with pupils of variety of ages and backgrounds, with one thing common among them - poverty. At the age of 11 he left school and took a job as an office boy with a lawyer's firm. His employer gave him membership of a library, which nurtured the creativity lying low within him. Since then he remained an enthusiastic reader, his reading ranging from literary classics, theatre and music to history, geography and archeology. He was also interested in the print trade. He was later employed as a printer with Patriot in Brooklyn and New York City. He finally ended up being a journalist.His Brooklyn and New York years are the most influencive years on his development into a poet. His observations as well the exposure that he got of the world around, made him more articulate.When he turned 17, the great fire of New York almost destroyed the print business and Walt was forced to move to Long Island where his family had shifted few years back.

At Long Island

He had to make a career decision here. He took up teaching as a profession. It was quite unusual that a young man of minimal qualification was teaching other pupils of almost his age, but his experience with newspaper had developed good reading and writing habits in him. He utilized his skills and made learning enjoyable for his students. At the same time the Brooklyner or New Yorker in him was not happy with his life in Long Island. He had also started writing poems by the time and one of his poems later became a part of Leaves Of Grass.