Works of Walt Whitman - World of Biography

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His Fiction

Walt Whitman started his career as a fiction writer. However, he was far from the life, changing commitment while writing fiction; he finally developed an attitude towards experimental poetry. His fiction appeared in 20 different newspapers and magazines. His best years were 1840-45 during which his stories appeared in leading magazines such as American Review (later called the American Whig Review) and the Democratic Review, one of the prominent and prestigious magazines of the country. Some of his themes later on appeared in his great work Leaves of Grass. His other poems were Franklin Evans (1842), Democratic Vistas (1871), Memoranda, During the War (1875), Specimen Days and Collect (1881).

His Poetry

An important and subtle change came in Whitman’s life during his poetic transformation. Whitman’s increasing frustrations with the Democratic Party led him to move ahead with his experimental poetry, poetry which would be read by most Americans and change their way of thinking. Thus the focus was on the principal issue of division of the United States, which appeared in Leaves of Grass.

His transformation of notebook lines to free verse, linking black and white, to join master and slave is best seen here

"I am the poet of the body
And I am the poet of the soul
And I am
I go with the slaves of the earth equally with the masters
And I will stand between the masters and the slaves,
Entering into both so that both will understand me alike."

The above ‘I’ became the main character in his work Leaves of Grass. His experiences of civil war are best revealed in Drum Taps.