Walt Whitman,short note for UP PGT English

                                             Walt Whitman      

I. Personal Life and Biography

1. Walt Whitman was a major figure in American literature.
2. He is often described as a philosopher, mystic, and poet.
3. He was born on May 31, 1819.
4. His birthplace was West Hills, Long Island, New York.
5. His birth name was actually Walter Whitman.
6. He later adopted the name "Walt" to distinguish himself from his father.
7. His father’s name was also Walter Whitman (Senior).
8. His father was an English man and worked as a carpenter and house builder.
9. His mother’s name was Louisa Van Velsor.
10. His mother was of Dutch descent and a Quaker.
11. Whitman was the second of nine children.
12. Three of his brothers were named after American leaders: Andrew Jackson, George Washington, and Thomas Jefferson.
13. In 1823, his family moved to Brooklyn, New York.
14. He attended public school in Brooklyn but finished his formal education at the age of 11.
15. After leaving school, he worked as an office boy for lawyers and doctors.
16. He later became an apprentice in the printing trade.
17. He was a great admirer of the works of Homer and Shakespeare.
18. At the age of 17 (around 1836), he began a career in teaching.
19. He taught in various schools until 1841 but did not particularly enjoy the profession.
20. In 1841, he moved to New York City to become a freelance writer.
21. He never married throughout his life.
22. He had a notable love affair with a woman named Anne Gilchrist.
23. Whitman is often compared to Charles Lamb and John Keats because he remained unmarried.
24. He suffered a paralytic stroke in 1873, which left him a semi-invalid.
25. He spent his final years in Camden, New Jersey.
26. He bought a house in Camden with the money earned from his writings.
27. He died on March 26, 1892, at the age of 72.
28. The cause of his death involved multiple health issues affecting his heart, lungs, and kidneys.
29. He is buried in a tomb he designed himself in Harleigh Cemetery, Camden.

II. Professional Career and Journalism

30. Whitman held various jobs in journalism between 1830 and 1836 in Brooklyn and Manhattan.
31. He served as the editor of the New York Aurora.
32. He was the editor of the Brooklyn Eagle (also known as the Brooklyn Daily Eagle) from 1846 to 1848.
33. He was discharged from the Brooklyn Eagle because of his political views, specifically his opposition to slavery.
34. In 1848, he moved to New Orleans to edit the New Orleans Crescent.
35. His stay in New Orleans lasted only three months, but seeing the slave trade there deeply influenced him.
36. He traveled the Mississippi River and the Great Lakes during his time in the South.
37. He founded and edited a newspaper called The Brooklyn Freeman.
38. He worked as a part-time journalist and carpenter alongside his father between 1850 and 1854.

III. Leaves of Grass (The Magnum Opus)

39. Leaves of Grass is Whitman's most famous and major work.
40. It is a collection of poems written primarily in free verse.
41. The first edition was published on July 4, 1855.
42. He chose July 4th because it is American Independence Day.
43. The first edition contained only 12 untitled poems and a preface.
44. Whitman paid for the publication of the first edition himself.
45. The book is famously known as "The Bible of Democracy".
46. It received very little public attention at first.
47. Ralph Waldo Emerson was one of the few who praised it, sending Whitman a famous congratulatory letter.
48. Emerson described the work as "the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom" America had yet contributed.
49. Whitman published nine editions of Leaves of Grass during his lifetime.
50. The second edition (1856) contained 32 poems.
51. The third edition (1860) was published by a Boston publisher and contained 124 poems.
52. The 1860 edition included important sections like "Children of Adam" and "Calamus".
53. The final edition (1891-1892) is known as the "Deathbed Edition".
54. He continued to revise and add poems to Leaves of Grass until his death.
55. Major themes of Leaves of Grass include democracy, love, nature, and the human soul.
56. It also explores the relationship between the body and the soul.

IV. Major Poems and Analysis

57. "Song of Myself" is the longest poem in Leaves of Grass.
58. It is the introductory poem of the collection.
59. It is considered the "Song of America" rather than just a song of the individual.
60. In this poem, Whitman uses the symbol of "Grass" to represent the commonality of all people.
61. Famous line: "I celebrate myself, and sing myself" (from "Song of Myself").
62. Famous line: "Do I contradict myself? Very well then I contradict myself, (I am large, I contain multitudes)".
63. "Animals" is a famous section (specifically the 32nd song) of "Song of Myself".
64. In "Animals," the poet expresses a desire to live with animals because they are placid and self-contained.
65. Animals are praised for their lack of anxiety and their innocence.
66. "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry" (1856) explores the theme of "oneness of life".
67. The ferry in this poem symbolizes human life, and the river/sea symbolizes the sea of life or time.
68. "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking" is considered one of his most complex and successful poems.
69. It uses three central images: a boy, a bird, and the sea.
70. The bird in this poem represents the soul of the poet.
71. The sea represents the cradle of life or creation.
72. The poem explores the relationship between suffering and art.
73. "Blood Money" (1850) was his first published poem in free verse.
74. "Passage to India" (1871) is a long poem celebrating the triumph of human spirit and technology.
75. Note: "Passage to India" is a poem by Whitman, but a novel by E.M. Forster.
76. "Daughter of Eve" was another work published during his later career.
77. "Goodbye My Fancy" was a collection published just a year before his death.

V. The Civil War and Lincoln Elegies

78. The American Civil War (1861-1865) was a major event in Whitman’s life.
79. His brother, George, was wounded in the war, which led Whitman to visit the front lines.
80. Whitman spent much of the war in Washington D.C..
81. He served as a volunteer nurse in army hospitals, visiting thousands of sick and wounded soldiers.
82. He visited hospitals nearly 600 times and saw over 80,000 to 100,000 patients.
83. His Civil War experiences are recorded in the collection "Drum-Taps" (1865).
84. He was a great admirer of President Abraham Lincoln.
85. Lincoln’s assassination in 1865 deeply moved Whitman.
86. "O Captain! My Captain!" (1865) is a famous elegy for Abraham Lincoln.
87. In this poem, the "Captain" is Lincoln, the "Ship" is the United States, and the "Voyage" is the Civil War.
88. "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd" is another famous elegy for Lincoln.
89. This poem uses the lilac, the star, and the bird as central symbols.
90. Whitman worked as a clerk in the Indian Bureau of the Department of the Interior during the war period.
91. He was fired from this job because the Secretary of the Interior found Leaves of Grass offensive.

VI. Prose Works

92. Franklin Evans (1842) was Whitman’s only novel, a temperance story.
93. The Half-Breed (1846) was a novelette.
94. Life and Adventures of Jack Engle (1852) was a serialized novel.
95. Democratic Vistas (1871) is a major prose work evaluating American democracy.
96. Specimen Days (1882) is an autobiographical prose work containing his war diaries and nature notes.
97. Memoranda During the War (1875) is another prose account of his war experiences.

VII. Literary Style and Titles

98. Whitman is widely recognized as the "Father of Free Verse".
99. He is called the "Bard of Democracy".
100. He is considered the "Representative Poet of America".
101. His era in American literature is often called the "Age of Civil War".
102. His poetry is known for its romantic idealism mixed with realism.
103. He broke away from traditional rhyme and meter, focusing on the rhythms of common speech.
104. He often used the "cataloging" technique, listing numerous people, places, and objects.
105. He believed the poet's duty was to be a voice for the modern man.
106. Critic W.D. O’Connor referred to him as the "Good Gray Poet".
107. His work is noted for its optimism.
108. He emphasized the equality of all individuals.
109. He claimed, "I am the poet of the Body and I am the poet of the Soul".
110. Whitman’s work reflects the growth of science and technology in 19th-century America.
111. He saw himself as a poet of both the urban (city) and the rural (nature).

VIII. Specific Publication Facts for Exams

112. Leaves of Grass was first published by Whitman himself through the Rome Brothers.
113. The 1855 edition had a green cover with gold lettering.
114. The price of the first edition was roughly $2.00.
115. Drum-Taps was later incorporated into Leaves of Grass.
116. "Song of Myself" was originally untitled in the 1855 edition.
117. It was titled "Poem of Walt Whitman, an American" in 1856.
118. It finally became "Song of Myself" in the 1881 edition.
119. "O Captain! My Captain!" is the only poem by Whitman that follows a somewhat regular rhyme scheme.
120. Whitman’s brother George fought for the Union Army.
121. Whitman’s brother Jesse was committed to a lunatic asylum.
122. His work "Manly Training" (1858) was a series of newspaper columns.
123. The poem "A Noiseless Patient Spider" is a famous exploration of the soul’s search for connection.
124. He was heavily influenced by Transcendentalism, especially the works of Emerson.
125. Whitman once worked as a printer's devil.
126. He believed America itself was essentially the greatest poem.
127. His poetry often uses the first-person "I" to represent a universal self.
128. He celebrated physical labor and the working class.
129. He was a supporter of the Free Soil Party.
130. His journalism career included working for the Long Island Star.
131. He also contributed to the Long Island Patriot.
132. The poem "To a Locomotive in Winter" reflects his interest in technology.
133. He viewed death not as an end but as a rebirth or transition.
134. "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking" was originally titled "A Child's Reminiscence".
135. It was also known as "A Word Out of the Sea".
136. Whitman’s poetry often displays pantheistic tendencies, seeing God in all things.
137. He was a pioneer of modernism in poetry.
138. The "Lilac" in his Lincoln elegy symbolizes resurrection and perennial love.
139. The "Star" (Western Star) in the same poem symbolizes Lincoln himself.
140. The "Hermit Thrush" represents the poet's voice or the chant of death.
141. Whitman’s work was often banned or censored for its overtly sexual and "immoral" content.
142. He was deeply impacted by the suffering of soldiers he witnessed in hospitals.
143. He often brought small gifts like tobacco, fruit, and paper to wounded soldiers.
144. His poem "The Sleepers" is a surreal exploration of the unconscious mind.
145. He used the word "En-masse" frequently to describe the democratic crowd.
146. His style is characterized by the use of anaphora (repetition of words at the beginning of lines).
147. He preferred the open air and nature over enclosed spaces.
148. He saw the poet as a prophet for the nation.
149. His health began to fail significantly after the death of his mother in 1873.
150. Whitman's legacy is that of the ultimate poet of freedom and the American spirit.

WORKS OF WHITMAN

 

Leaves of Grass (1855)

Democratic Vistas

Passage to India

Memoranda During the War

November Boughs

Autobiographia

Drumtaps (1865)

 

 

SOME POPULAR POEMS OF WHITMAN

 

One’s Self I sing

I Hear America Singing

Song of Myself

Native Moments

Once I Passed Through A Popular City

I Saw in Louisiana A Live Oak Growing

I Hear It Was Charged Against Me

Song of the Open Road

Crossing Brooklyn Ferry

Pioneers! O pioneers!

Out of The Cradle Endlessly Rocking

As I Ebb’d With The Ocean of Life

On the Beach At Night

The Dalliance of The Eagles

Cavalry Crossing A Ford

The Wound Dresser

When Lilacs Last in The Dooryard Bloom’d

O Captain! My Captain!

There Was A Child Went Forth

Passage to India

Prayer of Columbus

The Sleepers

Chanting the Square Deific

Animals

The Modern Man I Sing