Walt Whitman Books in Order

Walt Whitman is a celebrated American poet, essayist, journalist, and humanist, embodying the transition between Transcendentalism and realism in his works. As one of the most influential poets in the American canon, he is often referred to as the father of free verse. Born on Long Island, Whitman's career spanned various professions, including journalist, teacher, government clerk, and volunteer nurse during the American Civil War. Notable among his early works is the temperance novel, Franklin Evans (1842). His masterpiece, Leaves of Grass, a pioneering work of free verse poetry, was first published in 1855, receiving praise from esteemed poet Ralph Waldo Emerson. Whitman revised and expanded the work in nine editions, showcasing his humanistic celebration of humanity. During the Civil War, he wrote Drum Taps (1865) and Memoranda During the War (1867), and later, while working at the Treasury Department in Washington, D.C., he composed Democratic Vistas (1870). Despite health complications, including a stroke in 1873, Whitman continued to write, primarily prose, until his passing.