Biographical Background

"From Working-Class Journeyman to World Figure"

Walt Whitman was born on May 31, 1819 on a farm in Long Island. He didn't stay there very long since his family moved to Brooklyn in 1823. Later on as an adult he tried to be a school teacher, but found that his students weren't very responsive or smart. In 1831 he started making his living by working for local newspapers around Brooklyn and Manhattan as a printer and editor. Eventually he was forced to quit because he supported the Free Soil cause. After that he decided to take up carpentry.

Through out all this he was able to occasionally write poems or short stories in the press. In 1855 he published Leaves of Grass, which even caught the attention of Ralph Waldo Emerson.

*The Civil War*

In December of 1862 Whitman traveled to northern Virginia to see his brother who was in the Union Army. He was impressed with the Civil War and eventually moved to Washington, D.C. until 1873. He worked as a simple clerk in a government office while he also did some volunteer was a male nurse in military hospitals.

Whitman even wrote poems that spoke of the war. 'After certain disastrous campaigns' was a particularity interesting poem not only because it remained unpublished, but also because it shows that he had his own feelings towards the war.

*Later Years*

Whitman suffered a stroke in 1873 that caused him to be paralyzed. He ended up moving in with his brother in Camden, New Jersey, where he would live till his death. All through 1875 to 1877 Whitman was visited by Anne Gilchrist and Edward Carpenter, both from England, as well as Richard Maurice Bucke, from Canada. This caused a large amount of admirers from distant places to visit him. When his health improved, he even made a trip as far out as Colorado in 1879. In the last few years of his life he was attended by Horace Traubel, his secretary that recorded all of his views. In 1891 he finished is final version of Leaves of Grass on his death-bed. He died on March 26, 1892 in Camden.

After Death

Now when I am looked back upon, I will hold

levee

I lean on my left elbow

take ten thousand lovers, one

after another, by my right hand.

This poem was never published in Whitman's lifetime of course. However the powerful words he uses show that he was ready to accept his death. in the 3rd stanza he talked about leaning on his left elbow, as if to say that he had lived a long and full live, but now he is old and weary. The poem itself is quite short, but it really says a lot.

[I have all lives]

I have all lives, all effects, all

causes, all germs, invisibly

hidden in myself,

This is the earth's word - the round

and compact earth's

I and the truth are one, we are

curiously welded,

This last poem was shows was also another short one of Whitman's. However once again it conveys his thoughts about life and death. In the 3rd stanza he says he has 'hidden himself' which once again hints of death, as if he's speaking of already being buried. Walt Whitman may have had his critics, but in the course of his life he wrote a lot of poetry, and every one of his works was special in its own way.