Leaves of Grass

About This Book

Published in 1855, Leaves of Grass is the masterwork of the American poet Walt Whitman (1819–1892). First issued as a slim, self-published volume of twelve untitled poems, it grew over six editions across Whitman's lifetime into a sprawling collection that redefined the possibilities of American poetry. At its center is Song of Myself, a long poem celebrating the self, the body, democracy, and the unity of all living things in a voice that was unlike anything readers had encountered. Whitman abandoned conventional meter and rhyme in favor of expansive free verse, lists, and incantatory rhythms drawn from the King James Bible and oratory. Ralph Waldo Emerson hailed the first edition as the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom America had yet contributed. Leaves of Grass is in the public domain.

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