Walt Whitman
Walt Whitman
Walter "Walt" Whitmanwas an American poet, essayist, and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse. His work was very controversial in its time, particularly his poetry collection Leaves of Grass, which was described as obscene for its overt sexuality...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionPoet
Date of Birth31 May 1819
CountryUnited States of America
There was never any more inception than there is now, Nor any more youth or age than there is now; And will never be any more perfection than there is now, Nor any more heaven or hell than there is now.
Charity and personal force are the only investments worth anything.
O to be self-balanced for contingencies, to confront night, storms, hunger, ridicule, accidents, rebuffs, as the trees and animals do.
Henceforth I ask not good fortune. I myself am good fortune.
Give me the splendid, silent sun with all his beams full-dazzling.
Whoever degrades another degrades me.
What is that you express in your eyes? It seems to me more than all the print I have read in my life.
Do anything, but let it produce joy.
A great city is that which has the greatest men and women.
The secret of it all, is to write in the gush, the throb, the flood, of the moment – to put things down without deliberation – without worrying about their style – without waiting for a fit time or place. I always worked that way. I took the first scrap of paper, the first doorstep, the first desk, and wrote – wrote, wrote…By writing at the instant the very heartbeat of life is caught.
Oh while I live, to be the ruler of life, not a slave, to meet life as a powerful conqueror, and nothing exterior to me will ever take command of me.
To have great poets, there must be great audiences.
A morning-glory at my window satisfies me more than the metaphysics of books.
I think I could turn and live with animals, they are so placid and self-contained, I stand and look at them long and long.