Poetry and Prose

This 1982 Library of America volume collects the expansive literary output of Walt Whitman, spanning his career from the 1855 debut of Leaves of Grass to the final 1891 "Deathbed" edition. The text includes the complete poems alongside his extensive prose works, such as the autobiographical reflections in Specimen Days and the democratic critiques found in Democratic Vistas. Readers can trace his shift from celebrating the American individual and physical landscape to his later preoccupations with national identity and the visceral realities of the Civil War hospitals.

Scholars and enthusiasts of nineteenth-century American literature use this collection to study the evolution of free verse and the development of a distinct national voice. The inclusion of both verse and essays allows the reader to examine the philosophical links between Whitman’s lyrical imagery and his formal political arguments. By the end, a reader understands the specific linguistic choices and structural innovations that defined a move away from European poetic traditions. This edition serves as a primary source for analyzing the intersection of biography, history, and aesthetics in American letters.