Walt Whitman's Writing Style

What kind of writer was Walt Whitman? This is a bit of a difficult question to answer. There is not an exact definition of what style he really focused on. He didn't fall into a specific writing period. Therefore, you cannot go by the basic characteristics of any one period. Whitman was described as an individual and definitely broke away from "typical poetry" that had come before his time. But, even though he did have his own ideas he did admit to being somewhat inspired by Emerson's writings. This can be found throughout his poems. But, he did not copy all his ideas completely. "Emerson thought Whitman was often too vulgar. Whitman embraced certain aspects of transcendentalism and rejected others. The transcendental can often be found in Whitman's poetry when he is dealing with the concepts of death and time." (Casale) But, overall transcendentalism was a part of Whitman;s ideas. Anyways, back to speaking of death, Whitman thought very deeply into it. He begins to think of strange ideas, such a immorality. He believed you could study life and death through nature. This reminds me as Emerson as well and the romanticism literary period.

As seen in many of Whitman's poems he believes the body is "healthy, holy, and something to be proud of" (Casale) Whitman states in his poem part of his poem Leaves of Grass, "I celebrate myself, And what I assume you shall assume, For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you." (Whitman) Everyone is technically the same through there body. Therefore, everyone should be treated as equals since everybody was given this body to live in. He uses the body to show a sense of unity through the whole human race. Having a body to live in is the one thing that everyone has in common and can relate to. Everyone is made up of the same things such as he says atoms. One persons' atoms are not different than any other so why should anyone be treated as more significant? You should respect others and understand their opinions because it means as much to them as it would to you. He believed in respecting others and everyone is equal despite there gender, race, or class. America was founded upon this idea. It states this right in the Declaration of Independence, so Whitman thinks that is the way the country should run still. Therefore, during the Civil War, Whitman really supported the Union. He did not believe in slavery and felt it was wrong. He felt very inspired by the patriotism that was going around during the time during the war. This helped inspire many of his poems about war, such as, O Captain! My Captain! Which spoke about a group of soldiers coming home after a long, hard battle. He discussed how proud the men were for making it home but, they were upset for losing their captain along the rough journey. "O CAPTAIN! my captain! our fearful trip is done; The ship has weather'd every rack, the prize we sought is won;" (Whitman) These men were also very patriotic and against slavery.

Whitman, Walt. "O Captain! My Captain!" Internal.org. Web. 12 Mar. 2012.

Casale, Frank D. "How to Write about Walt Whitman." Bloom's How to Write about Walt Whitman. New York: Chelsea House Publishing, 2009. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc.

Whitman, Walt. "Leaves of Grass." Bartleby.com. 2012. Web. 21 Mar. 2012.