Complete Poems of Whitman (Wordsworth Poetry) (Wordsworth Collection) [Paperback]

Walt Whitman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 1998 | Series: Wordsworth Collection

Walt Whitman's verse gave the poetry of America a distinctive national voice. It reflects the unique vitality of the new nation, the vastness of the land and the emergence of a sometimes troubled consciousness, communicated in language and idiom regarded by many at the time as shocking. Whitman's poems are organic and free flowing, fit into no previously defined genre and skilfully combine autobiographical, sociological and religious themes with lyrical sensuality. His verse is a fitting celebration of a new breed of American and includes Song of Myself, Crossing Brooklyn Ferry, the celebratory Passage to India, and his fine elegy for the assassinated President Lincoln, When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd.

Product Details

• Paperback: 608 pages
• Publisher: Wordsworth Editions Ltd; First Edition edition (April 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1853264334
• ISBN-13: 978-1853264337
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #228,419 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #55 in Books > Literature & Fiction > United States > 19th Century

More About the Author

Walt Whitman was born on May 31, 1819, near Huntington, Long Island, New York. On July 4, 1855, the first edition of Leaves of Grass, the volume of poems that for the next four decades would become his lifes work, was placed on sale. Although some critics treated the volume as a joke and others were outraged by its unprecedented mixture of mysticism and earthiness, the book attracted the attention of some of the finest literary intelligences. His poetry slowly achieved a wide readership in America and in England, where he was praised by Swinburne and Tennyson. (D. H. Lawrence later referred to Whitman as the"greatest modern poet, and"the greatest of Americans. Whitman suffered a stroke in 1873 and was forced to retire to Camden, New Jersey, where he would spend the last twenty years of his life. There he continued to write poetry, and in 1881 the seventh edition of Leaves of Grass was published to generally favorable reviews. However, the book was soon banned in Boston on the grounds that it was obscene literature. In January 1892 the final edition of Leaves of Grass appeared on sale, and Whitman's life work was complete. He died two months later on the evening of March 26, 1892, and was buried four days afterward at Harleigh Cemetery in Camden.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Walt Whitman's Complete Works, July 25, 2001

By 

A. Lukas (Spokane, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Complete Poems of Whitman (Wordsworth Poetry) (Wordsworth Collection) (Paperback)

Among the many American authors and poets, the name Walt Whitman stands out as a giant. He single-handedly transformed the world of American poetry with his one and only collection, Leaves of Grass. Leaves of Grass, however, is not one collection between two covers. Rather, it is a collection of collections. Poems like "When Lilacs in the Dooryard Bloom'd", "O Captain, My Captain", and "I Hear America Singing" have forever been imprinted in the American psyche as brilliant, original works of literature. This book not only features Leaves of Grass, but also discarded poems and unpublished poems that were not published in the book. This book is a definitive introduction to the works of one America's greatest literary giants.

1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Bit of Bedtime Poetry, Love Walt, December 29, 2010

By 

Cynthia M. Schultz (NY) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Complete Poems of Whitman (Wordsworth Poetry) (Wordsworth Collection) (Paperback)

Great book to snuggle up with at night. Very random poems (if you can truly call them poems as most do not even begin to rhyme)about anything, everything and all inbetween.

2 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Poetry Forever, June 26, 2009

By 

Judith A. Smotts (desert) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Complete Poems of Whitman (Wordsworth Poetry) (Wordsworth Collection) (Paperback)

Leaves of Grass redirected my young life.

This creative style of Whitman and all his comtempories still thrills me.

--retired English teacher and published poet.