Published in 1882, Whitman's uniquely revealing impressions of the people, places, and events of his time, principally the Civil War era and its aftermath, offer a rare excursion into the mind and heart of one of America's greatest poets. His intimate observations and reflections have profoundly deepened understanding of 19th-century American life.
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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.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"..as close as we get to Walt with his masks removed.",
By A Customer
This review is from: Specimen Days & Collect (Paperback)
Holding a very special place among Whitman's writing, & very unlike anything by Thoreau, Specimen Days is as close as we get to Walt with his masks removed. There is something of a suburbanite in Whitman's appreciation of nature; essentially, he simply went, looked around & wrote down what he saw & what he did. Force of nature that he was, what he mostly saw was, of course, himself. Nature is benign. The Civil War entries are famous. The real war, which Whitman said would never get in the books, makes an appearance in the sad hospitals he visited. Specimen Days is an inspiring message to us. Whitman knew we would be here.
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
well priced volume,
By supastar (brooklyn) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Specimen Days & Collect (Paperback)
it is a reprint of the first edition 1883 version. The book itself is one of the best American prose works ever, especially the first 80 pages, Whitman's transcribed bloody napkin notes as a nurse in the Civil War and lounging around D.C. It then turns into what he was going to call "notes of a half paralytic," and it is a strange way to read Whitman, less body, less movement, detailing nature like a thoreau journal, but unlike hdt, he travels west, and his lecture in Kansas, where he talks about the language of england not being able to describe this landscape and the form of poetry not working for it are among his most thoughtful and interesting ideas. I like the cover and the basic physical sense of this book, too, though it is just a cheap dover.
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"...as we get to Walt with his masks removed.",
By DJ Rix (NJ USA) - See all my reviews
This review is from: Specimen Days & Collect (Paperback)
Holding a very special place among Whitman's writing, & very unlike anything by Thoreau, Specimen Days is as close as we get to Walt with his masks removed. There is something of a suburbanite in Whitman's appreciation of nature; essentially, he simply went, looked around & wrote down what he saw & what he did. Force of nature that he was, what he mostly saw was, of course, himself. Nature is benign. The Civil War entries are famous. The real war, which Whitman said would never get in the books, makes an appearance in the sad hospitals he visited. Specimen Days is an inspiring message to us. Whitman knew we would be here.
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