Leaves of Grass
by Walt Whitman
Assigned by 1 of the 9 reading lists, catalogue entry only
- Written
- 1855, expanded to 1892
- Form
- Lyric poetry
- Language
- English
- Length
- Long · 500 pp300 to 700 pages
- Difficulty
- Moderate2 of 5 for a first-year reader
We recommendLeaves of Grass, The First (1855) EditionPenguin Classics, 1986Malcolm Cowley's edition of the twelve original poems and preface; the Library of America volume has all editions.
These links go straight to Amazon and Bookshop.org and earn this site nothing today. Prices are the same either way. How this works.
The book of poems Whitman printed himself in 1855, twelve untitled pieces in long unrhymed lines with a prose preface declaring that the United States are essentially the greatest poem, and then revised and enlarged through six further editions until his death. The first and longest poem, later called Song of Myself, celebrates the poet's body, the crowds of the city, the grass over the graves and the equality of everything that exists. Later editions added the Calamus poems, the Civil War poems of Drum-Taps and the elegy for Lincoln.
No reading guide yet
The catalogue entry above is complete: the dates, the form, the themes and every program that assigns Leaves of Grass are verified against each program's published list.
What is missing is the part that takes real work: the summary, the key passages, and a recommended translation. The edition named below is the one most programs assign, so the buy links are useful already.