“Song of Myself”
Walt Whitman
1819-1892No formal
education, but well read
Trained to be a printerAlso did some
newspaper writingBecame editor,
fired for position against slavery
Walt Whitman
Wrote about America and the common man
Did not write in the traditional structure
Most famous work: Leaves of GrassContinually revised and republished 1855-
1892383 poems in final editionCaptures diversity of American people and
describes energy and intensity of all life forms
Whitman’s Writing
Free verse: irregular meter and line lengthWritten to sound like natural speechWhitman = First American poet to use free
verse
Diction: word choice and arrangementWhitman uses catalogs and parallelism
Catalogs: long listsParallelism: repetition of sentences with
similar meanings
Whitman’s Poetry
1. Summarize each stanza.2. Overall tone?3. Whitman’s message/belief(s)?
6
521. Comparing himself to what?2. How are they alike?3. What is Whitman’s “barbaric yawp”?4. Where is Whitman coaxed (called to)?5. Summarize last 3 stanzas.