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= Leaves_of_Grass =
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Introduction
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'Leaves of Grass' is a poetry collection by American poet Walt
Whitman. After self-publishing it in 1855, he spent most of his
professional life writing, revising, and expanding the collection
until his death in 1892. Either six or nine separate editions of the
book were produced, depending on how one defines a new edition. The
continual modifications to 'Leaves of Grass' resulted in vastly
different copies of it circulating in Whitman's lifetime. The first
edition was a slim tract of twelve poems, and the last was a
compilation of over 400 poems.
The book represents a celebration of Whitman's philosophy of life and
humanity in which he praises nature and the individual's role in it.
He catalogues the expansiveness of American democracy. Rather than
dwell on religious or spiritual themes, he focuses primarily on the
body and the material world. With very few exceptions, Whitman's poems
do not rhyme or follow conventional rules for meter and line length.
'Leaves of Grass' was notable for its discussion of delight in sensual
pleasures at a time when such candid displays were considered immoral.
The book was highly controversial for its explicit sexual imagery, and
Whitman was subject to derision by many contemporary critics. Over the
decades, however, the collection has infiltrated popular culture and
become recognized as one of the central works of American poetry.
Among the poems in the early 'Leaves of Grass' editions (albeit
sometimes under different titles) were "Song of Myself", "Song of the
Open Road", "I Sing the Body Electric", "Out of the Cradle Endlessly
Rocking", and "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry". Later editions would contain
Whitman's elegy to the assassinated President Abraham Lincoln, "When
Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd".
{{Anchor|Initial publication}}Initial publication, 1855
=========================================================
The first edition of 'Leaves of Grass' was self-published on July 4,
1855. This collection of twelve poems had its beginnings in an essay
by Ralph Waldo Emerson entitled "The Poet" (1844), which called for
the United States to develop its own new, unique poet who could write
about the young country's virtues and vices. This call, along with a
challenge to abandon strict rhyme and meter, were partly embodied in
the early 19th century works of John Neal: in his poems as well as his
novels 'Randolph' (1823) and 'Rachel Dyer' (1828). Whitman, likely
having read Neal, consciously set out to answer Emerson's call in the
first edition of 'Leaves of Grass'. Whitman later commented on
Emerson's influence: "I was simmering, simmering, simmering; Emerson
brought me to a boil."
On May 15, 1855, Whitman registered the title 'Leaves of Grass' with
the clerk of the United States District Court, Southern District of
New Jersey, and received its copyright. The title is a pun, as 'grass'
was a term given by publishers to works of minor value, and 'leaves'
is another name for the pages on which they were printed. The first
edition was published in Brooklyn at the printing shop of two Scottish
immigrants, James and Andrew Rome, whom Whitman had known since the
1840s. The shop was located at Fulton Street (now Cadman Plaza West)
and Cranberry Street, now the site of apartment buildings that bear
Whitman's name. Whitman paid for and did much of the typesetting for
the first edition himself.
A calculated feature of the first edition was that it included neither
the author's nor the publisher's name (both the author and publisher
being Whitman). Instead, the cover included an engraving by Samuel
Hollyer depicting Whitman himself--in work clothes and a jaunty hat,
arms at his side. This figure was meant to represent the
devil-may-care American working man of the time, one who might be
taken as an almost idealized figure in any crowd. The engraver, later
commenting on his depiction, described the character with "a rakish
kind of slant, like the mast of a schooner".
The 1855 edition contained no table of contents, and none of the poems
had a title. Early advertisements appealed to "lovers of literary
curiosities", quoting an excerpt from Charles A. Dana's review in the
'New York Tribune'. Sales of Whitman's book were few, but the poet was
not discouraged. This was the edition that introduced his poems "Song
of Myself", "I Sing the Body Electric", and "There Was a Child Went
Forth".
Whitman sent one paper-bound copy of the 1855 'Leaves of Grass' to
Emerson, who had inspired its creation. He responded with a letter of
heartfelt thanks, writing, "I find it the most extraordinary piece of
wit and wisdom America has yet contributed." He went on, "I am very
happy in reading it, as great power makes us happy." The letter was
printed in the 'New York Tribune'--without the writer's
permission--and caused an uproar among prominent New England men of
letters, including Henry David Thoreau and Amos Bronson Alcott, who
were some of the few Transcendentalists who agreed with Emerson's
letter and his statements regarding 'Leaves of Grass'.
The first edition was a slim volume, consisting of only 95 pages.
Whitman once said he intended the book to be small enough to be
carried in a pocket: "That would tend to induce people to take me
along with them and read me in the open air: I am nearly always
successful with the reader in the open air", he explained. About 800
copies were printed, though only 200 were bound in its trademark green
cloth cover. The only American library known to have purchased a copy
of the first edition was in Philadelphia. The twelve first edition
poems, given titles in later editions, included:
* "Song of Myself"
* "A Song for Occupations"
* "To Think of Time"
* "The Sleepers"
* "I Sing the Body Electric"
* "Faces"
* "Song of the Answerer"
* "Europe: The 72d and 73d Years of These States"
* "A Boston Ballad"
* "There Was a Child Went Forth"
* "Who Learns My Lesson Complete?"
* "Great Are the Myths"
{{Anchor| Republications|}}Republications, 1856–1889
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'Leaves of Grass' went through six or nine editions, depending on how
new editions are distinguished. Scholars who hold that a separate
edition is characterized by an entirely new set of type will only
count the 1855, 1856, 1860, 1867, 1871-72, and 1881 printings; whereas
others who do not mandate that criterion will also count the
reprintings in 1876, 1888-1889, and 1891-1892 (the so-called "deathbed
edition"). The editions were of varying length, each one larger and
augmented from the previous version--the final edition reached over
400 poems.
1856–1860
===========
Emerson's positive response to the 1855 edition inspired Whitman to
quickly produce a much-expanded second edition in 1856. This new
'Leaves of Grass' contained 384 pages and had a cover price of one
dollar. It also included a phrase from Emerson's letter, printed in
gold leaf: "I Greet You at the Beginning of a Great Career."
Recognized as a "first" for U.S. book publishing and marketing
techniques, Whitman has been cited as "inventing" the use of the book
blurb. Professor Laura Dassow Walls noted, "In one stroke, Whitman had
given birth to the modern cover blurb, quite without Emerson's
permission." Emerson later took offense that his letter was made
public and became more critical of Whitman's work. The 1856 edition
added "Sun-Down Poem" (retitled "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry" in the 1860
edition) and "Poem of Procreation" (retitled "A Woman Waits for Me" in
the 1867 edition).
Thayer & Eldridge, publishers of the 1860 edition, declared
bankruptcy shortly after the book's publication, and were almost
unable to pay Whitman. "In regard to money matters", they wrote, "we
are very short ourselves and it is quite impossible to send the sum".
Whitman received only $250, and the original plates made their way to
Boston publisher Horace Wentworth. When the 456-page book was finally
issued, Whitman said, "It is quite 'odd', of course", referring to its
appearance: it was bound in orange cloth with symbols like a rising
sun with nine spokes of light and a butterfly perched on a hand.
Whitman claimed that the butterfly was real in order to foster his
image as being "one with nature". In fact, the butterfly was made of
cloth and was attached to his finger with wire. The major poems added
to this edition were "A Word Out of the Sea" (later retitled "Out of
the Cradle Endlessly Rocking"), "Whoever You Are Holding Me Now in
Hand", "I Hear America Singing", and "As I Ebb'd With the Ocean of
Life".
1867–1889
===========
The 1867 edition was intended to be, according to Whitman, "a new
& much better edition of 'Leaves of Grass' complete -- that
'unkillable' work!" He assumed it would be the final edition. It
included the 'Drum-Taps' section, its 'Sequel', and the new 'Songs
before Parting'. The book was delayed when the binder went bankrupt
and its distributing firm failed. When it was finally printed, it was
a simple edition and the first to omit a picture of the poet.
In 1879, Richard Worthington purchased the electrotype plates and
began printing and marketing unauthorized copies of 'Leaves of Grass'.
Whitman scholar Dennis Renner has written that the 1881 edition gave
the poet "a chance to consolidate and unify his work late in his
career. He could achieve 'the consecutiveness and 'ensemble he had
always wanted". He spent the summer of 1881 revising the book and
oversaw its October publication in Boston by James R. Osgood and Co.
Most modern reissues of 'Leaves of Grass' treat the 1881 edition as
the definitive collection. This edition incorporated poems from his
prior collections, 'Passage to India' (1871) and 'Two Rivulets'
(1876).
The 1889 (eighth) edition was little changed from the 1881 version,
but it was more embellished and featured several portraits of Whitman.
The biggest change was the addition of an "Annex" of miscellaneous
extra poems.
Sections
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By its later editions, 'Leaves of Grass' had grown to 14 sections:
* Inscriptions
* Children of Adam
* Calamus
* Birds of Passage
* Sea-Drift
* By the Roadside
* Drum-Taps
* Memories of President Lincoln
* Autumn Rivulets
* Whispers of Heavenly Death
* From Noon to Starry Night
* Songs of Parting
* First Annex: Sands at Seventy
* Second Annex: Good-bye My Fancy
Earlier editions contained a section called "Chants Democratic"; later
editions omitted some of the poems from this section, publishing
others in "Calamus" and other sections.
{{Anchor|"Deathbed edition"|Deathbed edition}}Deathbed edition, 1892
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As 1891 came to a close, Whitman prepared a final edition of 'Leaves
of Grass'. By this time, he was wheelchair-bound, having suffered a
series of strokes that left him partially paralyzed. He wrote to a
friend after finishing the final edition: "L. of G. 'at last complete'
-- after 33 y'rs of hackling at it, all times & moods of my life,
fair weather & foul, all parts of the land, and peace & war,
young & old." This last version of 'Leaves of Grass' was published
in 1892 and is referred to as the 'deathbed edition'. In January 1892,
two months before Whitman's death, an announcement was published in
the 'New York Herald':
Walt Whitman wishes respectfully to notify the public that the book
'Leaves of Grass', which he has been working on at great intervals and
partially issued for the past thirty-five or forty years, is now
completed, so to call it, and he would like this new 1892 edition to
absolutely supersede all previous ones. Faulty as it is, he decides it
as by far his special and entire self-chosen poetic utterance.
By 1892, 'Leaves of Grass' had expanded from a small book of twelve
poems to a hefty tome of almost 400 poems. As the volume changed, so
did the pictures that Whitman used to illustrate himself--the last
edition depicts an older Whitman with a full beard and wearing a
jacket.
Translations
==============
In 1995, 'Dail Glaswellt', the Welsh language translation was
published.
Analysis
======================================================================
Analysis of 'Leaves of Grass' is complicated by Whitman's continual
revisions to the book. Most scholarly discussions have concentrated on
the major early editions of 1856 and 1860, along with the collections
published in 1881 and 1892. The later editions of 'Leaves of Grass'
would include such well-known poems as "Pioneers! O Pioneers!", "A
Noiseless Patient Spider", and the poet's elegies to Abraham Lincoln,
"O Captain! My Captain!" and "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard
Bloom'd".
While Whitman famously proclaimed (in "Song of Myself") that his
poetry was "Nature without check with original energy", literary
scholars have discovered that Whitman borrowed from a number of
sources for 'Leaves of Grass'. For instance, in his war poems
collected in 'Drum-Taps', he lifted phrases from popular newspapers
dealing with Civil War battles. He also condensed a chapter from a
popular science book into his poem "The World Below the Brine".
In a constantly changing culture, Whitman's literature has an element
of timelessness that appeals to the American notion of democracy and
equality, producing the same experience and feelings within people
living centuries apart. Originally written at a time of significant
urbanization in America, 'Leaves of Grass' also responds to the impact
such has on the masses. The title metaphor of grass, however,
indicates a pastoral vision of rural idealism.
Particularly in "Song of Myself", Whitman emphasizes an all-powerful
"I" who serves as narrator. The "I" attempts to relieve both social
and private problems by using powerful affirmative cultural images;
the emphasis on American culture in particular helped reach Whitman's
intention of creating a distinctly American epic poem comparable to
the works of Homer.
As a believer in phrenology, Whitman lists in his 1855 'Leaves of
Grass' preface the phrenologist among those described as "the
lawgivers of poets". Borrowing from phrenology, Whitman uses the
concept of 'adhesiveness' in reference to the human propensity for
friendship and camaraderie.
Thematic changes
==================
Whitman edited, revised, and republished 'Leaves of Grass' many times
before his death, and over the years his focus and ideas were not
static. One critic has identified three major "thematic drifts" in
'Leaves of Grass': the period from 1855 to 1859, from 1859 to 1865,
and from 1866 to his death.
In the first period, 1855 to 1859, his major work is "Song of Myself",
which exemplifies his love for freedom: "Freedom in nature, nature
which is perfect in time and place and freedom in expression, leading
to the expression of love in its sensuous form." The second period,
from 1859 to 1865, paints the picture of a more melancholic, sober
poet who has been scarred by the American Civil War. In poems like
"Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking" and "When Lilacs Last in the
Dooryard Bloom'd", the prevailing theme is death and dying.
Whitman experienced further evolution in the post-1865 period when his
poems were often meditations on immortality. He grew more conservative
in his old age, and had come to value the importance of law above the
importance of freedom. His view of the world was less materialistic
and more spiritual, and he believed that life had no meaning outside
the context of God's plan.
Critical response and controversy
======================================================================
When 'Leaves of Grass' was first published, Whitman was fired from his
job at the Department of the Interior after Secretary of the Interior
James Harlan read it and said he found it offensive. An early review
of the 1855 edition focused on the persona of the anonymous poet,
calling him a loafer "with a certain air of mild defiance, and an
expression of pensive insolence on his face". Another reviewer labeled
the work an odd attempt at reviving old Transcendental thoughts, "the
speculations of that school of thought which culminated at Boston
fifteen or eighteen years ago". Emerson approved of the collection in
part because he considered it a means of reviving Transcendentalism,
though even he urged Whitman to tone down the sexual imagery.
Poet John Greenleaf Whittier was said to have thrown his 1855 edition
into the fire. Thomas Wentworth Higginson wrote, "It is no discredit
to Walt Whitman that he wrote 'Leaves of Grass', only that he did not
burn it afterwards." 'The Saturday Press' printed a thrashing review
that advised its author to commit suicide.
Critic Rufus Wilmot Griswold reviewed 'Leaves of Grass' in the
November 10, 1855 issue of 'The Criterion', calling it "a mass of
stupid filth", and categorized its author as a filthy free lover.
Griswold also suggested, in Latin, that Whitman was guilty of "that
horrible sin not to be mentioned among Christians", one of the
earliest public accusations of Whitman's homosexuality. Griswold's
intensely negative review almost caused the publication of the second
edition to be suspended. Whitman incorporated the full review,
including the innuendo, in a later edition of 'Leaves of Grass'.
Not all responses were negative. Critic William Michael Rossetti
considered 'Leaves of Grass' a classic along the lines of the works of
William Shakespeare and Dante Alighieri. A Connecticut woman named
Susan Garnet Smith wrote to Whitman to profess her love for him after
reading 'Leaves of Grass' and even offered him her womb should he want
a child. Although he found much of the language "reckless and
indecent", critic and editor George Ripley believed "isolated
portions" of 'Leaves of Grass' radiated "vigor and quaint beauty".
Whitman firmly believed he would be accepted and embraced by the
populace, especially the working class. Years later, he regretted not
having toured the country to deliver his poetry directly by lecturing:
If I had gone directly to the people, read my poems, faced the crowds,
got into immediate touch with Tom, Dick, and Harry instead of waiting
to be interpreted, I'd have had my audience at once.
Censorship in the United States
=================================
On March 1, 1882, Boston district attorney Oliver Stevens wrote to
Whitman's publisher, James R. Osgood, that 'Leaves of Grass'
constituted "obscene literature". Urged by the New England Society for
the Suppression of Vice, his letter said: We are of the opinion that
this book is such a book as brings it within the provisions of the
Public Statutes respecting obscene literature and suggest the
propriety of withdrawing the same from circulation and suppressing the
editions thereof. Stevens demanded the removal of the poems "A Woman
Waits for Me" and "To a Common Prostitute", as well as changes to
"Song of Myself", "From Pent-Up Aching Rivers", "I Sing the Body
Electric", "Spontaneous Me", "Native Moments", "The Dalliance of the
Eagles", "By Blue Ontario's Shore", "Unfolded Out of the Folds", "The
Sleepers", and "Faces".
Whitman rejected the censorship, writing to Osgood, "The list whole
& several is rejected by me, & will not be thought of under
any circumstances." Osgood refused to republish the book and returned
the plates to Whitman when his suggested changes and deletions were
ignored. The poet found a different publisher, Rees Welsh &
Company, that released a new edition of the book in 1882. Whitman
believed the controversy would increase sales, which proved true. Its
banning in Boston, for example, became a major scandal and it
generated much publicity for Whitman and his work. Though it was also
banned by retailers like Wanamaker's in Philadelphia, this version
went through five editions of 1,000 copies each. Its first printing,
released on July 18, sold out in a day.
Legacy
======================================================================
Its status as one of the more important collections of American poetry
has meant that over time various groups and movements have used
'Leaves of Grass', and Whitman's work in general, to advance their own
political and social purposes. For example:
* In the first half of the 20th century, the popular Little Blue Book
series introduced Whitman's work to a wider audience than ever before.
A series that backed socialist and progressive viewpoints, the
publication connected the poet's focus on the common man to the
empowerment of the working class.
* During World War II, the U.S. government distributed for free much
of Whitman's poetry to their soldiers, in the belief that his
celebrations of the American Way would inspire the people tasked with
protecting it.
* Whitman's work has been claimed in the name of racial equality. In a
preface to the 1946 anthology 'I Hear the People Singing: Selected
Poems of Walt Whitman', Langston Hughes wrote that Whitman's
"all-embracing words lock arms with workers and farmers, Negroes and
whites, Asiatics and Europeans, serfs, and free men, beaming democracy
to all."
* Similarly, a 1970 volume of Whitman's poetry published by the United
States Information Agency describes Whitman as a man who will "mix
indiscriminately" with the people. The volume, which was presented for
an international audience, attempted to present Whitman as
representative of an America that accepts people of all groups.
Nevertheless, Whitman has been criticized for the nationalism
expressed in 'Leaves of Grass' and other works. In a 2009 essay
regarding Whitman's nationalism in the first edition, Nathanael
O'Reilly claims that "Whitman's imagined America is arrogant,
expansionist, hierarchical, racist and exclusive; such an America is
unacceptable to Native Americans, African-Americans, immigrants, the
disabled, the infertile, and all those who value equal rights."
Film and television
=====================
* "The Untold Want" features prominently in the Academy Award-winning
1942 film 'Now, Voyager', starring Claude Rains, Bette Davis, and Paul
Henreid.
* 'Dead Poets Society' (1989) makes repeated references to the poem "O
Captain! My Captain!", along with other references to Whitman.
* In the independent film 'The Incredibly True Adventure of Two Girls
in Love' (1995), the two main characters spend their summer reading
'Leaves of Grass'.
* 'Leaves of Grass' plays a prominent role in the American television
series 'Breaking Bad'. Episode eight of season five ("Gliding Over
All", after poem 271 of 'Leaves of Grass') pulls together many of the
series' references to 'Leaves of Grass', such as the fact that
protagonist Walter White has the same initials (and almost the same
name) as Walt Whitman (as noted in episode four of season four,
"Bullet Points", and made more salient in "Gliding Over All"), that
leads DEA agent Hank Schrader to gradually realize Walter is the
notorious drug dealer Heisenberg. Numerous reviewers have analyzed and
discussed the various connections among Walt Whitman/'Leaves of
Grass'/"Gliding Over All", Walter White, and the show.
* In 'Peace, Love & Misunderstanding' (2011), 'Leaves of Grass' is
read by Jane Fonda and Elizabeth Olsen's characters.
* In season 3, episode 8 of the BYU TV series 'Granite Flats', Timothy
gives Madeline a first-edition copy of 'Leaves of Grass' as a
Christmas gift.
* American singer Lana Del Rey quotes some verses from Whitman's "I
Sing the Body Electric" in her short film 'Tropico' (2013).
* In season 1, episode 3 of 'Ratched' (2020) Lily Cartwright is seen
reading 'Leaves of Grass' while on psychiatric admission for "sodomy".
* In 'Bull Durham' (1988), Susan Sarandon's character Annie Savoy
reads Tim Robbins's character, Ebby Calvin "Nuke" Laloosh, excerpts
from Whitman's "I Sing the Body Electric". When Nuke asks Annie who
Walt Whitman plays for, she responds "He sort of pitches for the
Cosmic All-Stars".
* In season 3, episode 5 of 'Dr. Quinn, Medicine Woman', Joe Lando's
character, Byron Sully, reads an excerpt from section 22 of "Song of
Myself" to Dr. Mike. She becomes uneasy at the innuendos suggested in
the poem.
* In season 4, episode 1 of 'BoJack Horseman' (2014), the character of
Mr. Peanutbutter is given a copy of 'Leaves of Grass' by his ski
instructor Professor Thistlethorpe, however it is attributed to "Walt
Whitmantis" instead of Walt Whitman.
Literature
============
* "I Sing the Body Electric" was used by author Ray Bradbury as the
title of both a 1969 short story and the book it appeared in ('I Sing
the Body Electric!'), after first appearing as the title of an episode
Bradbury wrote in 1962 for 'The Twilight Zone' ('I Sing the Body
Electric').
* 'Leaves of Grass' features prominently in Lauren Gunderson's
American Theatre Critics Association award-winning play 'I and You'
(2013).
* Roger Zelazny's 1979 time-travel novel 'Roadmarks' features a
cybernetically-enhanced edition of 'Leaves of Grass', one of two such
in the story, that acts as a side character giving the protagonist
advice and quoting the original. The other "book" is Baudelaire's 'Les
Fleurs du Mal'.
* 'Leaves of Grass' appears in John Green's 2008 novel 'Paper Towns',
in which the poem "Song of Myself" plays a particularly noteworthy
role in the plot.
Music
=======
* "A Sea Symphony" (Symphony No. 1) by Ralph Vaughan Williams contains
text from 'Leaves of Grass', written between 1903 and 1909.
*'I Sing the Body Electric' (1972) is the second album released by
Weather Report.
*'Leaves of Grass: A Choral Symphony' was composed by Robert
Strassburg in 1992.
* American singer Lana Del Rey references Walt Whitman and 'Leaves of
Grass' in her song "Body Electric", from her EP 'Paradise' (2012).
*"Drei Hymnen von Walt Whitman" (1919) by Paul Hindemith uses
translated German text from "Ages and ages, returning at intervals";
"When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd"; "Beat! Beat! Drums!"
*"Weave in, my hardy life" is a composition by Aaron Travers for
choir, bandoneon and piano, and is a setting of the poem of that name
from the "From Noon to Starry Night" section of 'Leaves of Grass'.
License
=========
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License URL:
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/
Original Article:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaves_of_Grass
