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Walt WhitmanA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more. For select classroom titles, we also provide Teaching Guides with discussion and quiz questions to prompt student engagement.
"Song of Myself" by Walt Whitman (1855)
The “What is the Grass” section of “Song of Myself” shows Whitman’s ability to take a simple child’s question, “What is the grass?” and answer in an ever-expanding range of metaphorical answers, relying on his trademark catalogs and parallelism.
"When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d" by Walt Whitman (1865)
Whitman’s masterpiece is an elegy to Abraham Lincoln. While it is a lament for the assassinated president, it is also a lament for the nation that has just been through four years of war and must find a way to heal the wounds civil strife.
"Crossing Brooklyn Ferry" by Walt Whitman (1856)
Unlike “I Sit and Look Out,” which is weighed down by sorrow and lack of action, “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” is full of movement as Whitman’s speaker travels by ferry and delights in the sights and sounds of the city crowds. He also travels through time, imagining future riders of the ferry and speaking directly to them about the exuberance of America.
"Why Walt Whitman Called America the ‘Greatest Poem’" by Karen Swallow Prior (2016)
In this article for The Atlantic, Prior connects the political upheavals surrounding the 2016 presidential election with the political upheavals that inspired much of Whitman’s poetry.
By Walt Whitman
A Glimpse
Walt Whitman
America
Walt Whitman
A Noiseless Patient Spider
Walt Whitman
Are you the new person drawn toward me?
Walt Whitman
As I Walk These Broad Majestic Days
Walt Whitman
Crossing Brooklyn Ferry
Walt Whitman
For You O Democracy
Walt Whitman
Hours Continuing Long
Walt Whitman
I Hear America Singing
Walt Whitman
I Sing the Body Electric
Walt Whitman
Leaves of Grass
Walt Whitman
O Captain! My Captain!
Walt Whitman
Song of Myself
Walt Whitman
Vigil Strange I Kept on the Field One Night
Walt Whitman
When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer
Walt Whitman
When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd
Walt Whitman