Walt_Whitman

Walt Whitman Walt Whitman (1819-1892) was one of the great innovators in American literature. He has achieved two main contributions to American literature: the introduction of the genuine epic poem for the first time in America and the introduction of a new poetic style which is now called free verse. The free verse is poetry with neither a fixed beat nor a regular rhyme scheme. He innovates such a style because he was convinced that the voice of democracy should not be haltered by traditional forms of verse; as he was a supporter of Jackson’s democratic party in the 1840s . He also favored the exclusion of slavery from the states and because of this he was dismissed from his job in 1848. disappointed by dismissal, he traveled to new Orleans, Chicago and the western frontier and there is no doubt that his experiences in these trips marked a turning point in his career. The influence of Whitman on the poetic technique of other writers was small during his lifetime. But today the elements of his style are apparent in the works of many poets. For example, many of the twentieth century poets such as Carl Sandburg, and Allen Ginsberg have whitman, style, first, verse, poetry, one, new, nature, leaves, grass, collection, because, war, two, supporter, small, second, poets, poetic, poems, part, nor, neither, man, main, literature, life, introduction, free, democratic, common, civil, city, american, york