What kind of writer is walt whitman

His sister was emotionally unstable. In , Boston publishers published the third edition of Leaves of Grass. This revised version held some promise; however, the Civil War broke up and drove the publishing companies out of business. In , in search of his brother George, Whitman journeyed to Fredericksburg. George had battled for the Union and was being given medical treatment for the wounds he had received in a fight. In the next year, Whitman shifted to Washington, D. He spent the rest of his time visiting the wounded soldiers of war.

This volunteer work, though, was very exhausting, it also proved to be life-changing. This propelled Whitman to return to poetry. In , Whitman published Drum-Taps, a collection representing a sincere realization of war and the true meaning of war who are struggling very hard because of it.

Another edition Sequel was published, which contained 18 new poems. After World war ended, Whitman continued to visit the wounded fighter of the war in the hospital.

He also met Peter Doyle, a train car conductor and a young Confederate soldier. In the mids, Whitman had started working as a clerk at the Indian Bureau. In , he published Passage to India and Democratic Vistas , two new collections, and the fifth edition of Leaves of Grass. In , he suffered a stroke, which made him paralyzed. In the same year, his mother died in New Jersey. Whitman was weak enough to continue his job and started living with his brother George and sister-in-law Lou.

In , he published an edition of the Leaves of Grass. This collection earned him great coverage and recognition. His other works also received overseas recognition. Whitman also seemed to be dissatisfied with America that emerged as a result of civil war. Whitman died on 26 th March in Camden. Till his death, he was working with his collection Leaves of Grass and extended it up to poems. His last book Good-Bye, My Fancy , was published after his death. Certainly, insistent novelty marks a new style of Whitman in every period of his extended career.

Many readers and critics find the most characteristic style of Whitman in his poems written during the period of to The prominent characteristic of his and edition of the collection of Leaves of Grass is its poetic diction. By his own rough estimates, Whitman made hospital visits and saw anywhere from 80, to , patients. The work took a toll physically, but also propelled him to return to poetry.

In , he published a new collection called Drum-Taps , which represented a more solemn realization of what the Civil War meant for those in the thick of it as seen with poems like "Beat! In the immediate years after the Civil War, Whitman continued to visit wounded veterans. Soon after the war, he met Peter Doyle, a young Confederate soldier and train car conductor. Whitman, who had a quiet history of becoming close with younger men amidst a time of great taboo around homosexuality, developed an instant and intense romantic bond with Doyle.

As Whitman's health began to unravel in the s, Doyle helped nurse him back to health. The two's relationship experienced a number of changes over the ensuing years, with Whitman believed to have suffered greatly from feeling rejected by Doyle, though the two would later remain friends.

In the mids, Whitman had found steady work in Washington as a clerk at the Indian Bureau of the Department of the Interior. He continued to pursue literary projects, and in , he published two new collections, Democratic Vistas and Passage to India , along with a fifth edition of Leaves of Grass.

But in his life took a dramatic turn for the worse. In January of that year, he suffered a stroke that left him partially paralyzed. In May he traveled to Camden, New Jersey, to see his ailing mother, who died just three days after his arrival. Frail himself, Whitman found it impossible to continue with his job in Washington and relocated to Camden to live with his brother George and sister-in-law Lou.

Over the next two decades, Whitman continued to tinker with Leaves of Grass. An edition of the collection earned the poet some fresh newspaper coverage after a Boston district attorney objected to and blocked its publication. That, in turn, resulted in robust sales, enough so that Whitman was able to buy a modest house of his own in Camden.

These final years proved to be both fruitful and frustrating for Whitman. His life's work received much-needed validation in terms of recognition, especially overseas, as over the course of his career many of his contemporaries had viewed his output as prurient, distasteful and unsophisticated.

Yet even as Whitman felt new appreciation, the America he saw emerge from the Civil War disappointed him. His health, too, continued to deteriorate. However, sadly his formal education was over in Then he learned the trade of printing for the next five years. At the beginning of , he served as a teacher in Long Island. Despite having a series of challenges in life, he did not give up writing. Walt kept on polishing his writing skills and published his first novel in Although this prolific poet led a life full of trials, he successfully attained a respectable place in the world of literature.

He could not obtain formal education due to the financial crisis as he had to leave school to feed his family. He worked as an editor, journalist, teacher and freelance writer. He also continued pursuing his interest in reading and writing. In , he suffered from depression and faced two severe strokes in his life resulting in paralysis. Whitman worked as a printer in New York City until a devastating fire in the printing district demolished the industry. In , at the age of seventeen, he began his career as teacher in the one-room schoolhouses of Long Island.

He continued to teach until , when he turned to journalism as a full-time career. In Brooklyn, he continued to develop the unique style of poetry that later so astonished Ralph Waldo Emerson. In , Whitman took out a copyright on the first edition of Leaves of Grass , which consisted of twelve untitled poems and a preface. He published the volume himself, and sent a copy to Emerson in July of Whitman released a second edition of the book in , containing thirty-two poems, a letter from Emerson praising the first edition, and a long open letter by Whitman in response.

During his lifetime, Whitman continued to refine the volume, publishing several more editions of the book. Noted Whitman scholar, M. He worked as a freelance journalist and visited the wounded at New York City—area hospitals.

He then traveled to Washington, D. Overcome by the suffering of the many wounded in Washington, Whitman decided to stay and work in the hospitals; he ended up staying in the city for eleven years. He took a job as a clerk for the Bureau of Indian Affairs within the Department of the Interior, which ended when the Secretary of the Interior, James Harlan, discovered that Whitman was the author of Leaves of Grass , which Harlan found offensive.

After Harlan fired him, he went on to work in the attorney general's office. In , Whitman suffered a stroke that left him partially paralyzed.