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Whitman carefully continued to cultivate his literary personality throughout his career, especially through the relatively new field of photography. As he revised and enlarged Leaves of Grass (8 editions and numerous printings would appear between 1855 and 1892), Whitman's goal as the self-styled national poet became more clearly defined.
Today, more than a century after the publication of the final edition of "Leaves of Grass", Whitman's place in American literary history often seems as
nebulous and enigmatic as the
ideas upon which America was founded. Numerous poets since Whitman have consciously either
placed themselves in the wake of his tradition or reacted violently against him. The aesthetic
value of Whitman's poetry as well as his personality continues to be a controversial subject.
References:
Encyclopedia of World Biography; second edition (1998); edited by
Suzanne Michele Bourgoin and Paula Kay Byers.
America, a Narrative History; brief Fourth Edition (1997); George Brown Tindall and
David Emory Shi.
A variety of sources from the Internet.
Pictures:
Walt Whitman Hypertext Archive