Walt Whitman’s World

This course will focus on a 19th-century American poet whose impact is perhaps unparalleled: Walt Whitman. In the extraordinary 1855 collection of poems Leaves of Grass, Whitman appointed himself America’s poet-prophet: “I celebrate myself, / And what I assume you shall assume.” Whitman’s writing drew controversy as he pushed formal conventions and thematic boundaries. He explored race, sexuality, religion, and democracy, promoting a united vision for America divided by the Civil War. We will be reading poetry and prose from the various volumes of Leaves of Grass that Whitman revised between 1855 and 1892, together with relevant scholarship. We will seek to discover how Whitman so profoundly came to influence literatures in America and beyond. This course will have a midterm exam and final essay. Other assignments may be given.