One of the great innovative figures in American letters, Walt Whitman created a daring new kind of poetry that became a major force in world literature. His poems have been woven into the very fabric of the American character and have continued to provide inspiration to people and poets for generations.
Leaves of Grass is Whitman's masterpiece, written in a pure, uninhibited style and combining sensual and mystical sensibilities. Ralph Waldo Emerson, whose essay "The Poet" inspired the work, praised it, saying "I find it the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom America has yet contributed." Self-published in 1855, it was repeatedly expanded and revised by Whitman throughout the rest of his life. This recording follows the final, most complete edition which appeared in 1892, the year of Whitman's death.
Among the poems in the collection are "Song of Myself," "I Sing the Body Electric," and "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd," Whitman's elegy to the assassinated president Abraham Lincoln.
"Walt Whitman was the first great American free verse poet, and William Hope's performance makes clear that his work was truly poetry-not prose with line breaks. While only a few of the poems have a formal meter or lines that end with rhymes, listeners can hear the rhythm and the music of Whitman's language. Leaves of Grass is probably the most influential American poetry collection, as its author intended it to be. He revised and expanded it with each new edition, so this so-called "Deathbed Edition" is its final form, plus an essay by Whitman on how he thought about his work.
This is a wonderful presentation of the passion and philosophy of the most American of all poets."
