Seer, prophet, visionary, preacher, Walt Whitman stands out as one of poetry's towering anomalies: in celebrating the trees, water, sky and air, the bear, the eagle, the buffalo and the lion, Whitman expressed a uniquely democratic vision that encompasses not only the American continent but the entire universe. His passionate vehemence, his faith in the common man, and his unflinching pursuit of the truth gave form to an arsenal of ideas, inspiring and motivating generations of writers to come. First published in 1855, when Whitman was 37, Leaves of Grass announced a new voice and style in American letters. It attempted to reach out to the common person with an optimistic epic that took the nation as its subject and encouraged readers to connect with nature and unite in a harmonious society where race and class are transcended. Whitman continued expanding and revising Leaves of Grass until his death 1892, more than doubling its number of pages. This recording uses the final 1892 'Deathbed' edition, presenting everything Whitman wrote in its final form.
"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."
