Musical Elements
Whitman believed that poetry should be spoken, not written, and this basic criterion governed the concept and form of his poetry. He used repetition and reiterative devices (as, for example, in "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking," the lines "Loud! loud! loud!" and "Blow! blow! blow!") He also employed elements of the opera (the aria and the recitative) in his poems.
Language
Whitman was a master of exuberant phrases and images: "The beautiful uncut hair of graves" ("Song of Myself," section 6) is extraordinarily descriptive. Conversely, another description of the grass in the same section of the same poem, where it is described as "the handkerchief of the Lord," is trivial.
Whitman brought vitality and picturesqueness to his descriptions of the physical world. He was particularly sensitive to sounds and described them with acute awareness. His view of the world was dominated by its change and fluidity, and this accounts for his frequent use of "ing" forms, either present participle or gerund.
Whitman's language is full of his eccentricities: he used the word "presidentiad" for presidency, "pave" for pavement, and he spelled Canada with a K.
Leaves of Grass contains archaic expressions — for example, betimes, betwixt, methinks, haply, and list (for listen). Whitman also employs many colloquial expressions and technical and commercial terms. Words from foreign languages add color and variety to his style.
