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Leaves of Grass

Walt Whitman

CliffsNotes on Leaves of Grass offers a critical analysis of Walt Whitman's famous collection of poems. Whitman's ways with words influenced the poets of his time, as well as the poets of today. His unapologetic symbolism in poems like "Song of Myself" and "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd," an elegy to Abraham Lincoln, established Whitman as one of the greatest American poets of all time and Leaves of Grass as one of the most popular collections of poetry ever printed.

Walt Whitman Biography

Life and Background

A Whitman Chronology

From Inscriptions

Introduction

"One's-Self I Sing"

"As I Ponder'd in Silence"

"For Him I Sing"

"To the States"

"I Hear America Singing"

"Poets to Come"

"To You"

"Thou Reader"

"Song of Myself"

Introduction

Sections 1–5, lines 1–98

Sections 6–19, lines 99–388

Sections 20–25, lines 389–581

Sections 26–38, lines 582–975

Sections 39–41, lines 976–1053

Sections 42–52, lines 1054–1347

From Children Of Adam

Introduction

"To the Garden of the World"

"Spontaneous Me"

"Ages and Ages Returning at Intervals"

"As Adam Early in the Morning"

From Calamus

Introduction

"In Paths Untrodden"

"Scented Herbage of My Breast"

"Whoever You Are Holding Me Now in Hand"

"When I Heard at the Close of the Day"

"Are You the New Person Drawn Toward Me?"

"Not Heat Flames Up and Consumes"

"I Saw in Louisiana a Live-Oak Growing"

"Full of Life Now"

"Crossing Brooklyn Ferry"

"Song of the Broad-Axe"

"Pioneers! O Pioneers!"

"Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking"

"When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer"

"Beat! Beat! Drums!"

"Cavalry Crossing a Ford"

"When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd"

"As Consequent, Etc."

"There Was a Child Went Forth"

"Passage to India"

"The Sleepers"

"To a Locomotive in Winter"

"As the Time Draws Nigh"

"So Long!"

"Queries to My Seventieth Year"

"America"

"Good-Bye My Fancy!"

Critical Essays

Form and Style in Leaves of Grass

Themes in Leaves of Grass

Whitman: The Quintessential American Poet

Study and Homework Help

Quiz

Cite this Literature Note

Take the Quiz Published in 1892, the final version of Leaves of Grass is known as
  1. the early edition
  2. the final edition
  3. the abridged edition
  4. the deathbed edition
Quiz
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