Walt Whitman Group
Question:
speedband2
Student
Community / Jr. College
Which decades had the greatest influence on Walt Whitman? Which decades did Whitman influence the most?
Answers:
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morrol Teacher
High School - 12th GradeeNotes Editor
Posted by morrol on Thursday January 22, 2009 at 1:03 PMThere are two answers to this question that correlate with the two different themes in Whitman's poetry. The first decade of influence would be his early childhood. Whitman grew up on a farm and was self educated. This experience showed Whitman that poetry is available to everyone, not just the well educated and affluent. His poetry "Leaves of Grass" was written for the common man. He wrote poetry for the masses. The second decade of importance would be the years during the Civil War in which Whitman spent a considerable amount of time tending to sick and dying soldiers. This time inspired his poetry "Drum Taps" and lead him to consider the theme of death.
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