whitman

Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman was born on May 31, 1819 in a farmhouse on Long Island, New York. He was the second of nine children. As a young adult, Whitman worked in various print shops and in 1835, he returned to Long Island as a country school teacher. While there, Whitman founded and edited his own newspaper as well as one in New Orleans, two in New York and four newspapers in Long Island after a time. The first edition of Leaves of Grass was self-published, at the poet's own expense, in 1855, the same year Whitman's father passed away. After the Civil War, Walt Whitman found a job as a clerk in the Department of the Interior. However, when James Harlan, Secretary of the Interior, found that Whitman was the author of the 'offensive' Leaves of Grass, the Secretary fired Whitman immediately. Whitman died on the 26th of March, 1892, and was buried in Harleigh Cemetery, under a tombstone of his own design.

I Hear America Singing

I HEAR America singing, the varied carols I hear;
Those of mechanics—each one singing his, as it should be, blithe and strong;
The carpenter singing his, as he measures his plank or beam,
The mason singing his, as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work;
The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat—the deckhand singing on the steamboat deck;
The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench—the hatter singing as he stands;
The wood-cutter’s song—the ploughboy’s, on his way in the morning, or at the noon intermission, or at sundown;
The delicious singing of the mother—or of the young wife at work—or of the girl sewing or washing—Each singing what belongs to her, and to none else;
The day what belongs to the day—At night, the party of young fellows, robust, friendly,
Singing, with open mouths, their strong melodious songs.