Walt Whitman
1819-1892
Walt Whitman was born on May 31. 1819 in the Brooklyn, New York. He was one of nine other children. At the age of 12, he was self-taught and became acquainted with works of Homer, Dante, Shakespeare, and the Bible. He worked as a printer until a fire in the printing district. He began to teach at the age of 17 before turning to a full-time career in journalism. He founded the weekly paper series The Long Islander and was an editor for many New York newspapers. Over the next few years, Whitman copyrighted a group of 12 poems and published them as a volume. When the Civil War broke out, he moved to Washington to help in hospitals as a clerk. After the publication of his final volume, he died on March 26, 1892.
Most Notable Works
- "A Noiseless Patient Spider"
- "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry"
- "Song on the Open Road"