The Dynamics of Language in Walt Whitman's 'Leaves of Grass'

Abstract

Walt Whitman was a prominent American writer, journalist, and essayist, widely acclaimed for his collection of poems, titled Leaves of Grass, which he continued to revise, expand, reorganize, rewrite, and edit until his death. Written in free verse and after the Romantic tradition, the lyrics of Leaves of Grass demonstrate Whitman’s bold perception of American life and his philosophy of celebrating the human body and the material world. Described as an American epic, the compositions in the compendium deviated from the earlier use of an elevated hero, and instead tried to assume the identity of the common people. The present paper aims at a point-by-point consideration of Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass for understanding the times of the poet and the dialectics of his metaphors. As Whitman is a celebrated American poet and is being read the world over in American Literature, so it is important to know about him and his compositions in depth.