Walt Whitman was born on May 31st, 1819 in West Hills, Huntington, and Long Island from Quaker family. His parents are Walter Whitman and Louisa Van Velsor. He was the second of nine children. In 1823 he moved to Brooklyn, where for six years he attended public school.
At age of eleven, he worked as an office boy for lawyer and doctor. In 1831 he became a printer for Long Island Patriot, four pages weekly whose editor is Samuel L. Clements (Mark Twain). With the financial support from his friend, in 1838 he made his own weekly newspaper, The Long Islander until 1896.
He moved to New York City in 1841 and worked as editor In New York Aurora. In this time, he wrote his views on slavery. In 1855, his father, Walter died. In same year he published his first work Leave of Grass followed 12 poems.
In 1862 he visited his brother George, who was wounded in Battle of Fredericksburg. Three years later he published Drum-Taps. In 1873, Whitman suffered a stroke in 1888 while working and living in Washington D.C. After he recovered, he moved to Camden, New Jersey. In same year, his mother, Louisa died. Two years later he published a collection of journals titled The Memoranda during the War.
Whitman got second stroke in 1888. In illness condition, he still wrote the poems. In 1891 he published the final edition of Leaves of Grass with total 293 poems. One year later he got the serious illness and died on March 26th. He was buried in Camden’s Harleigh Cemetery, New Jersey.
Walt Whitman was proclaimed the greatest of all American poets by many foreign observers four years after his death. His works have been translated into more than twenty five languages. Whitman is in among the most influential and controversial poet in America (http//id.wikipedia.org/wiki/waltwhitman).
Walt Whitman selected works:
1855 Leaves of Grass – 95 pages; followed 12 poems
1856 Leaves of Grass – 32 poems
1860 Leaves of Grass – 456 pages; 178 poems
1865 – Drum-Taps
1865-1866 – Sequel To Drum-Taps
1867 Leaves of Grass – re-edited; adding Drum-Taps, and Songs Before Parting, 6 new poems
1871-1872 Leaves of Grass – adding 120 pages with 74 poems, 24 of which are new texts
1875 Memoranda During The War
1881-1882 Leaves of Grass – adding 17 new poems, deleting 39, and rearranging; 293 poems total, Song Of My Self receive its name
1891-1892 Leaves of Grass – no significant new material
Walt Whitman, Poetry and Prose (Justin Kaplan, ed.) (Library Of America, 1981) ISBN
Walt Whitman: Selected Poems, American Poets Project (Harold Bloom, ed.) (Library Of America, 2003) ISBN
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar