A Little Bit About Walt Whiteman

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Walt Whiteman was one of the most accomplished writers to ever walk amongst the human race. He partook many careers in his life and say many things that helped shape all the things written in are consistently developed work “Leaves of Grass”. However, many people know a large amount about Whitman the writer/poet but not much about the man himself. Whiteman was born on May 31, 1819 in West Hills, New York to a working class family. He was named after his father, thought we was called “Walt” to distinguish between the two of them. It was at the age of twelve when Whitman started to dabble in the arts. He first started with painting but quickly fell in love with language and how it could be used to express. He was mainly self-taught falling in love with the works of many of the great poets such as Shakespeare, Homer and Dante. Shortly after Whiteman discovered his love for the written language he started working a printer in New York City until a fire destroyed most of the printing district. In 1836, now at the age of seventeen, Whitman started teaching in small one-room houses. His father did not seem happy with this consistently trying to find him a job in the new family farm. However Whitman rebelled against the idea. During these few year many considered to be the unhappiest times of Whitman’s life. He was consistently working hard for very little pay. Whitman recorded his sadness in several letters he wrote to a friend by the name of Abraham Leech. In of these letters it became quite evident of his dissatisfaction and no hope for the people of the area when he said, “Never before have I entertained so low an idea of the beauty and perfection of man’s nature, never have I seen humanity in so degraded a shape, as here” (Folsom.) As a result of Whitman’s dissatisfaction he sought to reinsert himself back in the world of Journalism in New York. In
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