Meditations of Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman, the great American poet of the 19th century (1819-1892), celebrated his body, the land, the commonest of people, the plants and leaves, and the cosmos in Leaves of Grass, first published in 1855. Working variously as a printer, journalist, teacher and Civil War nurse, Whitman traveled across the continent soaking the ink of the wilds and the urban into his pen. His poetry is an invitation into the wilds of Nature and human nature.This sampler of 60 short selections from Whitman's poems draws from the heart of each passage. Each selection is paired with a relevant quote from a historical or contemporary writer and thinker, from Aristotle to Alice Walker, Lord Byron to Arthur C. Clarke.Let Whitman's words accompany you on your own trails of discovery and help you discover the earth, your likeness.