Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman
沃尔特•惠特曼（WaltWhitman，1810年5月31日－1892年3月26日），生于纽约州长岛，他是美国著名诗人、人文主义者，他创造了诗歌的自由体（FreeVerse），其代表作品是诗集《草叶集》。
WalterWhitman(May31,1819–March26,1892)wasanAmericanpoet,essayist,journalist,
andhumanist.HewasapartofthetransitionbetweenTranscendentalismandrealism,incorp
oratingbothviewsinhisworks.WhitmanisamongthemostinfluentialpoetsintheAmerican
canon,oftencalledthefatheroffreeverse.Hisworkwasverycontroversialinits
time,particularlyhispoetrycollectionLeavesofGrass,whichwasdescribedasobscenefor
itsovertsexuality.

BornonLongIsland,Whitmanworkedasajournalist,ateacher,agovernmentclerk,anda
volunteernurseduringtheAmericanCivilWarinadditiontopublishinghispoetry.Early
inhiscareer,healsoproducedatemperancenovel,FranklinEvans(1842).Whitman\’smajo
rwork,LeavesofGrass,wasfirstpublishedin1855withhisownmoney.Theworkwasan
attemptatreachingouttothecommonpersonwithanAmericanepic.Hecontinuedexpanding
andrevisingituntilhisdeathin1892.Afterastroketowardstheendofhislife,he
movedtoCamden,NewJerseywherehishealthfurtherdeclined.Hediedatage72andhis
funeralbecameapublicspectacle.

Whitman\’ssexualityisoftendiscussedalongsidehispoetry.Thoughbiographerscontinueto
debatehissexuality,heisusuallydescribedaseitherhomosexualorbisexualinhisfeelings
andattractions.However,thereisdisagreementamongbiographersastowhetherWhitmanhad
actualsexualexperienceswithmen. Whitmanwasconcernedwithpoliticsthroughouthislife.
HesupportedtheWilmotProvisoandopposedtheextensionofslaverygenerally.Hispoetrypres
entedanegalitarianviewoftheraces,andatonepointhecalledfortheabolitionofslavery,
butlaterhesawtheabolitionistmovementasathreattodemocracy.