Walt Whitman

LitCharts guides for works by Walt Whitman

Explore LitCharts poetry guides for works by Walt Whitman. Each guide offers line-by-line analysis, exploration of poetic devices, and helpful resources for studying Walt Whitman's poetry.

A March in the Ranks Hard-Prest, and the Road Unknown

"A March in the Ranks Hard-Prest, and the Road Unknown" is American poet Walt Whitman's horrified look at the disasters of war. The poem's speaker, a soldier retreating from a lost battle, encounte... view guide

A Noiseless Patient Spider

"A Noiseless Patient Spider" is a lyric poem written by the 19th Century American poet Walt Whitman. Whitman originally wrote the poem as part of a longer piece, "Whispers of Heavenly Death," for T... view guide

Beat! Beat! Drums!

The American poet Walt Whitman published "Beat! Beat! Drums!" in 1861, shortly after the first major battle of the Civil War. The poem directly addresses the instruments of a military band, telling... view guide

Crossing Brooklyn Ferry

"Crossing Brooklyn Ferry" is Walt Whitman's reflection on the glory of the shared human experience. While crossing New York's East River, the poem's speaker is struck by the realization that the pe... view guide

I Hear America Singing

"I Hear America Singing" is a poem by the American poet Walt Whitman, first published in the 1860 edition of his book Leaves of Grass. Though the poem was written on the eve of the Civil War, it pr... view guide

I Sing the Body Electric

"I Sing the Body Electric" is a poem from the American writer Walt Whitman's magnum opus, Leaves of Grass. In this poem, a speaker sings the praises of the human body. The body, he says, is nothing... view guide

In Paths Untrodden

"In Paths Untrodden" is the first poem in Walt Whitman's groundbreaking "Calamus" sequence, a cluster of poems in his magnum opus, Leaves of Grass. (This version of the poem appeared in the much-re... view guide

O Captain! My Captain!

“O Captain! My Captain!” is an elegy written by Walt Whitman in 1865 to commemorate the death of President Abraham Lincoln. It was first published in Sequel to Drum-Taps (1865), a collection of Whi... view guide

O Me! O Life!

Walt Whitman (1819-1892) first published "O Me! O Life!" in the 1867 edition of his famous collection Leaves of Grass. The poem's speaker wonders what the point of living is, when the world is so u... view guide

One's-Self I Sing

"One's-Self I Sing" is a tribute both to the individual self and to humanity as a collective whole. Its speaker affirms the "worth[iness]" of the human body, the equal dignity of men and women, and... view guide

The Voice of the Rain

"The Voice of the Rain" is a short free-verse poem by the American poet Walt Whitman. Originally published in a periodical called Outing in 1885, it was later reprinted in Leaves of Grass, Whitman'... view guide

When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer

"When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer" was written by poet, teacher, and Civil War volunteer nurse Walt Whitman. Whitman first published "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer" in 1865 in his poetry c... view guide

When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d

“When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d” was written by the American poet Walt Whitman. Composed in the wake of President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination, the poem takes the form of a pastoral el... view guide