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Walt Whitman (1819–1892; American)
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 17 February 2021
Summary
Whitman, the most innovative and influential American poet of the nineteenth century, is not usually called a Romantic, but some of his literary roots are in the Transcendentalist movement. Indeed it was a letter of appreciation from Emerson in 1855 (“I give you joy of your free and brave thought. I have great joy in it.”) that gave Whitman the opening he needed to reach an audience for his free-verse celebrations of democracy and comradeship.
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- Romanticism: 100 Poems , pp. 162 - 163Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021