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Miracles: Walt Whitman's Beautiful Celebration of Life
Poem of Walt Whitman
54 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1973
About the author
Walt Whitman
1,664 books5,533 followersWalter Whitman Jr. was an American poet, essayist, and journalist. He is considered one of the most influential poets in American literature. Whitman incorporated both transcendentalism and realism in his writings and is often called the father of free verse. His work was controversial in his time, particularly his 1855 poetry collection Leaves of Grass, which was described by some as obscene for its overt sensuality.
Whitman was born in Huntington on Long Island, and lived in Brooklyn as a child and through much of his career. At the age of 11, he left formal schooling to go to work. He worked as a journalist, a teacher, and a government clerk. Whitman's major poetry collection, Leaves of Grass, first published in 1855, was financed with his own money and became well known. The work was an attempt to reach out to the common person with an American epic. Whitman continued expanding and revising Leaves of Grass until his death in 1892.
During the American Civil War, he went to Washington, D.C., and worked in hospitals caring for the wounded. His poetry often focused on both loss and healing. On the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, whom Whitman greatly admired, he authored two poems, "O Captain! My Captain!" and "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd", and gave a series of lectures on Lincoln. After suffering a stroke towards the end of his life, Whitman moved to Camden, New Jersey, where his health further declined. When he died at the age of 72, his funeral was a public event.
Whitman's influence on poetry remains strong. Art historian Mary Berenson wrote, "You cannot really understand America without Walt Whitman, without Leaves of Grass... He has expressed that civilization, 'up to date,' as he would say, and no student of the philosophy of history can do without him." Modernist poet Ezra Pound called Whitman "America's poet... He is America."
Whitman was born in Huntington on Long Island, and lived in Brooklyn as a child and through much of his career. At the age of 11, he left formal schooling to go to work. He worked as a journalist, a teacher, and a government clerk. Whitman's major poetry collection, Leaves of Grass, first published in 1855, was financed with his own money and became well known. The work was an attempt to reach out to the common person with an American epic. Whitman continued expanding and revising Leaves of Grass until his death in 1892.
During the American Civil War, he went to Washington, D.C., and worked in hospitals caring for the wounded. His poetry often focused on both loss and healing. On the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, whom Whitman greatly admired, he authored two poems, "O Captain! My Captain!" and "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd", and gave a series of lectures on Lincoln. After suffering a stroke towards the end of his life, Whitman moved to Camden, New Jersey, where his health further declined. When he died at the age of 72, his funeral was a public event.
Whitman's influence on poetry remains strong. Art historian Mary Berenson wrote, "You cannot really understand America without Walt Whitman, without Leaves of Grass... He has expressed that civilization, 'up to date,' as he would say, and no student of the philosophy of history can do without him." Modernist poet Ezra Pound called Whitman "America's poet... He is America."
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 14, 2020
"Why! who makes much of a miracle?
As to me, I know of nothing else but miracles"....Walt Whitman writes of seeing miracles in everything. From the honeybees and the insects to children at play. The old man and the old woman, and everyone in between.
"The fishes that swim—the rocks—the motion of the waves—the ships,
with men in them,
What stranger miracles are there?" Everything great and small shows the miracle of creation.
"Or the wonderfulness of the sun-down—or of stars shining so
quiet and bright"....the sunset seems in my opinion to be a painting that God gives us each evening and the stars an ocean of quiet solitude.
As to me, I know of nothing else but miracles"....Walt Whitman writes of seeing miracles in everything. From the honeybees and the insects to children at play. The old man and the old woman, and everyone in between.
"The fishes that swim—the rocks—the motion of the waves—the ships,
with men in them,
What stranger miracles are there?" Everything great and small shows the miracle of creation.
"Or the wonderfulness of the sun-down—or of stars shining so
quiet and bright"....the sunset seems in my opinion to be a painting that God gives us each evening and the stars an ocean of quiet solitude.
June 17, 2024
This is a lovely little book. It makes you question the world, earth, universe, and all in it. It makes you look at yourself and question who you are and what you think. It’s a lovely eye-opening, heart-searching colorful little book. The illustrations by D. K. Stone are gorgeous!
October 10, 2019
Beautiful pictures to go along with the poem.
May 10, 2024
first poetry piece I loved
May 15, 2021
A light delight. Maybe something to read daily before one steps out the door to live the day or climbs into bed to process it. A theologian once wrote that miracles are restorations of what should be, and these pages help us to see all as we should — gloriously.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews