Walt Whitman

1819–1892 (age 73)

Poet, Writer

Biography

Walt Whitman transformed American poetry through his expansive free verse and the collection Leaves of Grass, celebrating democracy, the body, and the human spirit with unrestrained warmth.

During the Civil War he tended the wounded with compassion and later encouraged younger writers, and visitors to Harleigh Cemetery still honor the poet who sought to unite all voices.