Do I contradict myself?Very well then I contradict myself. (I am large, I contain multitudes.)Abundant, ecstatic, generous, courageous - this is the first American epic poem, a celebration of selfhood and a catalogue of nineteenth-century American life of all ages and races.

Walter Whitman was an American poet, essayist, and journalist.

He is considered one of the most influential poets in American history.

Walt Whitman is considered the father of free verse and modern democracy.

One of the reasons Leaves of Grass is a great work of literature is because it was among

the first to be based fully on the author's capacity to communicate with the reader

directly, and to invite us to change how we feel and think about ourselves and others.

Leaves of Grass is also a d...