Whitman, Walt Books

Leaves of Grass: The Original 1855 Edition (Thrift Edition)

Walt Whitman

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 5 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

A small part of 'Leaves of Grass' 4 out of 5 stars.
21 of 21 people found this review helpful.

The original edition of 'Leaves of Grass' published in 1855 contained twelve poems only. The subsequent editions beginning in 1856 were to greatly expand the work. Thus I would recommed that anyone who wishes to know the true range of Whitman's work find another selection of his work of which there is a larger share of his great work.
Whitman is the poet who Emerson prophesied, the American visionary poet who sang of the complex greatness of the society, and connected his own soul with its expansive facts of life.

What More Can Be Said? 5 out of 5 stars.
15 of 15 people found this review helpful.

It's difficult to think of something appropriate to say about a man who spent his life trying to express the panorama of humanity through the lense of his own heart. From a drop of blood to the grandeur of a shipyard or a continent, he takes all readers on a journey wild with raving, raging, sorrow, longing, humbleness and pride. At once he is totally modern and yet rife with history.

For readers new to poetry, Walt Whitman is wonderfully accessible. One can pick up Leaves of Grass and virtually start and stop anywhere and pick up something wonderful every time.

Not to be missed.

Editorial Review:

"The most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom that America has yet contributed." — Ralph Waldo Emerson. Inspired by transcendentalism, Whitman's immortal collection includes some of the greatest poems of modern times, including his masterpiece "Song of Myself." Shattering standard conventions of symbolism and allegory, it stands as an unabashed celebration of body and nature.

101 Great American Poems (Dover Thrift Editions)

Edgar Allan Poe, Walt Whitman, Robert Frost, Langston Hughes, Emily Dickinson, T S. Eliot, Marianne Moore

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Quite a Bang for Your Buck!.......... 4 out of 5 stars.
23 of 23 people found this review helpful.

............this small book of poetry contains the work of nearly forty of the best known American poets. From Emily Dickinson to Walt Whitman to Edgar Allan Poe to Robert Frost, there are poems in this collection that are sure to appeal to everyone! Also represented in this collection are ten women poets and eight African Americans including Paul Laurence Dunbar, Langston Hughes and Phyllis Wheatley. There's even a poem by Abraham Lincoln that reveals his thoughts about his childhood experiences.

This collection is a simple, inexpensive way to introduce oneself to the wonderful world of American poetry. Each poet is introduced with a short biography followed by his or her most memorable work. Great buy!

Editorial Review:

Rich treasury of verse from the 19th and 20th centuries, selected for popularity and literary quality, includes Poe's "The Raven," Whitman's "I Hear America Singing," as well as poems by Robert Frost, Langston Hughes, Emily Dickinson, T. S. Eliot, Marianne Moore, many other notables.

The Complete Poems (Penguin Classics)

Walt Whitman

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

!!!EMERALD!!! 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 21 people found this review helpful.

not only the greatest selling poet who has been dead for more than fifty years, not only the poet whose translations are regularly read abroad, not only the poet whose name has in-spired countless others, not only the poet who freed us from the manacles of rhyme and decapitated the tyranny of meter but also a man of enthusiasm, a titan, a man whose soul floods with belch, fume and quake, a man who confronts the ravenous centaurs of humdrum and blugeons them swiftly in a spasmo of frenzy-fire, a wanderer, a searcher, one whose mind travels vig-orously throughout the cosmimosa and embellishes it with jac-inths of thought and blooms of popy! not only a man of gargan-tuan passions, one who rages in the face of metallic storm but also a man whose depressions, fogs, glooms and sensitivity to flowers, softness and the defenseless bloom in stark heart-throb. no doubt he is a poet well worth a place beside such other titano-giants such as goethe, milton and homer, for he too sings the song of war, his book is a chanson of bellum for he sings of the battle of the passions, the climaximum of the emo-ceans, he challenges the raw specters of gash, their eyes oozing of slime-drab and rather than succumb to the oxen of indiffer-ence he instead triumphs over the gray and his book thus re-sounds in shinning claria! his is an adventure of thought sur-real in its gusto, jumping in its excitica and wild in its leap of ideas! thank celestium that he liberated us poets from the ab-surd manacles of rhyme and meter and we can now surge through horiza with countless new devices, metaphors and similies awaiting in our platoons! he is the cougar of innova-tion, the lion of spasmo and the giant of vision.

kyle foley, author of Lorelei Pursued and Wrestles with God

Editorial Review:

In 1855 Walt Whitman published Leaves of Grass, the work that defined him as one of America’s most influential voices and that he added to throughout his life. A collection of astonishing originality and intensity, it spoke of politics, sexual emancipation, and what it meant to be an American. From the joyful “Song of Myself” and “I Sing the Body Electric” to the elegiac “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d,” Whitman’s art fuses oratory, journalism, and song in a vivid celebration of humanity. Containing all Whitman’s known poetic work, this edition reprints the final, or “deathbed,” edition of Leaves of Grass (1891–92). Earlier versions of many poems are also given, including the 1855 “Song of Myself.”

Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass (150th Anniversary Edition)

Walt Whitman

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 69 Average rating: 4.5 of 5

Editorial Review:

"I celebrate myself,
And what I assume you shall assume,
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.
I loafe and invite my soul,
I lean and loafe at my ease....observing a spear of summer grass."
So begins Leaves of Grass, the first great American poem and indeed, to this day, the greatest and most essentially American poem in all our national literature.
The publication of Leaves of Grass in July 1855 was a landmark event in literary history. Ralph Waldo Emerson judged the book "the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom America has yet contributed." Nothing like the volume had ever appeared before. Everything about it--the unusual jacket and title page, the exuberant preface, the twelve free-flowing, untitled poems embracing every realm of experience--was new. The 1855 edition broke new ground in its relaxed style, which prefigured free verse; in its sexual candor; in its images of racial bonding and democratic togetherness; and in the intensity of its affirmation of the sanctity of the physical world.
This Anniversary Edition captures the typeface, design and layout of the original edition supervised by Whitman himself. Today's readers get a sense of the "ur-text" of Leaves of Grass, the first version of this historic volume, before Whitman made many revisions of both format and style. The volume also boasts an afterword by Whitman authority David Reynolds, in which he discusses the 1855 edition in its social and cultural contexts: its background, its reception, and its contributions to literary history. There is also an appendix containing the early responses to the volume, including Emerson's letter, Whitman's three self-reviews, and the twenty other known reviews published in various newspapers and magazines.
This special volume will be a must-have keepsake for fans of Whitman and lovers of American poetry.

Whitman: Poetry and Prose (Library of America College Editions)

Walt Whitman

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 8 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

A classic volume in my home 5 out of 5 stars.
30 of 30 people found this review helpful.

I picked up this book in the Spring of 1990 while browsing in a bookstore. I'm no student of poetry, in fact I only purchased it because I randomly flipped it open and was enamored with the passage I found. I learned that the passage is from "Song of Myself" and have read both that epic poem and the entire collection through dozens of times.

I didn't know exactly what I had purchased that day. But over time find that turning to Whitman's poetry and prose has been a source of comfort. I find myself in his writings, and find that his messages apply clearly in the present day. This volume is a pretty hefty way to start with Whitman--you get everything from the start. If you choose to buy it, I suggest randomly exploring it--stopping here and there to read a poem. I spent weeks exploring that way, only later did I read everything from start to finish. The simplicity of the writing and the clarity of meaning is remarkable.

The Library of America edition is--in itself--beautiful. Well bound, fine paper, still in excellent condition after 15 years of use. When reading it, it is impossible not to appreciate the caliber of it's manufacture: the choice of paper, inks, typefaces, binding, etc. contribute to pleasurable experience. I have a small number of other Library of America volumes, and each is exquisitely assembled and a joy to read. They are not inexpensive, but I'd argue that they are most definitely worth every penny.

Editorial Review:

Contains the first and "deathbed" editions of "Leaves of Grass," and virtually all of Whitman's prose, with reminiscences of nineteenth-century New York City, notes on the Civil War, especially his service in Washington hospitals and glimpses of President Lincoln, and attacks on the misuses of national wealth after the war.

When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer (Golden Kite Honors (Awards))

Walt Whitman

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 7 Average rating: 4.0 of 5

Uncle Walt rules 5 out of 5 stars.
7 of 7 people found this review helpful.

I wish I had this book when I was teaching 19th-century American literature to college freshmen. I bought a few weeks ago and have been reading it to my daughters--the oldest is 5. She loves the art, and so do I. Tonight, out of the blue, she recited most of the poem to me over dinner--we had never before worked on memorizing this or any other poem, but I had mentioned to her that this would be a good poem to memorize. Looks like she agreed. I'm forever grateful to Loren Long for giving Walt to my daughter at such an early age.

I can't seem to understand the negativity expressed by some of the other reviewers. To call this poem anti-intellectual doesn't make much sense to me. It does, however, make sense to balance intellectual inquiry with the wonder and appreciation afforded by observation. The reviewer who mentions sharing his telescope ought to agree, since the children who peer through it clearly are excited by wonder--otherwise, why not just Google "Saturn" and find even better images? Gazing up at the sky--whether with the eye or through a telescope--excited the imagination, and there's something to be said for contemplating the stars in silence. What astronomer hasn't?

Editorial Review:

Leave time for wonder.

Walt Whitman's "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer" is an enduring celebration of the imagination. Here, Whitman's wise words are beautifully recast by New York Times #1 best-selling illustrator Loren Long to tell the story of a boy's fascination with the heavens. Toy rocket in hand, the boy finds himself in a crowded, stuffy lecture hall. At first he is amazed by the charts and the figures. But when he finds himself overwhelmed by the pontifications of an academic, he retreats to the great outdoors and does something as universal as the stars themselves...

he dreams.

Walt Whitman: Selected Poems

Walt Whitman

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Editorial Review:

The poetry of Walt Whitman is the cornerstone of modern American verse. He was America's first truly great poet and his influence is still evident today. The first edition of Whitman's Leaves of Grass, published in 1855, was a revolutionary manifesto declaring America's independence from European cultural domination. His rhapsodic free verse broke radically with poetic, tradition: it was poetry about America, its democracy, its people, and its hopes. It was uniquely American without apology—brash, proud, optimistic, and filled with the bustling energy of the new and growing nation.
This collection brings together Whitman's greatest and most famous poems spanning the whole of his career. From the groundbreaking first edition of Leaves of Grass are seven poems, including "Song of Myself" and "I Sing the Body Electric."
From later editions there are such masterpieces as "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry," "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking," and "I Hear America Singing." Also included is Whitman's great cycle of Civil War Poems, Drum-Taps, which he wrote in the months when he was ministering to the wounded in battlefield hospitals. Concluding this collection is one of his last poems, "Good-bye My Fancy!"—his touching farewell to his muse, his life, and his readers.
More than one hundred years after his death, Walt Whitman's poetry has become part of the American heritage. It is a visionary which speaks as aptly to readers today as it will to future generations. As he says in "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry," "others...look back on me because I look'd forward to them." Whitman's poetry is a link that connects all Americans—past, present, and future.
This book features a deluxe cover, ribbon marker, top stain, and decorative endpaper with a nameplate.

Song of Myself (Dover Thrift Editions)

Walt Whitman

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 9 Average rating: 3.5 of 5

The book, remakable, the reviews? I am confused. 5 out of 5 stars.
4 of 4 people found this review helpful.

Special preview note:

I have to say these reviews confuse me because I see nothing about Stephen Mitchell in the book I hold in my hands. I don't know where the reference comes from at all, so I am going to write as if I don't know what the reviewers are using as a reference to Mitchell... and now I see, those reviewers were reading an entirely different version of the book - so if you are interested in the Dover edition, my review stands. If you are looking at the Shambala edition, what I say still stands, for the most part... except I haven't read the Mitchell edits and now I understand some of the disdain! And it makes me VERY curious, would like to read both versions side-by-side.)

From the preface: This dover edition, first published in 2001, is a unabridged republication from the first 1855 edition of "Leaves of Grass."

I sat here, today, re-reading some of the sections I had highlighted from my first read of this epic-length-poem. I wondered, "What would the world be like if each of us took the time to write a 'Song of Myself' according to our own witness of the world we live within?

Walt Whitman does exactly that in this poem - he doesn't seek to be understood, he doesn't seek to please the reader, he is simply being present to his world and then capture his meandering path into words and serve it onto the page.

Then it is up to us, as the readers, to take our spoon-fuls of Whitman and savor each one.

There is much to be learned, experienced, enjoyed, discovered in these words within this very slim volume. Savor each one and consider writing your own song.

Now I am off to begin mine.

Editorial Review:

It was with this first version of "Song of Myself," from the 1855 edition of Leaves of Grass, that Whitman first made himself known to the world. Readers familiar with the later, revised editions will find this first version new, surprising, and often superior to the revisions, and exhilarating in the freshness of its vision.

Songs for the Open Road: Poems of Travel and Adventure (Dover Thrift Editions)

Walt Whitman, George 'Lord Byron' Gordon, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Robert Service, Bliss Carman, Robert Louis Stevenson, John Masefield, Langston Hughes, Many Others

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 2 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Best book value I know. 5 out of 5 stars.
10 of 13 people found this review helpful.

It's hard to believe how many of the best poems in English are in this thin little book -- ninety poems for a dollar. I second the action of the Poetry Project in giving it free to lots of people. Buy one for your glove compartment, your office, your study, and your best reader friend!

A poem in your soul wherever you go 5 out of 5 stars.
6 of 6 people found this review helpful.

This collection is divided into three sections, "Songs for the Open Road", "Sea, Rail and Sea", "Home, Rest, and Final Voyages". It contains many of the best- loved poems in the English language, poems not necessarily associated with subjects of Travel and Adventure, though they may touch upon them.
One of the great examples is an Emily Dickinson selection"

"There is no frigate
like a book
To take us
Lands away.

Nor any corvette
like a page
of prancing
Poetry.

This traverse
may the poorest take
Without the oppress
of Toll.

How frugal
is the Chariot
that bears a human soul.

The title poem is from Whitman, and it sets the tone for what should be a highly enjoyable vogage, of mind, heart and soul.

Editorial Review:

Collection of more than 80 poems by 50 American and British masters celebrates travel, adventure and the many real and metaphorical journeys each of us take in the course of our lives. Works by Whitman, Byron, Millay, Sandburg, Service, Bliss Carman, Robert Louis Stevenson, Langston Hughes, Emily Dickinson, Robert Frost, Shelley, Tennyson, Yeats, many others. Note.

Complete Poems of Whitman (Wordsworth Poetry) (Wordsworth Collection)

Walt Whitman

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Customer Reviews:
Total reviews: 1 Average rating: 5.0 of 5

Walt Whitman's Complete Works 5 out of 5 stars.
5 of 6 people found this review helpful.

Among the many American authors and poets, the name Walt Whitman stands out as a giant. He single-handedly transformed the world of American poetry with his one and only collection, Leaves of Grass. Leaves of Grass, however, is not one collection between two covers. Rather, it is a collection of collections. Poems like "When Lilacs in the Dooryard Bloom'd", "O Captain, My Captain", and "I Hear America Singing" have forever been imprinted in the American psyche as brilliant, original works of literature. This book not only features Leaves of Grass, but also discarded poems and unpublished poems that were not published in the book. This book is a definitive introduction to the works of one America's greatest literary giants.

Editorial Review:

Walt Whitman's verse gave the poetry of America a distinctive national voice. It reflects the unique vitality of the new nation, the vastness of the land and the emergence of a sometimes troubled consciousness, communicated in language and idiom regarded by many at the time as shocking. Whitman's poems are organic and free flowing, fit into no previously defined genre and skilfully combine autobiographical, sociological and religious themes with lyrical sensuality. His verse is a fitting celebration of a new breed of American and includes Song of Myself, Crossing Brooklyn Ferry, the celebratory Passage to India, and his fine elegy for the assassinated President Lincoln, When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd.