Walt Whitman

In Walt Whitman, Michael Cunningham sees a poet whose vision of humanity is ecstatic, democratic, and sensuous. Just over a hundred years ago, Whitman celebrated America as it survived the Civil War, as it endured great poverty, and as it entered the Industrial Revolution, which would make it the most powerful nation on Earth. In Specimen Days Michael Cunningham makes Whitman's verse sing across time, and in Laws for Creations he celebrates what Whitman means to him, and how he appeared at the heart of his new novel. Just as the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Hours drew on the life and work of English novelist Viriginia Woolf, Specimen Days lovingly features the work of American poet Walt Whitman. Bringing together extracts from Whitman's prodigious writings, including Leaves of Grass and his journal, Specimen Days, Michael Cunningham's Laws for Creations provides an introduction to one of America's greatest visionary poets from one of our greatest contemporary novelists.

Briefly discusses the history of Whitman's "Leaves of Grass," and gathers a selection of poems about identity, childhood, growth, war, grief, and the wonder of life.

Demokratiska perspektiv (1871) är en amerikansk klassiker som skänker djup och intresse för de demokratiska frågorna om och kring Amerikas förenta stater. Whitman är, som Amerikas store politiske poet, värd att uppmärksammas även som politisk aktör. Strax efter det amerikanska inbördeskriget, som ställde både USA och Whitman inför frågan om nationens och demokratins framtid, utgav han denna skrift, där han utvecklar sina tankar om samhället, demokratin, Amerika och litteraturen. I denna utgåva återfinns även en samling av Whitmans mest kända poesi med demokrati som tema eller grundton. Översättare är Erik Carlquist, och ett initierat förord är skrivet av Henrik Berg­­- gren, journalist vid Dagens Nyheter och historiker. För Whitman var [...] demokrati inte en filosofisk fråga som kunde diskuteras i termer av utilistisk nytta eller mänskliga rättigheter. Den var strängt taget inte en fråga, utan ett givet naturtillstånd, ett slags Ur- faktum. Och framför allt ett amerikanskt tillstånd. "Vem annan i hela historien", frågar Whitman retoriskt, "har hittills, utan att ifrågasätta dessa ting accepterat dem, stått fast vid dem, handlat i enighet med dem och gått i borgen för dem?" Det var omöjligt att skilja demokratins principer från livet som det levdes av enskilda människor i den amerikanska republik som Walt Whitman fötts in i och verkat i under hela sitt liv. Och som han för- sökte omfatta i all sin mångfald och motsägelsefullhet i sin poesi. - ur Henrik Berggrens förord.

A special edition honoring the 150th anniversary of the poet's seminal work presents the original 1855 text in its complete form, in a volume that includes

The typeface, design, and layout of the original publication of the first great American poem are captured in this special commemorative edition celebrating the seminal volume's 150th anniversary.

"Leaves of Grass," by Walt Whitman, is part of the "Barnes & Noble Classics"" "series, which offers quality editions at affordable prices to the student and the general reader, including new scholarship, thoughtful design, and pages of carefully crafted extras. Here are some of the remarkable features of "Barnes & Noble Classics" All editions are beautifully designed and are printed to superior specifications; some include illustrations of historical interest. "Barnes & Noble Classics "pulls together a constellation of influences--biographical, historical, and literary--to enrich each reader's understanding of these enduring works. When "Leaves of Grass" was first published in 1855 as a slim tract of twelve untitled poems, Walt Whitman was still an unknown. But his self-published volume soon became a landmark of poetry, introducing the world to a new and uniquely American form. The "father of free verse," Whitman drew upon the cadence of simple, even idiomatic speech to "sing" such themes as democracy, sexuality, and frank autobiography. Throughout his prolific writing career, Whitman continually revised his work and expanded Leaves of Grass, which went through nine, substantively different editions, culminating in the final, authoritative "Death-bed Edition." Now the original 1855 version and the ""Death-bed Edition"" of 1892 have been brought together in a single volume, allowing the reader to experience the total scope of Whitman's genius, which produced love lyrics, visionary musings, glimpses of nightmare and ecstasy, celebrations of the human body and spirit, and poems of loneliness, loss, and mourning. Alive with the mythical strength and vitality that epitomized the American experience in the nineteenth century, Leaves of Grass continues to inspire, uplift, and unite those who read it. Karen Karbiener received a Ph. D. from Columbia University and currently teaches at New York University. She also wrote the introduction and notes for the Barnes & Noble Classics edition of "Frankenstein."