Start small
Walt Whitman’s reputation can make him seem difficult before you open a book. In practice, many of his shorter poems are direct and quick to read, and the best entry is usually through those, not through the longest work. There is no required order, but the sequence below tends to work for people who have not read him before.
Step one: a few short poems
Begin with a handful of brief poems, each readable in a couple of minutes:
- “I Hear America Singing” is a catalog of workers, each with their own song. It shows his interest in ordinary labor.
- “A Noiseless Patient Spider” is a short, quiet poem that compares a spider’s thread to the reach of the soul.
- “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer” contrasts lecture-hall explanation with simply looking at the stars.
- “O Captain! My Captain!” is a rhymed elegy for Abraham Lincoln and is unusually conventional in form for Whitman.
The last one is worth noting because readers who start with it may think the rest of his work will be similar. It is not. His better-known style uses long, unrhymed lines, which is the next thing to try.
Step two: poems of the river and the crowd
Next, read “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry,” a longer poem that addresses readers of the future from the deck of a boat. It is one of the best illustrations of his sense of connection with strangers, and the article on ferry crossings in Whitman’s writing discusses it. You might also read “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d,” his longer elegy for Lincoln, which is more formal and emotional than much of his work.
Step three: Song of Myself
“Song of Myself” is the central poem of Leaves of Grass and one of the most discussed poems in American literature. It is long, divided into numbered sections, and it does not tell a story. A manageable approach is to read it in sections of a few pages over several sittings, as you would a series of short essays. Section 6, with its image of grass, is often a good place to land if you want a smaller piece.
You do not have to understand every line. Notice the voice, the lists and the shifts between the individual and the many.
Step four: the prose
Whitman’s prose is less famous but often easier to follow. Two good options:
- The 1855 preface to the first edition sets out his ideas about poetry and the poet’s role in a democracy. It is dense, but short.
- Specimen Days (1882) collects notes on his life, Civil War hospital visits, and nature observations from his Camden period. It can be read in any order, one entry at a time. It is a good way to meet the person behind the poems and to learn something about his life in the city described in the overview of the poet and the city.
Step five: the wider book and the record
Once you have read a selection, you may want to see the book as a whole. The article on Leaves of Grass and its many editions explains how it grew over decades. For a different kind of source, the daily conversations recorded by Horace Traubel show Whitman speaking in the last years of his life, though they are better read after the poems.
Practical tips
- Choose an annotated edition. Notes help with unfamiliar words and references from the nineteenth century. Many public and university libraries stock them, and public libraries can request titles from other branches.
- Read aloud. His long lines are built for the voice, and reading aloud often clears up passages that seem unclear on the page.
- Do not rush. Reading a few poems at a time is fine. A single poem read twice can be more rewarding than five read quickly.
- Expect surprises. Some passages are tender, some are celebratory, and some may feel dated in tone. Readers have long disagreed about parts of his work, and that is a normal part of reading him.
- Note your edition. Poem titles and wording changed between editions, so jot down which version you have.
Combining reading with a visit
Some readers like to follow a reading plan with a visit to a place connected to the poet. Preserved houses and burial sites are discussed in the articles on the Whitman house and on Harleigh Cemetery. Check hours and tour details with current official sources before planning a trip, since they change.
If you prefer to hear poetry rather than read it, a local reading or open mic may feature his work, as described in the article on poetry readings.