First published in 1855 as a slim volume of twelve untitled poems, Leaves of grass was unlike anything readers had ever seen-poetry written in free verse that broke every rule, celebrating the beauty of the human body, the spirit of democracy, and the connection between the self and the universe. Whitman spent nearly four decades revising and expanding this collection, from the Civil War elegies that mourned Abraham Lincoln to the boldly intimate "Calamus" poems . Controversial in its time, dismissed as obscene, and even getting Whitman fired from his government job, Leaves of Grass endured to become one of the most influential books in world poetry. This is not poetry for the faint of heart. It is expansive, sensual, spiritual, and unapologetically democratic-an invitation to hear what Emerson called "the beginning of a great career" and discover the voice of America itself.
