Leaves of Grass

Walt Whitman's first and main major epic was called "Leaves of Grass." After putting five years of work into this, he intended it to be clearly an American epic. Whitman paid for his first publication himself, and he made 795 copies of his first edition. This edition lacked the actual name of the author, but rather has a steel engraving on Whitman wearing work clothes. Though the poems within this publication were not well connected, they all were representations of Whitman's outlook and philosophy on life. The books success was not large at first, not until Ralph Waldo Emerson took a special interest in Whitman's work, specifically "Song of Myself." Due to Emersons passionate interest in the work, it was widely spread. Another well known transcendentalist named Henry David Thoreau took an interest to this piece of work, so much so that he even went to visit Whitman.
== Criticisms: ==
This piece did have many critisizms, largely because of its almost obscene nature. The poems talked of pleasures and sensual delights that were thought of as inappropriate or immoral at the time. Its descriptive sexual imagery and potentially offensive sexual themes caused it to be harshly criticized in its time.
== Revisions: ==
Five years after its initial release, "Leaves of Grass" was revised and rereleased. This happened again after another seven years, and continued to happen throughout Whitman's life. There is said to be up to nine republications, and each contained new poems. The final three were released between 1876 through 1892, and they were called the "Death Bed Editions" because of the condition he was in as he wrote these. As his work aged, it was attracted my the spotlight of culture, and soon became a part of American cultures poetic history.
The following image was printed inside all of the first edition releases:
As he rereleased new versions of his work, his picture was updated as well, and his last release contained a picture of him with a fully grown beard. He looked much more proper in his last edition compared to his first, which had him in working clothes.
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