Walt Whitman opened his eyes in newly freed United States on May 31, 1819, in west hills, New York. The second of nine children, Whitman was born to a peasant family who were striving hard to meet the both ends. Upset with the economic status, Walter Whitman, Sr., with his family moved to Brooklyn to try his luck in the real estate business in 1823, when Whitman aged only 4. He got enrolled in Brooklyn public school at the age of 6 and completed his formal studies by the age of 11. Belonging to a poor family, Whitman was very well acquainted by his financial condition. Therefore, without any delay, he decided to step in the practical life. Whitman had a very interesting career life which is evident in his choice of jobs. He started his career by working as an office boy for two Brooklyn lawyers at very young age of 12 and later he served as an apprentice and printer boy for the weekly newspaper the Patriot, under the editorship of Samuel E. Clements. It was the period when the flame of passion for literature lit in his heart and he began self educating with the works of Homer, Dante, William Shakespeare, and Bible. In 1836, at the age of seventeen, he began his career as a teacher in Long Island where he taught for five years. In 1841, he shifted from teaching to journalism, which he opted …show more content…
In 1855, he published his much celebrated yet controversial collection of poems, named ‘Leaves of Grass’. Serve as a spokesman, this book highlights Whitman’s strong belief regarding the uniqueness and importance of an individual. His this collection includes famous poems like I Sing the Body Electric (1867), Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking (1860), When Lilac Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d (1865), and Song of Myself (1891-1892) that is regarded as the ‘reflection of his poetic