A review by moseslh
Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman

5.0

Whitman's introduction to the original Leaves of Grass was honestly quite difficult to get through. He came off as arrogant and full of himself, but after reading "Song of Myself" I decided his self-congratulatory air was, perhaps, deserved. Whitman's hopeful optimism about all America is and all it has the potential to be, as well as his ability to find the beauty in everyone without shying away from critiques of our nation's evils, is refreshing to read in 2020. Whitman was not naive to America's flaws or the country's divisions, which were arguably as bad when this was published in 1855, half a decade before the Civil War, as they are now. However, he manages to somehow embrace diversity and find unity within it. Most of his poetry is in the first person, but he identifies as different individuals or archetypes between lines or verses, bringing out the common experiences and values that tie together seemingly disparate groups. I loved reading these and now might have to read Whitman's (much longer) final edition of Leaves of Grass.