Leaves of Grass

Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman is a groundbreaking literary work that revolutionized free verse, the body, the nation, and same-sex love. It has been revised and expanded seven times, with extensive additions to each edition. This edition presents Whitman's ongoing labor of revision and renewal, reflecting his responses to the American Civil War and its aftermath. It offers a portrait of a poet who attempted to reshape his project in tandem with American history and altered the parameters and possibilities of poetry itself.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 576 pages
Publication date: 12 September 2024
Publisher: Oxford University Press

Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass, published in 1855, is a groundbreaking and innovative literary work that has had a profound impact on the last two hundred years. Widely recognized as the originator of free verse in English, Whitman introduced a revolutionary new language of the body, the nation, and same-sex love. The book underwent seven revisions and expansions by Whitman, with subsequent editions appearing regularly until his death in 1892. His revisions to individual poems were often extensive, and the addition of new poems to each edition resulted in significant changes in the book's dimensions. This edition presents Whitman's ongoing labor of revision and renewal, reflecting his responses to the tumultuous years of the American Civil War and its aftermath. Beginning with the first edition of 1855, it presents a chronological selection of the most substantial poems and clusters as Whitman first included them. In most cases, this means reprinting the more politically and sexually daring beginning of a poem's journey rather than the revised end. The present edition offers a portrait of a poet who sought to reshape his project in tandem with some of the most significant decades in American history, and in the process, he forever altered the parameters and possibilities of poetry itself. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years, Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies, and more.

Weight: 394g
Dimension: 196 x 129 x 28 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780192894441
Edition number: 2 Revised edition