"Song of Myself" is a poem by Walt Whitman (1819–1892) that is included in his work Leaves of Grass. It has been credited as "representing the core of Whitman's poetic vision."
Steel engraving of Walt Whitman.
"Song of Myself" includes passages about the unsavory realities of the United States before the Civil War, including one about a multi-racial slave
Walter Whitman Jr. was an American poet, essayist, and journalist. He is considered one of the most influential poets in American literature. Whitman incorporated both transcendentalism and realism in his writings and is often called the father of free verse. His work was controversial in his time, particularly his 1855 poetry collection Leaves of Grass, which was described by some as obscene for its overt sensuality.
Whitman in 1887
Whitman in July 1854, aged 35, from the frontispiece to Leaves of Grass from a lost daguerreotype by Gabriel Harrison
Whitman's handwritten manuscript for "Broadway, 1861"
Whitman spent his last years at his home in Camden, New Jersey, which is open to the public as the Walt Whitman House.