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American Icons: ‘Leaves of Grass’
This is the poem that taught America to sing itself.
A daguerreotype of Walt Whitman is displayed at the New York Public Library
Chip East/Reuters
A consummate patriot, Walt Whitman set out to invent a radically new form of poetry for a new nation.
His book was first viewed as bizarre and obscene — one reviewer said that the author should be publicly flogged. But revising and adding to the book until his death, Whitman accomplished his goal, creating a new Bible for American poets.
Poet Matt Miller reveals a secret to the making of this unprecedented work.
An original copy of "Leaves of Grass," published in 1855, is displayed at the New York Public LibraryChip East/Reuters
(Originally aired September 27, 2013)