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Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass (Anniversary)
Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass (Anniversary) | Walt Whitman
As featured in AMC's Breaking Bad, given by Gale Boetticher to Walter White and discovered by Hank Schrader. "I celebrate myself, And what I assume you shall assume, For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you. I loafe and invite my soul, I lean and loafe at my ease....observing a spear of summer grass." So begins Leaves of Grass, the first great American poem and indeed, to this day, the greatest and most essentially American poem in all our national literature. The publication of Leaves of Grass in July 1855 was a landmark event in literary history. Ralph Waldo Emerson judged the book "the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom America has yet contributed." Nothing like the volume had ever appeared before. Everything about it--the unusual jacket and title page, the exuberant preface, the twelve free-flowing, untitled poems embracing every realm of experience--was new. The 1855 edition broke new ground in its relaxed style, which prefigured free verse; in its sexual candor; in its images of racial bonding and democratic togetherness; and in the intensity of its affirmation of the sanctity of the physical world. This Anniversary Edition captures the typeface, design and layout of the original edition supervised by Whitman himself. Today's readers get a sense of the "ur-text" of Leaves of Grass, the first version of this historic volume, before Whitman made many revisions of both format and style. The volume also boasts an afterword by Whitman authority David Reynolds, in which he discusses the 1855 edition in its social and cultural contexts: its background, its reception, and its contributions to literary history. There is also an appendix containing the early responses to the volume, including Emerson's letter, Whitman's three self-reviews, and the twenty other known reviews published in various newspapers and magazines. This special volume will be a must-have keepsake for fans of Whitman and lovers of American poetry.
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IndoorDame
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lil1inblue Whitman is one of my favorites! 😍 3d
TheSpineView Love! ❤️❤️❤️ 3d
dabbe 💚💙💚 3d
IndoorDame @lil1inblue mine too! ❤️ 2d
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IndoorDame
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TheBookHippie 💚💚💚💚💚 1w
TheSpineView Another great poem!💚 1w
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Doppoetry
Bailedbailed

I can't seem to get over the naive world view and the more I try to read it the more irritated I become. I tend to even finish books I dislike but I just can't complete this.

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dabbe
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IndoorDame Love ❤️❤️❤️ 12mo
dabbe @IndoorDame 🥰 12mo
TheBookHippie Favorite 💚💚💚 12mo
TheSpineView A fabulous poem! I loved reading it again. 💗💗💗 12mo
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Robotswithpersonality
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Mehso-so

Well that was A LOT.
Nature poems feel like a hyperverbose Mary Oliver, not my preferred format.
Preferred shorter, quieter moments of description in between grand proclamations, where it only takes a few sentences instead of a great list, i.e. 'Sparkles From the Wheel'. 1/?

Robotswithpersonality Long tracts on 'war's human cost is awful' which OF COURSE, but not a sentiment I want to read on repeat. Also long tracts on 'America, yay!' which seems to vacillate between entreating and proclaiming America to be great - suffice to say they didn't work for me. 2/? 13mo
Robotswithpersonality Whitman seems to be optimistic and open minded to the point of naivete which doesn't mean he's immune to the missteps of how society viewed minorities at the time; I THINK he was pushing for equality, he SAID it a lot, but he kept describing black people and women in specific terms and exalting the able-bodied which, yeah, no. 3/? 13mo
Robotswithpersonality Then there's all the sex and death which makes me think that a) the scholars suggesting bisexual/pansexual poet hypothesis are correct and b) like probably everybody who lives through a time of conflict, Whitman had unresolved trauma/obsession with what he witnessed (volunteering at hospital during American Civil War).

Estimate that given barriers (epic poetic structure and historical time of writing), I got 75% reading comprehension, 10% wincing as a modern reader.
13mo
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Robotswithpersonality
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This book only has 488 pages. 🤔
Lesson for publishing: When formatting a new edition, always check the footnotes! 🤭

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Robotswithpersonality
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🌞🎨

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Robotswithpersonality
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Sounds a bit more like the arsonist's joy than the fireman's joy to me, Walt! 😬

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Robotswithpersonality
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Here for any work that makes me want to get outside for a walk (not that it takes much for me to want to do that ☺️).

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Robotswithpersonality
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🌳My favourite part of reading poetry: when a thought/feeling you've had a million times but never articulated is set out so clearly on the page.

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Robotswithpersonality
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When he sticks to the Nature worship, I'm on board.

Karisa Amen 💗 Have you read Specimen Days? I‘m thinking I need a reread of that ode to Whitman soon… (edited) 13mo
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Robotswithpersonality
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I bet trees are less prone to anxiety and overthinking.

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IndoorDame
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Pickpick

Is there anything better than reading an essential piece of the canon and discovering that it contains exactly what all the cultural references to it promise, but also multitudes more? ❤️ I‘ve been reading this slowly over several months and will miss having it as a constant companion, but am already planning a reread because this is one of those books you could read your whole life and it will always have more there.

CloakNQuill I love this edition 😍 1y
TEArificbooks Beautiful edition 1y
marleed Oh so pretty. I came across an edition while thrifting a while back. You‘ve inspired me to pick it up and start reading! 1y
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IndoorDame @marleed ooh, enjoy! ❤️ 1y
IndoorDame @TEArificbooks @CloakNQuill It‘s my first WordCloud edition, but definitely not my last. I was super happy with it! 1y
batsy Yes! I loved Walt Whitman and was reading a Dover edition I had of selected poems. Didn't want it to end. That's a beautiful edition. 1y
IndoorDame @batsy I didn‘t want it to end either! Not my usual reaction to 500 pages of anything. 1y
SamAnne I have yet to read this and I must. 1y
IndoorDame @SamAnne it stayed on my amorphous TBR forever too, but I couldn‘t be happier I finally got to it! 1y
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IndoorDame
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Somewhere, under this little purring ball of fur, is my book. She‘s really not feeling Whitman this morning. Every time I try to sneak it out she demands more pets. Guess it‘s kitten time. #catsoflitsy

WorldsOkayestStepMom 😻😻😻 1y
AnnR Maybe a book about “Stems of Catnap“ would be more to her liking, lol! 😺😻😼 1y
IndoorDame @Ann_Reads haha! Yes! I‘m gonna compose a little catnip rhyme for her 😂 1y
RaeLovesToRead Awww!! 🥰 You're not getting that book back! 1y
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IndoorDame
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TheSpineView
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Eggs Perfect 🌾 1y
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IndoorDame
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On next month‘s TBR. I have this on kindle, but I‘m thinking about getting a physical copy if anyone has suggestions on editions they like. #leaves #OminousOctober #Scarathlon2022 #TeamMonsterMash @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs @StayCurious

Eggs Perfection 👏🏻👏🏻 1y
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TheBookHippie
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No worries I have books with me 😂♥️✌🏼
Also no worries just resting in the cabin ♥️
Still in recovery mode.

julesG Nice stack 😉 1y
Graywacke Recovery mode can be great reading. Hope you‘re feeling better. 1y
mollyrotondo Hope you are feeling better!!!! 1y
AllDebooks Lots of rest and relaxation for you. Books make everything better x 1y
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TheBookHippie
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Off the grid til Friday -finishing our annual Leaves of Grass 🌱 reread ~ Mr BookHippie & I … all these decades together, blows my mind.

𝔻𝕒𝕪 𝕓𝕪 𝕕𝕒𝕪 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝕟𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕓𝕪 𝕟𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥 𝕨𝕖 𝕨𝕖𝕣𝕖 𝕥𝕠𝕘𝕖𝕥𝕙𝕖𝕣- 𝕒𝕝𝕝 𝕖𝕝𝕤𝕖 𝕙𝕒𝕤 𝕝𝕠𝕟𝕘 𝕓𝕖𝕖𝕟 𝕗𝕠𝕣𝕘𝕠𝕥𝕥𝕖𝕟 𝕓𝕪 𝕞𝕖 ♥️

Leftcoastzen Beautiful! I‘m so many ways! ❤️ 1y
batsy Love Whitman and love the tradition you have reading Leaves of Grass together! 1y
TheBookHippie @Leftcoastzen ♥️♥️♥️♥️ @batsy I love it too. 1y
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TheBookHippie
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Let the annual reread begin 🧡📙

IndoorDame Nice edition! 1y
TheBookHippie @IndoorDame my newest edition I am enjoying it! 1y
IndoorDame I remember you saying you have several editions of this. I only have a kindle copy and am having trouble reading the digital version. Do you have a recommendation for which physical version I should buy? 1y
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TheBookHippie @IndoorDame Leaves of Grass (Word Cloud Classics) https://a.co/d/0zO0mQW the one pictured is actually the easiest I‘ve found to date. You can buy Song of Myself separately but I‘ve not seen a good edition of it in a long time. There is a signet edition that many people enjoy if you are familiar reading signet it can be helpful. Leaves of Grass (Signet Classics) https://a.co/d/gLDCF2L . 1y
IndoorDame @TheBookHippie awesome! Thank you so much!!! I‘m not familiar reading signet, so I think I‘ll try the word cloud :) 1y
TheBookHippie @IndoorDame I hope you love it. I find new things every-time I read it. 1y
IndoorDame @TheBookHippie that‘s always the best kind of book! 1y
TheBookHippie @IndoorDame if you enjoy 90s movies With Honors features these writings in a beautiful way. https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111732/ 1y
TheBookHippie @IndoorDame Also of course Dead Poet Society… 1y
IndoorDame @TheBookHippie Dead Poets Society I know, (and love of course) but With Honors I don‘t. I‘ll have to watch that one! 1y
IndoorDame @TheBookHippie I love that. Thanks. And congratulations on passing prop 3!!! 1y
TheBookHippie @IndoorDame Thanks!!! Literally I am stunned! Such wonderful young people working with us! ✊🏼✊🏼🎆🎆🎆 1y
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CoffeeNBooks
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Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Perfect 🤎🍂 2y
Eggs You and I chose the same one 🙌🏻 2y
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vivastory
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Although I have a personal preference for the idiosyncrasies of Dickinson's private works, I'm hard pressed to think of many debut poetry collections that have had as significant of an impact on American lit as #Leaves of Grass. #GratefulHarvest
@Eggs @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks Perfect 🍂🤎🍁 2y
Eggs My choice too! 2y
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Eggs
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This classic is famous for representing Whitman's celebration of his philosophy of life, and his humanity.

#leaves #gratefulharvest @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

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Readerann
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Pickpick

I didn‘t love (nor ‘get‘) all of these poems, but the ones I DID love made it worth reading all 536 pages!

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melissajayne
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1) Yes. Jane Eyre, Pride and Prejudice, the Harry Potter books.

2) sometimes it factors in, especially when I‘m in a bookstore

MoonWitch94 Thanks for playing 📚🌿☺️ 3y
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Rissa1
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Pickpick

This book brought me joy.
Maybe, it was the smell of an old book held by many hands, and then held in storage for many years. Maybe, it was the flashbacks of memories playing through my minds eye. Maybe, it was the wisdom seeping from the words. Maybe it was contentedness.
Whatever it was,
This book brought me joy.

BookmarkTavern What a lovely review! ❤️ 3y
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GingerAntics
Leaves of Grass | Walt Former Owner Whitman
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So excited to have a physical copy of this. @TheBookHippie I think I got the wrong company‘s “classics” edition, but it‘s still the deathbed edition, so it‘s still the same text. I also have an audio version of this edition, so hopefully between the two, my second time through will be better than the first.

TheBookHippie 🤍🤍🤍👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼🌊🌊🌊 3y
GingerAntics @TheBookHippie 🤣😂🤣 I forgot about the poems of about the ocean. 🌊🌊🌊 3y
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Thndrstd
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Today‘s Writers Almanac is a classic that I always love hearing and rereading

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OriginalCyn620
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I read this in a literature class in school and don‘t remember much of it, except for discussing “Song of Myself” quite a bit.
#grass #bloomingbibliophiles

Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks 📚🙌🏻📚 4y
TheBookHippie 💚my favorite 💚 4y
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wanderinglynn
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#friyayIntro Thanks for the tag @Come-read-with-me ☺️

1. Tagged
2. PEEPS!
3. Tulips 🌷
4. Since I‘m at the office right now, it‘s a yellow legal pad 😂

alisiakae Peeps used to be my favorite! Stale peeps, to be precise. People think I‘m weird, I like to leave the package open and eat them when the outer part hardens a bit. 4y
wanderinglynn @4thhouseontheleft peeps are always awesome. 👍🏻👍🏻 4y
Mollyanna @4thhouseontheleft That is the only way to eat Peeps in my opinion. I have a package open and aging right now. 4y
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KimHM
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The spotted hawk swoops by and accuses me, he complains of my gab and my loitering.

💚📚💚📚💚

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KimHM
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33
Space and Time! now I see it is true, what I guess‘d at,
What I guess‘d when I loaf‘d on the grass,
What I guess‘d while I lay alone in my bed,
And again as I walk‘d the beach under the paling stars of the morning.

💚📚💚📚💚

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KimHM
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I went to my green burlap bound edition of the Leaves only to be reminded by Morley that I am not the first to be grateful that I own it and so “have it available for emergency” (xiii). 💚📚💚📚💚

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CoffeeNBooks
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OriginalCyn620 👌🏻🍂🍁 4y
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TheSpineView
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Mindyrecycles
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vkois88 ❤❤❤ 5y
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KristinaRay
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#poetry #classics

From “These I Singing In Spring.”

PaperbackPirate Thank you for sharing! 6y
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KristinaRay
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KristinaRay
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KristinaRay
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KristinaRay
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KristinaRay
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KristinaRay
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Waking up with Whitman this morning.
#classics #poetry

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KristinaRay
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readordierachel Gosh, you're making me want to read this so bad. 💙 6y
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KristinaRay
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KristinaRay
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I hope no one minds my daily Whitman quotes. I‘ve been reading a few poems each day and there‘s always something I want to share. I‘m not sure if that‘s a morning glory, but of all the photos I‘ve taken it looks the closest.
#classics #poetry

SamanthaMarie Please do share! I'd like to get my poetry in my day. 6y
Quirkybookworm Love me some Walt Whitman ! (edited) 6y
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KristinaRay
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I decided I need to buy my own copy of this book.
❤️❤️❤️

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KristinaRay
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batsy The fragments you're posting has made me want to order this soon ☺️ 6y
DivineDiana @batsy I feel the same way! 6y
batsy @DivineDiana So beautiful! I must read more. 6y
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KristinaRay
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The more I read this, the more I love Walt Whitman.
#classics #poetry #reversereadathon

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