WALT WHITMAN (1819—1892).

    Whitman's poetry exercised a great influence on many poets of the twentieth century throughout the world.The poet was born in 1819 at West Hills, a little farming community in Long Island, N.Y. His father moved his family to Brooklyn in 1823. Walt Whitman had experienced a great deal of adversities before recognition came to him. At the age of eleven he began to work as an office-boy in a law-firm. Then he was apprenticed to the printing trade. For two decades the poet worked alternately as printer, editor, and journalist. Whitman was greatly impressed by the revolutionary events of 1848 in Eu-md he took part in the political activities in his country. Whitman protested against all sorts of oppression and especially he exposed inhumanity of slavery. result he did not prosper as an editor because his social views did not agree with the policies of the owners of the papers on which he was employed. In this period appeared his first poem "Europe" (1850), written in unconventional verse Form, It was included Into the collection of poems named "Leaves of Grass" which in its first version appeared in 1855 (with its final additions and revisions it came out in I892). The publisher was Whitman himself who had printed it at his own expense. But the book brought him neither money nor fame. It was only later on that it was recognized as one of the masterpieces of world literature. To earn money Whitman continued to contribute to newspapers. During the Civil War (1861—1865) Whitman praised the people who courageously fought against the slave-owners. His war experiences were reflected in a volume of poetry "Drum-Taps" (1865) and the poems inspired by Lincoln's death: "O Captain! My Captain!" (1865) and "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd" (1866). These were also included into "Leaves of Grass". In his poems Whitman celebrates common people mainly. The poet emphasizes his association with (those who have toil-hardened hands. Whitman had faith in the innate goodness of human nature, in the power and might of man, in his ability to create a better world.