Complete Prose Works

Beyond his revolutionary poetry, Walt Whitman wrote luminous prose, and this collection gathers his essays, memoranda, and reflections—including Specimen Days, his moving record of nursing wounded soldiers during the Civil War and his communion with American nature. Whitman writes of the war’s suffering, the beauty of the land, democracy, literature, and the meaning of the American experiment with the same expansive, generous spirit that fills his verse. Intimate and wide-ranging, the prose reveals the man behind Leaves of Grass. For readers who love Whitman, his Complete Prose Works offers a rich and personal companion to his poetry and a vivid firsthand portrait of nineteenth-century America.