Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass began as a slim volume, full of promise (as Emerson noted in a famous letter to the young poet). Of course, Whitman did not remain a young poet—nor did Leaves of Grass remain a slim volume. Over the rest of his life, Whitman kept adding poems until it became one of the most important (and heftiest) books of American poetry.
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Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass began as a slim volume, full of promise (as Emerson noted in a famous letter to the young poet). Of course, Whitman did not remain a young poet—nor did Leaves of Grass remain a slim volume. Over the rest of his life, Whitman kept adding poems until it became one of the most important (and heftiest) books of American poetry.