Whitman’s uniquely revealing impressions of the people, places, and events of his time—with a brilliant new introduction by Leslie Jamison, author of the bestselling The Empathy Exams.
One of the most creative and individual poets America has produced, Walt Whitman was also a prolific diarist, note-taker, and essayist whose intimate observations and reflections have profoundly deepened understanding of nineteenth-century American life. Specimen Days and Collect, first published in 1882, is a choice collection of Whitman’s uniquely revealing impressions of the people, places, and events of his time, principally the era of the Civil War and its aftermath.
On page after page, a vast panorama of American life unfolds, and with it rare glimpse of Whitman as poet, empathetic observer, and romantic wanderer. From his years as a wartime nurse in Washington, D.C., come touching glimpses of the dead and dying in military hospitals, memories of Abraham Lincoln, and vivid impressions of the nation’s capital in a time of great crisis.
Whitman’s travel yields memorable recollections of Boston, the Hudson Valley, a walk through Central Park, Niagara Falls, the City of Denver, and more. Along with the famed essay “Democratic Vistas,” there are scenes from the poet’s childhood, touching tributes to songbirds, wildflowers, friendship and freedom; impressions of the music of Beethoven, reflections on a last visit to Emerson, the deaths of Lincoln and Longfellow and the painful process of aging.
Deeply felt and vividly expressed, Specimen Days and Collect is a richly rewarding experience, a rare excursion into the mind and heard of one of America’s greatest poets—and the America his poetry so richly commemorated.
- ISBN10 1612193862
- ISBN13 9781612193861
- Publish Date 25 November 2014 (first published 1 January 2012)
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 31 March 2021
- Publish Country US
- Imprint Melville House Publishing
- Format Paperback (US Trade)
- Pages 458
- Language English
- URL https://penguinrandomhouse.com/books/isbn/9781612193861