Walt Whitman was a genius and was recognized as one of America's greatest poets (Classon 18-20). Walt Whitman, a man of many wise words, was criticized for his poetry about his like and beliefs. It took him thirty years to write his only book, Leaves of Grass. He was a teacher of life and morals that just wanted someone to listen.
             Walt Whitman was thoroughly familiar with the King James Bible. He believed that everyone is born equal under God. "For every atom belonging to me as gook belongs to you"(Whitman 167). He believed in equality and proved it in his writing. "Of Equality-an if it harmed me, giving others the same chances and rights as myself-as if it were indispensable to my own rights that possess the same"(Whitman 225). He also wrote about justice. "Of Justice- as if justice could be anything but the same ample law, expounded be natural judges and savior, as if it might be this thing or that thing, according to decisions"(Whitman 224). He believed in many things, but more importantly is he stood up for what he believed.
             Walt Whitman wrote free-verse style that had regular rhyme. This was unheard of in his time. Whitman wrote about common people and their everyday experiences. He used foreign languages, street slang, science, the Bible, carpenter slag, and opera" (Classon 18-20). Whitman thought everything was a miracle from God. He never took anything for granted. "To me every hour of light and dark is a miracle, Every cubic inch of space is a miracle" (Whitman 305-6). Whitman was criticized for his poetry because it was different. People didn't appreciate it until much later. "A separate, not linked with the rest nor by the intellect, But you ye untold latencies will thrill to every page" (Whitman19).
             After a century of strangely contradictory abuse and worship, Leaves of Grass, a book that took Whitman thirty years to write, finally be the middle of the t
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