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harleyburch's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
I need to read this again. I've already forgotten so much of it but then again, I have never had to digest such a long poem before. It had me stunned though which is the mark of an effective poem in my opinion. If someone asked me what literature entails, I would hand them this. I look forward to revisiting this in the future to gauge my understanding and enjoyment further.
omwomack02's review
3.0
"I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world"
Read this for my American lit class over Thanksgiving break. I feel like if I read it in my free time I would have enjoyed it more. There were some poems I liked and some I didn't and some of both that Whitman must have been very high to write
ssgcedits's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
4.5
This poem is the inspiration for every other bit of poetry I love. I am glad I went to the source and got to experience the immersive journey that is this beautiful stream of consciousness. I know it is often interpreted as an ode to the American soul, but it goes beyond that; it is an ode to the human soul. It still impresses me that something so intensely and structurally modern could have been written in 1855. It is no wonder that this is such a foundational piece of literature, and it has also become foundational to me personally.
ashleighjadereads's review against another edition
4.0
I loved the sense of common value, equal worth and overall joyful tone of this poem. It does read like a song, and in terms of freedom of style and form it is far ahead of its time. I would really never have said it was written in the nineteenth century. Walt Whitman was a bonafide hipster (in the true sense, not in the overdone pretentious sense that we are familiar with today). If this isn't the American Dream then I don't know what is.