elsieols 's review for:

Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman

3.75

emotional hopeful inspiring reflective relaxing slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: N/A

Strong character development: N/A

Loveable characters: N/A

Diverse cast of characters: N/A

Flaws of characters a main focus: N/A

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“For I lull nobody, and you will never understand me.” (“To a Certain Civilian,” Leaves of Grass, Whitman)

I have always enjoyed Whitman’s poetry, and I have read a few poems from Leaves of Grass before. after reading them all, though, I’m just struck by how much beauty Whitman saw in the world while still seeing so much of the bad. I don’t think it would be fair to call him ignorant for his time, but it’s difficult for me to imagine someone loving the US as much as he did while knowing so much of the worst parts of it. And still he was optimistic. I enjoy his poetry a lot, but this is still quite an alien concept to me, at least at this point in my life.