“Walt Whitman and Lincoln” by Clarence A. Brown (1954)

In this article, Marquette University professor Clarence A. Brown discusses how even though Walt Whitman never met US President Abraham Lincoln, Whitman’s insight to Lincoln is “unusually accurate and far-sighted.” Brown argues that Whitman’s dedication to American democracy forges an unusual bond between him and Lincoln. The article examines Whitman’s abhorrence of slavery and his advocation of slavery’s abolishment through peaceful means. Brown highlights the political differences between Whitman and Lincoln, including Lincoln’s status as a Whig and Whitman’s status as a loyal Democrat, who eventually became a Republican via the Free Soil movement in the 1850s. Brown then highlights how Whitman’s Washington, DC years afforded Whitman plenty of opportunities to view Lincoln, which increased Whitman’s “increasing conviction of Lincoln’s greatness.” The article concludes by examining Whitman’s various responses to Lincoln’s death.

“The Democracy Walt Whitman Wanted” by Ian Beacock (2021)

In this article, journalist Ian Beacock discusses how Whitman’s celebration of America’s diversity could unite today’s America. In the article, Beacock examines Mark Edmundson’s book Song of Ourselves: Walt Whitman and the Fight for Democracy. In their article, Beacock asserts that in a modern context, Whitman’s poetry seems fresh, and it reignites the idea that democracy is anything but complete even in modern-day America. Beacock also highlights Whitman’s influence across not only Whitman’s four-decade career but also into contemporary times. Beacock addresses how Edmundson’s book establishes Whitman as a new, liberal democratic icon, a man moved by goodness, who wanted American democracy to be a spiritual experience as well as a physical and legal one.

“The Visionary Walt Whitman” by David Lehman (2008)

In this 2008 article originally published in The American Poetry Review, David Lehman discusses Whitman’s public identity, which juxtaposed that of his reclusive contemporary Emily Dickinson. Lehman analyzes Whitman’s strong sense of self, which blurs the sense of self and anti-self. Lehman highlights the not-so-public aspects of Whitman’s life, including the detached self existing in negative capability and the self associated with the author’s creative impulses. Lehman takes a closer look at the role of death in Whitman’s work, a theme the poet explored in a similar, philosophical manner to Dickinson. Lehman compares elements for Whitman’s work to elements from Coleridge’s work and Keats’s, and the author makes the assertion that Whitman’s private life paralleled that of Dickinson’s private life.