Great Regulars: There's something about a poem

that speaks to the unique nature in all of us, and one American poet--Walt Whitman--stands alone in establishing that power.

The voice America heard singing in 1855 was so distinct and new that it eventually turned the country, and its comfort with the genteel poems of the day, on its ear. A citizenry expecting poetry to celebrate a national hero or patriotic event instead heard, "I celebrate myself."

from Bob Hoover: Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: Whitman helped end poetry 'lite'
also from PBS: American Experience: Walt Whitman

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