Which American poet is known for the collection 'Leaves of Grass'?

Walt Whitman wrote the poetry collection Leaves of Grass. The book became his lifelong artistic project and one of the defining works of nineteenth-century American literature.

Whitman self-published the first edition in Brooklyn on July 4, 1855. That small volume contained only 12 poems and did not name an author on its title page. Instead, it featured an engraving of Whitman as an informal, working American figure, signaling his ambition to create poetry for ordinary people.

Whitman repeatedly revised and expanded the collection throughout his life. The 1892 “deathbed edition” contained more than 400 poems, including works associated with the Civil War and his mourning for Abraham Lincoln. His long lines, catalogues, direct address, and relatively unconventional use of rhyme helped establish American free verse.

Leaves of Grass is sometimes confused with a single fixed book, but its contents changed substantially across editions. Its best-known poems include “Song of Myself,” “I Hear America Singing,” and “O Captain! My Captain!”