Which American poet wrote 'Leaves of Grass'?

The American poet who wrote Leaves of Grass was Walt Whitman. He self-published the first edition on July 4, 1855, beginning a lifelong project that he repeatedly revised and expanded until his death in 1892.

The first edition was a small volume containing 12 untitled poems, including the work later known as “Song of Myself.” Whitman used expansive lines, catalogues, direct address, and irregular rhythms to create a distinctly American poetic voice. His celebration of the body, nature, labor, sexuality, democracy, and individual experience challenged the formal conventions of nineteenth-century poetry.

Leaves of Grass changed dramatically across its editions. The final “deathbed edition” of 1892 contained more than 400 poems and included later works such as “O Captain! My Captain!” and “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d.” A common mix-up is identifying the book as a novel: it is a poetry collection, and Whitman is often associated with the development of free verse.