A fully unexpurgated collection that restores the sexual vitality and subversive flair suppressed by Whitman himself in later editions of Leaves of Grass. A century after his death, Whitman is still celebrated as America's greatest poet. In this startling new edition of his work, Whitman biographer Gary Schmidgall presents over 200 poems in their original pristine form, in the chronological order in which they were written, with Whitman's original punctuation. Included in this volume are facsimiles of Whitman's original manuscripts, contemporary - and generally blistering - reviews of Whitman's poetry (not surprisingly Henry James hated it), and early pre-Leaves of Grass poems that return us to the physical Whitman, rejoicing - sometimes graphically - in homoerotic love. Unlike the many other available editions, all drawn from the final authorized or "deathbed" Leaves of Grass, this collection focuses on the exuberant poems Whitman wrote during the creative and sexual prime of his life, roughly between l853 and l860. These poems are faithfully presented as Whitman first gave them to the world - fearless, explicit and uncompromised - before he transformed himself into America's respectable, mainstream Good Gray Poet through 30 years of revision, self-censorship and suppression. Whitman admitted that his later poetry lacked the "ecstasy of statement" of his early verse. Revealing that ecstasy for the first time, this edition makes possible a major reappraisal of our nation first great poet.

This Book Fulfils The Difficult Task Of Quickening, And Elucidating, Fortifying And Enlarging The Poetry Of Two Important Poets Of Our Time: Robert Frost And William Carlos Williams. It Puts Their Creative Act Under Scrutiny By The Common Parameter Of A Critical Canon, Aiming To Place Them As Poets At A Vantage Point Where The Idea Of Man Speaking Out On Behalf Of Man Can Find Its True And Free Expression.Written In A Lucid Style, And With A Content That Remain A Landmark In American Studies By An Indian Academic, The Book Does Also Privilege A Deeper Understanding Of American Poetry In General While Problematizing Its Inherent Opposition Between The Egocentric As Against The Theocentric, Man Without History As Against History Without Man, The Antinomian As Against The Orthodox, Personality As Against Culture And The Adamic As Against The Mythic.

Over 40 of the author's most memorable poems: "The Bells," "Ulalume," "Israfel," "To Helen," "The Conqueror Worm," "Eldorado," "Annabel Lee," many more. Alphabetic lists of titles and first lines.

Best known as the author of the epic poem Paradise Lost, John Milton (1608–74) was also an accomplished writer of shorter verse forms. This treasury presents twenty of the best of these works: "On the Morning of Christ's Nativity," "On Shakespeare," "L'Allegro," "Il Penseroso," "Comus, A Mask," "Lycidas," "On the Late Massacre in Piedmont," "On His Blindness," "On His Deceased Wife," "Samson Agonistes," and more. In this carefully chosen selection, readers will discover the wide erudition, mastery of meter and rhythm, and superb artistic control that have earned Milton a preeminent place in English literature.

Treasury of 70 poems, remarkable for their lyricism, subtlety, and deep emotion, includes "The Darkling Thrush," "Hap," "The Ruined Maid," "The Convergence of the Twain," "I Look Into My Glass," and others.

Over 100 best-known, best-loved poems by one of America's foremost poets, reprinted from authoritative early editions. "The Snake," "Hope," "The Chariot," many more, display unflinching honesty, psychological penetration, and technical adventurousness that have delighted and impressed generations of poetry lovers. Includes 3 selections from the Common Core State Standards Initiative: "A Bird Came Down to Walk," "The Railway Train," and "Because I Could Not Stop for Death."

Thomas relates Whitman's work to American painting of the period; examines the poet's evocation of nature; documents the revisions and additions Whitman made to Leaves of Grass in order to demonstrate that "my Book and the War are One"; and pays sympathetic attention to the postwar poetry, usually slighted.

First Published in 1996. Routledge is an imprint of Taylor & Francis, an informa company.