5) Birth of American Poetry Flashcards
Who was America’s first published poet?
Anne Brandstreet
Who was the first known Native American author?
Jane Johnston Schoolcraft
William Cullen Bryant
Thanatopsis, The Prairies
Who was considered the national poet?
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
Ballads and Other Poems, Song of Hiawatha
What did the first publication of Leaves of Grass look like?
no name of the author, no titles of poems, 12 poems in total, controversial because of its sexual content
When was Leaves of Grass published?
1855
What is the verse and rhyme like in Leaves of Grass?
free verse, no regular meter, no regular rhyme scheme, irregular lines, usually long
Who is considered the first great American poet?
Walt Whitman
Whitman influenced __________, free verse became the dominant poetic form in the _________ century
modern poetry, 20th
How many numbered sections does Song of Myself have?
52
Which themes does Song of Myself explore?
individualism, democracy, celebration of the diversity of human experience and identity, spirituality, transcendence
Which movement influenced Whitman?
transcendentalism
Song of Myself was first published in Whitman’s collection ____________, is written in _______ verse and uses the __________ voice to express a sense of unity with all humanity and the natural world
Leaves of Grass, free, first-person
What is the first sentence of the first section of Song of Myself and what does it mean?
I celebrate myself, and sing myself - he is announcing that the subject of his epic will be himself
