Прочитайте текст и ответьте на следующие вопросы: 1. What were

Прочитайте текст и ответьте на следующие вопросы:

1. What were Whitmans occupations early in his life?
2. When did he publish his Leaves of Grass?
3. Why was his book criticized?
4. Was that book a failure or success?

1. Walt Whitman is considered to be the one of the greatest American poets. He was born in 1819. Early in his life he worked as a printer, a teacher, a newspaper editor and a carpenter. By 1814 he had become a full-time journalist, editing successfully several papers and writing prose and verse for various journals.
2. In 1855 he published a volume of 12 poems called "Leaves of Grass". The poet continued to enlarge and revise his book through a number of editions until his death. His poems "Leaves of Grass" were unconventional in both content and technique. His book was innovative in its use of rhythmical free verse. The book was criticized because of Whitman's exaltation of the body and sexual love, and also because of the unusual verse form. The volume was prefaced by a statement of his theories of poetry. It included the poem later known as "Song of Myself. In this poem the author proclaimed himself as a symbolic representative of common people.
3. Although the book was a commercial failure, critics recognized a bold new voice in poetry. Emerson was one of the few intellectuals to praise Whitman's work, writing him a famous congratulating letter. In time the book proved to be the most influential volume of poems in American literary history.
4. During the Civil War Whitman worked as a nurse. He also published war poetry in "Drum-Taps" and other collections of poems. In 1873 he had a stroke and lived in a semi-invalid state.
5. In his works Walt Whitman celebrated the freedom of the man. He praised democracy and brotherhood of men. Walt Whitman inspired later poets to the experimentation in verse.