Walt Whitman is considered by many to be one of the greatest poets of the 19th century. Whitman grew up in New York and was a member of a large family with eight siblings. Only four of these siblings lived to adulthood. His father was an alcoholic, which caused Whitman to become more of a father figure than a brother to his siblings. Whitman left school at the age of eleven. He then worked as a journalist, carpenter, teacher and editor before devoting himself to poetry. Whitman is best known for his collection of poems, Leaves of Grass. Whitman could not find a publisher interested in his poems; that is why he published them himself. Whitman reissued this collection of poems several times, each time with the addition of additional poems. Leaves of Grass eventually grew to include nearly four hundred poems. Although many today praise Whitman's work, this was not always the case. Many of Whitman's poems have been criticized for his use of sexual overtones. At the time these poems were written, they were considered vulgar by the public. Many believe that Whitman was a homosexual who wrote about his experiences. Despite early negative reviews, Whitman is considered one of the greatest poets of all time. In addition to Whitman's poems on sexuality, Leaves of Grass also contains four poems written about the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln. These include O Captain! My Captain!, This dust was once man, the camps would be silent today and when the lilacs last in the DoorYard they would bloom. Whitman had deep respect for President Lincoln.2 Whitman said of Lincoln: “I never see the man without feeling that he is one to whom one can attach personally, for his combination.... .. middle of paper... ..century.Works CitedBloom, Harold, ed. Whitman, Walt: Bloom's Modern Critical Views. Philadelphia: Chelsea House, 2006. Print.Dewsbury, Suzanne. “Walt Whitman (1819-1892).” Criticism of Nineteenth-Century Literature 81 (1999): 233-374. InfoTrac. Internet. April 14, 2011. Fitzgerald, Sheila and Laurie Lanzen. “Walt Whitman (1819-1892).” Nineteenth-Century Literary Criticism 4 (1983): 534-606. InfoTrac. Internet. April 13, 2011. Folsom, Ed and Kenneth M. Price, eds. The Walt Whitman Archives. Center for Digital Research in Human Sciences, 2011. Web. April 12, 2011. Kaplan, Justin. Walt Whitman, a life. New York: Simon and Schuster, 1980. Print. Whitman, Walt and Justin Kaplan. Collected Poetry and Prose: Leaves of Grass (1955), Leaves of Grass (1891-92), Complete Works in Prose (1892), Suppl. Prose.New York, NY: Library of America, 1982. Print.