ENGLISH LITERATURE (CBSE/UGC NET)

Detailed explanation-1: -Whitman rearranged the poems in the 1867 edition to emphasize themes of social cohesion and unity, relevant in the years of post-war Reconstruction. Whitman had seen the suffering of victims of the Civil War first-hand and with his pen he strove to guide the nation back toward its ideals.

Detailed explanation-2: -Walt Whitman is America’s world poet-a latter-day successor to Homer, Virgil, Dante, and Shakespeare. In Leaves of Grass (1855, 1891-2), he celebrated democracy, nature, love, and friendship. This monumental work chanted praises to the body as well as to the soul, and found beauty and reassurance even in death.

Detailed explanation-3: -Personification. Which of these is a poetic device Walt Whitman often uses to emphasize certain ideas in his poems? Personification.

Detailed explanation-4: -The dominant themes that are more pervasive in Whitman’s poetry are democracy, life/death cycles, individualism, and nature.