Part 1 of Essay
was born in West Hills, Long Island, N.Y., on May 31, 1819, the second of six children. His father was a carpenter. Young Whitman tried many jobs. He was an office boy, printer, schoolteacher, reporter, and for a time the editor of the Brooklyn Eagle and other newspapers. At 30 he took a trip to New Orleans. He saw the va ....

Part 2 of Essay
.... his brother George was wounded and in a hospital in Washington, D.C. He found George nearly recovered but saw other soldiers badly in need of care. He stayed in Washington as a government clerk and also served as a hospital volunteer. Inspired by the suffering he saw, he wrote the volume of poetry called 'Drum-Taps', published in 1865. After the war Whitman's books began to sell well, and he contributed several articles to magazines. In 1873 he fell ill, suffering the first of several paralytic attacks. He re ....