OK, I feel a bit like I've wiped myself on the Gettysburg Address or something because "Leaves of Grass" is such an American classic, almost universally praised it seems, and yet I just don't like it. I don't think it works well as poetry in most cases. I had a horrible time finding a sense of rhythm in much of any of it. Quiet often the poems seem to be mostly lists of things. For example:

"Land of coal and iron! land of gold! land of cotton, sugar, rice! Land of wheat, beef, pork! land of wool and hemp! land of the apple and the grape. land...."

or

"House-building, measuring, sawing the boards,
Blacksmithing, glass-blowing, nail-making, coopering, tin-roofing, shingle-dressing,
Ship-joining, dock-building, fish-curing, flagging of sidewalks by flaggers..."

At times I wanted to pull my hair out, and that's why it took me years to read this book, reading only a few poems at a time here and there. Even then I pretty much had to force myself to it.

As an historical document, I think Leaves of Grass is deserving of consideration, and there are on occassion some nice insights into humanity and nature. There are some nice titles, "I sing the body electric." But overall and ultimately, I just found most of it boring.