Walt Whitman / Paul Cava: Children of Adam from Leaves of Grass

by Walt Whitman, Paul Cava

Limited soft cover edition of 700 176 pages. Edition Galerie Vevais is pleased to present an illustrated edition of the Children of Adam cycle of poems from the American literary masterpiece , Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman. 'Children of Adam' is the legendary group of poems that caused the book to be banned in Boston at its publication in 1882. Whitman s theme was the male and female body, entirely naked in every sense and he steadfastly resisted any suggestion of censorship. This boldly illustrated new edition of the poems brings together two pioneers of American culture, both coincidentally natives of Brooklyn, New Walt Whitman, the beloved American poet who continues to inspire readers worldwide, and the contemporary artist Paul Cava, born more than a century later in 1949. John Wood, Arden Kass and Alexander Scholz contribute original and informative essays; technical and scholarly guidance are supplied by noted Whitman scholars Prof. Ed Folsom and Prof. Walter Grünzweig. The Children of Adam cycle from "Leaves of Grass" is a hymn of hope for a young and innocent America. It is an anthem for a democratic America and a free world -- as well as an unabashed polemic for a shame-free physical and procreative life. This book presents the controversial cluster of poems in a totally original and honest way each of the 16 poems stands alone on its beautifully designed page, leaving space for a complex relationship to develop between the sexual and spiritual nuances of the artwork and poetry.

Genres: Poetry

176 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2005

About the author

Walter Whitman Jr. was an American poet, essayist, and journalist. He is considered one of the most influential poets in American literature. Whitman incorporated both transcendentalism and realism in his writings and is often called the father of free verse. His work was controversial in his time, particularly his 1855 poetry collection Leaves of Grass, which was described by some as obscene for its overt sensuality.
Whitman was born in Huntington on Long Island, and lived in Brooklyn as a child and through much of his career. At the age of 11, he left formal schooling to go to work. He worked as a journalist, a teacher, and a government clerk. Whitman's major poetry collection, Leaves of Grass, first published in 1855, was financed with his own money and became well known. The work was an attempt to reach out to the common person with an American epic. Whitman continued expanding and revising Leaves of Grass until his death in 1892.
During the American Civil War, he went to Washington, D.C., and worked in hospitals caring for the wounded. His poetry often focused on both loss and healing. On the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, whom Whitman greatly admired, he authored two poems, "O Captain! My Captain!" and "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd", and gave a series of lectures on Lincoln. After suffering a stroke towards the end of his life, Whitman moved to Camden, New Jersey, where his health further declined. When he died at the age of 72, his funeral was a public event.
Whitman's influence on poetry remains strong. Art historian Mary Berenson wrote, "You cannot really understand America without Walt Whitman, without Leaves of Grass... He has expressed that civilization, 'up to date,' as he would say, and no student of the philosophy of history can do without him." Modernist poet Ezra Pound called Whitman "America's poet... He is America."