413 Walt Whitman - "Song of Myself"
The History of Literature
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Whitman, the Man With Nothing to Lose
Whitman kept an advertisement from a slave auction, which is believed to be one that he took from a building in the french quarter, close at hand for forty years. He said it was a reminder, and he called it a warning. Too soon after whitman returned, he left suddenly. We're not sure why. Emerson wanted the true american poet. And i said he was unlikely talking about his education. When you think about it, it's not so unlikely. The person to break with europe is not the one who looks to europe for approval all his life. It's the dude with nothing to lose.
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