Through the history of the United States there have been a countless numbers of poets. With them came an equal number of writing styles. Certainly one of the most unique poets to write life"s story through his own view of the world and with the ambition to do it was Walter Whitman. Greatly criticized by many readers of his work, Whitman was not a man to be deterred. Soon he would show the world that he had a voice, and that it spoke with a poet"s words. Afoot and lighthearted I take to the open road, Healthy, free, the world...
to come" live up to his expectations expressed in the "Inscription" poem addressed to them:

I myself write but one or two indicative words for the future, I but advance a moment only to wheel and hurry back in the darkness. I am a man who, sauntering along without fully stopping, turns a casual look upon you and then averts his face, Leaving it to you to prove and define it, Expecting the main things from you.

In his farewell poem for "Leaves of Grass" he assumed his success: "Camerado, this is no book/Who touches this touches a man."