Again, we see him as a county school teacher, 
Gardener, printer, author, journalist, and carpenter; 
He was domiciled in nearly all of the nited States 
And principal cities North and South—great! 
Then he went to the front during the Secess 
Being occupied as army nurse and fought! 
ion War, 
He nursed the Northern and Southern wounded alike 
In the Virginia hospitals after the battles of 1865. 
Then he worked down South and in Washington City 
for three years, 
Contracted the paralysis, a malady of fear, f 
Which malady he continued to suffer throughout life, 
Where he lived in a cottage till the death of night. 
f Walt Whitman, 
Thus, he did not do like Milton who became blind, — 
Which was, according to condition, the product of time. 
Hence, let us enter his literary career 
He wrote on sentimental and moralizin 
peer. 
Then he tried poetry in ordinary metres 
Which he exchanged for his own leaders, 
Words composed as he so desired, 
Thoughts that animated and deeply inspired. 
Thus, with such writing this poet began, 
Recalling to us Homer, Vergil, Byron, German! 
g nature as 3 
Leaves of Gress, which appeared in 1855, d 
Is a production of Whitman’s pen that will never die, 
Because, that it is his master work, 
A piece declared to be of great worth, 
The complete picture of man in this age, 
It will live as long as Homer arises from a page. 
Herein he has touched upon every subject, 
Described everything, naming every known object. 
And, with the aid of his lyrics, Drum Taps, 
He has given to the world beautiful war facts. 
67 
