Contained herein is a vast collection of Whitman's writing, including vignettes from his childhood, a series of powerful accounts of his work in hospitals during the Civil war, and a large amount of nature writing. Composed in 1881 primarily from sketches, notes, and essays written at various stages of the poet's life from the Civil War onwards, Specimen Days is the closest thing Whitman ever published to a traditional autobiography. A wonderful insight into the mind of America's most famous poet, this rare classic will appeal to any collector of Whitman's work and is well deserving of its place atop any bookshelf. Walter "e;Walt"e; Whitman was a seminal American poet and journalist. Often hailed as the father of free verse, Whitman is among the most influential poets of the American canon, most famous for his controversial life-long work, Leaves of Grass. This rare book is republished here with a new introductory biography of the author.