First published in 1855, &quot;Leaves of Grass&quot; is a poetry collection by American author and poet Walt Whitman that was rewritten and reissued multiple times during Whitman&rsquo;s lifetime.<br /><br />The poems are loosely connected, representing Whitman&rsquo;s celebration of his philosophy of life and humanity. The book of poems explores the theme of delight in sensual pleasures at a time when candid displays of pleasure were considered immoral. Unlike most poems at the time, which relied on religious symbolism and allegory, &quot;Leaves of Grass&quot; concentrated on exalting the body and the material world.&nbsp;<br />Heavily influenced by the Transcendentalist movement and the works of Ralph Waldo Emerson, the poems fuse praise of the human form and the human mind.&nbsp;<br />The format of the poems shifts radically, and does not tend to follow standard rules for meter and line length.&nbsp;<br /><br />Highly controversial upon its release due to its explicit sexual imagery, the book was panned by most poetry critics during Whitman&rsquo;s lifetime. However, it has become one of the most enduring works of American poetry, still widely read and studied today as one of Whitman&rsquo;s defining works.<br /><br />(<i>Source: supersummary.com</i>)