Poet of the heart, Walt Whitman (1819–1892) believed that love and companionship were life’s greatest treasures. His words, free-flowing and unrhymed, carried an intimacy that felt like an open invitation: to love, to be loved, and to share the journey.

“For every atom belongs to me as good as belongs to you,” he declared, writing of connection as naturally as breathing. His first self-published edition of Leaves of Grass (1855) began with the word “I” and ended with the word “you”—a deliberate bridge between himself and every reader.

Biographer Justin Kaplan explained that Whitman “wanted a bold, original vernacular that reflected American speech rather than traditional poetic language. He was far ahead of his time, but he knew time would catch up with him.”

His unshakable faith cost him dearly—his work dismissed as “uncouth,” and his government job lost for “immoral passages.” Yet he kept writing, dedicating his life’s work to “companionship thick as trees.”

Born in West Hills, New York, Whitman changed modern literature forever. His Leaves of Grass has since been translated into nearly every major language, still offering its gift of love—more precious than money—to anyone willing to travel beside him.