Walt Whitman’s Biography
Walt Whitman was born on May 31, 1819 in West Hills, New york. Walt is Walter Whitman Sr. and Louisa Van Velsor’s second child of eight. All of his siblings were named after someone except his youngest brother Edward who suffered from a mental illness. Walt had an interesting and abnormal way of growing up to be famous. His family had a tough time making enough money to please their needs so they took Walt out of school when he was 11 so he could provide for the family. His father was an alcoholic so most of Walt’s money went straight to his dad’s liquor cabinet. One of Walter Sr.’s good traits however was his love for America. Walter Sr named three of his sons after presidents. Along with this Walt’s mom always told him to “See the sunny side of things.” I believe Walt put these words into action as he had a very optimistic outlook on people and especially America.
When Walt turned 17 he began teaching. He taught for 5 years, but quit because he knew what his real love was. He started writing poems which never really gained popularity until later years. He lived a hard life for a while barely making enough to provide for his family. Walt lived with his family for most of his life where he shared a bed with his brother Edward. Walt didn’t have the best hygiene in the world, but he did live with a very poor family. In a quote from britannica.com the author said that Bronson Alcott went to meet him one day and he described Walt as, “”Bacchus-browed, bearded like a satyr, and rank’ while his voice was heard as ‘deep, sharp, tender sometimes and almost melting.’ I feel like this quote really explains Walt because I believe people looked down upon him by his appearance, but really he was one of the greatest poets around his era. When the Civil War started Walt’s brother George volunteered to be a Union Soldier. Not long into the war George got hurt and Walt set out to find him. Walt found George in a medical tent near Fredericksburg, Virginia. George was recovering from a very bad face wound.
Walt Whitman as an Inspiring Figure
An author from the American Association for the History of Nursing said that, “He (Walt) was greatly moved by the suffering of the wounded men in the battlefield hospital and volunteered to work as a nurse.” Walt decided to volunteer at a hospital in Washington D.C. Walt tended wounded soldiers until the war was finally over. An author from Biography.com said that, “Whitman saw anywhere from 80,000 to 100,000 patients.” Walt returned to writing where he ended up creating around 300 poems and around 14 books. Robert Frank, an author from CNBC said that Walt’s most famous book Leaves of Grass sold for $305,000 setting a new record. I do not want to be a writer. I have never liked it, but when I was looking though people Walt jumped out to me. I want to be a nurse or a nurse anesthetist when I grow up and when I read that Walt volunteered to be a nurse working with wounded soldiers, how could I not have chosen him. My parents have always driven me to the medical path and rightly so. I guess you could say my parents pressured me into becoming a nurse, but that is not the case. I love helping people and I especially love talking.
So getting a job where I have the opportunity to talk to different people that are going through tough times is really special to me. My grandma got a pacemaker put in last March and she had to stay in the hospital for 3 days after that and all she would tell me is of the rude nurses that wouldn’t get her anything or even talk to her. I want to make a change in this and Walt helped me figure this out. He went out of his way to help wounded soldiers and he did it without pay. I feel like his personality is the perfect type to be a nurse. Walt was selfless and he always tried to put other people first instead of himself. Walt is my role model and he is what all nurses should strive to be.
