Why was Leaves of Grass so controversial?

The verse collection Leaves of Grass is Walt Whitman’s best-known work. He revised and added to the collection throughout his life, producing ultimately nine editions.

Each leaf or blade of grass possesses its own distinct beauty, and together the blades form a beautifully unified whole, an idea Whitman explores in the sixth section of “Song of Myself.”

Multiple leaves of grass thus symbolize democracy, another instance of a beautiful whole composed of individual parts.

Why were Leaves of Grass so controversial?

Whitman’s most well-known work, Leaves of Grass was first published in 1855 by Whitman himself.

The poems were written in a new form of free verse and contained controversial subject matter for which they were censured.

Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass created an uproar from the moment it was first published in 1855 and all through its subsequent nine editions.

This classic work of poetry was deemed “obscene,” “too sensual,” and “shocking” because of its frank portrayal of sexuality and its obvious homoerotic overtones.

The critical and popular response to Leaves of Grass was mixed and bewildered. Leaves of Grass was most harshly criticized because Whitman’s free verse didn’t fit into the existing British model of poetry, which was a tradition of rhyme, meter, and structure.