Leaves of Grass, Part 1

By: Walt Whitman

Narrated by: Jack Chekijian

This is the long first piece in the first edition of Walt Whitman's classic poetry collection. Among other things, it contains Whitman's philosophy of life and his opinion of the purpose of poets and poetry. Though created when he was in his mid-30s, Whitman spent much of the rest of his life rewriting Leaves of Grass.

Public Domain (P)2016 Jack Chekijian

Perfect Interpretation of Whitman’s Voice

We only have one crackly recording of Whitman’s actual voice, but I imagine it to be more like Jack Chekijian’s version. Not performance or oratory, but meditative. Almost as if speaking to himself as much as anyone else.