Described by Emily Dickinson as "disgraceful" and by Emerson as "the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom that America had yet contributed" to world literature, Leaves of Grass is more than a literary performance. In his departure from the rules of conventional poetry, his breaking down of the metered line, and his discarding of the obligatory rhyme-scheme, Whitman captures the vigorous spirit of the whole American nation. This edition reproduces the 1891-2 text and includes Whitman's preface to the 1855 edition, as well as Emerson's famous letter of 1855, greeting Whitman "at the beginning of a great career."