Page "Leaves of Grass" Paragraph 24

Whitman firmly believed he would be accepted and embraced by the populace, especially the working class.

Years later, he would regret not having toured the country to deliver his poetry directly by lecturing.

" If I had gone directly to the people, read my poems, faced the crowds, got into immediate touch with Tom, Dick, and Harry instead of waiting to be interpreted, I'd have had my audience at once ," he claimed.