was

Remembered studying Whitman and Thoreau in college PC. Whitman always reminded me of Santa when I saw pictures of him (maybe not by his demeanor though; lol).

I think he was the first American writer i studied in school (the first i read was instead Hemingway, but was "too modern" to be included in the school programs)

The first english poem come before and was the " The Rime of the Ancient Mariner" by Samuel Coleridge
I was impressed by its life,you will know, the poor Coleridge suffer of heavy pain and so start use Opium when was still young and that lead him to the disaster... he soon become addicted , my school book reported he had is health and life ruined by that terrible drug

He never stop, he destroyed himself in less than 40 years of daily and intensive drug abuses,so he could not avoid to peacefully die when was 62, ...that considered the life span in the 18 century was as now die at 90/95

Not too bad for a man of already poor health ,( poor health obviously worsened by never ending drug abuses have the life spam truncated when only 92 years old, for such a junkie arrive at 92 may be a sort of success

But who know maybe if the health of the poor Coleridge was not bad from the origin and not so ruined by the Opium
he would be still be alive,and still writing poems...better poems for sure:
Insteadthan the poor doped suggestions of the "Rime of the Ancient Mariner, he would have done something more realistic and educative as "The Prose of the New Farmer" or " The Lirics of a Young Bathing Attendant"

He looks just like my Father in Law.

Actually, I liked the Rime of the Ancient Mariner.

That's a great picture of Walt Whitman. As far as his writing goes, Leaves of Grass I did not like. I'll take Coleridge, thank you very much.