Walt Whitman (1819 – 1892) was an American poet, essayist, and journalist, considered by many as the " father of free verse " and the great poet of the American Revolution, just as Mayakovsky would be the great poet of the Russian Revolution. The innovative technique of his poems, in which the idea of totality was translated into free verse, influenced not only later American literature but all of modern lyricism, including the Portuguese poet and essayist Fernando Pessoa. In Oh Captain, My Captain and other great poems the reader will find a significant and curated portion of Whitman's work and will be captivated by the immense talent and sensitivity of this great American poet.