Walt Whitman

To start off, John Whitman was a fairly (in)famous poet/journalist/essayist from the early 1800's to the late 1800's. He was born in Long Island, New York in 1819 and died in the same location in 1892. Most of his literature was more in the realism area, but also touched base with humanism and transcendentalism. A lot of his work was considered very controversial due to his many sexual themes and references, most notably his work in Leaves of Grass. I'd say he's more of a realist than a romanticist since he would look at some of society's "features" and sort of "bring them into light" rather than make it seem more romantic and fantasy-like.

To be honest, I didn't have any favorites of his mainly because I'm one of the least poetic people I know. If I were to choose one of the poems, however, I'd choose Shut Not Your Doors.