Leaves of Grass Book IV: Children of Adam

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by Walt Whitman
44 minutes, 3 seconds
Unabridged Free Verse Poetry Collection
1855

“Children of Adam” is the fourth book (of 35 total) of Walt Whitman’s legendary poetry collection Leaves of Grass. This book is among Whitman’s most controversial with its celebration of sexuality. It includes the poems:

To the Garden the World
From Pent-up Aching Rivers
I Sing the Body Electric
A Woman Waits for Me
Spontaneous Me
One Hour to Madness and Joy

We Two–How Long We were Fool‚Äôd
Out of the Rolling Ocean, the Crowd
Native Moments
Once I Pass’d Through a Populous City
Facing West from California’s Shores
Ages and Ages, Returning at Intervals
O Hymen! O Hymenee!
As Adam, Early in the Morning

Read by Alex Wilson.

Originally for sale on March 8, 2006, and released free with a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial License five years later. See the Mission page for why.

Walt Whitman (1819-1892) was a revolutionary American poet and essayist from Long Island. His multi-volume book of free verse poetry Leaves of Grass obliterated the then-acceptable form and subject limits of poetry.

Alex Wilson is a writer and actor from northern Ohio and now based in Carrboro, North Carolina. His stories and comics have appeared/will appear in Asimov's Science Fiction, The Rambler, Outlaw Territory II (Image Comics), Weird Tales, Futurismic, LCRW and elsewhere. Locus has called him a "promising new writer," and Publishers Weekly also has nice things to say. Website)

Alex has performed lead roles in the North American premiere of (Richard Taylor's musical) Whistle Down the Wind and (Emmy-nominated director Jack Lucido's film) The Third Cord. He has recently appeared in the Deep Dish Theater productions of Hedda Gabler and Moon for the Misbegotten, and recorded narrations for Escape Pod and Night Shade Books. (Acting Resume/Reel) On early Telltale recordings, Alex is sometimes credited as "Alexander Wilson." He founded Telltale in 2004.