Editing Leaves of Grass (section)

=== Thematic changes ===
Whitman edited, revised, and republished ''Leaves of Grass'' many times before his death, and over the years his focus and ideas were not static. One critic has identified three major "thematic drifts" in ''Leaves of Grass'': the period from 1855 to 1859, from 1859 to 1865, and from 1866 to his death.

In the first period, 1855 to 1859, his major work is "Song of Myself", which exemplifies his love for freedom: "Freedom in nature, nature which is perfect in time and place and freedom in expression, leading to the expression of love in its sensuous form."<ref name="academia.edu">{{Cite journal|title = A study of thematic drift in Whitman's Leaves of Grass|url = https://www.academia.edu/15363343|website = www.academia.edu|access-date = November 13, 2015|last1 = Bora|first1 = Indu}}</ref> The second period, from 1859 to 1865, paints the picture of a more melancholic, sober poet who has been scarred by the [[American Civil War]]. In poems like "[[Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking]]" and "[[When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd]]", the prevailing theme is death and dying.

Whitman experienced further evolution in the post-1865 period when his poems were often meditations on immortality. He grew more conservative in his old age, and had come to value the importance of law above the importance of freedom. His view of the world was less materialistic and more spiritual, and he believed that life had no meaning outside the context of [[God's plan]].<ref name="academia.edu" />