American Epics

Whitman wanted to bolster the American democratic spirit by creating a democratic literature through his Leaves of Grass, he also wanted to create something epic, so he crafted a new form, the lyric-epic. Pablo Neruda wrote Canto general as a foundational text for communism in Latin America. In both books, these poets want to politicize the reader, Whitman for democracy and Neruda for communism, both of which have become foundational poets for their countries over time.