Walt Whitman [An Essay on Walt Whitman by Estonian Writer]

Good condition: mostly uncut book which bottom edge was exposed to moisture, cover shows minor edge fraying, damaged ends of the spine.

An overview of the life and work of the most influential American poet Walt Whitman (1819-1892) with examples of his poetry. Whitman is considered the father of free-verse and predecessor of futurism, whom Semper puts in line with other distinguished futurists: "Today, poetry of technology and machines is no surprise to anyone. We often come across it: E. Verhaeren, F.-T. Marinetti, V. Majakovski, J. Romains, G. Duhamel and many others have brought to poetry the smoke of factories and the noise and roar of engines, and made these modern topics acceptable." (p. 15) The second part of the book includes a selection of Whitman's poems translated to Estonian by Semper.

Book's avant-garde cover design by Ado Vabbe (1892-1961), the first Estonian avant-garde artist and the most important innovator in Estonian art, whose early works were clearly connected to Futurism.

Johannes Semper (1892-1970) was an eminent Estonian poet, writer, critic and translator. In early creation was bright representative of Futurist movement, later came to explore civic and philosophical themes. Semper also played an important role in intermediating and interpreting foreign literature. He has translated prominent authors from German, Russian, Italian, English, and French. He published articles and essays on foreign literature and literary trends. Semper was briefly nominated as Minister for Education of Estonia when the country was occupied by the Soviet Union in 1940. He wrote the lyrics of the Anthem of Estonian SSR.