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Contents Introduction Colonial Period– 19th Century Poetry's Conundrum 20th Century Millennium & Change

To have great poets, there must be great audiences, too
—Walt Whitman

As it evolved and matured as a national art form, American poetry mirrored the historical progression of poetry in the west: an oral art form that was more often printed as printing technology developed, ultimately becoming mannered and academic.  Just as poetry was reborn in Europe during the Romantic period, when it shook free of its formal subject matter and turned to popular fare, poetry in twenty-first century America is turning away from its academic dead-end and embracing post-print technology as it slowly becomes an oral popular art form.

Thayer and Eldridge's 1860 edition of Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass

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