His occupations during his lifetime included printer, schoolteacher, reporter, and editor. Whitman’s self-published Leaves of Grass was inspired in part by his travels through the American frontier and by his admiration for Ralph Waldo Emerson. Whitman published his own enthusiastic review of Leaves of Grass.Click to see full answer. Regarding this, why was Walt Whitman influential?Many renowned poets and other famous figures read and found inspiration in Walt Whitman’s poetry. Many American writers cite Whitman as an inspiration for their own work, expressing admiration for his groundbreaking structural innovations as well as the often controversial themes he addressed.Beside above, how did Walt Whitman contribute to American literature? Walt Whitman (May 31, 1819–March 26, 1892) is one of the most significant American writers of the 19th century, and many critics consider him the nation’s greatest poet. His book “Leaves of Grass,” which he edited and expanded over the course of his life, is a masterpiece of American literature. Secondly, how did Walt Whitman impact history? He imagined visual artworks as being poems themselves and imagined his own poems as paintings. Whitman worked to capture the vividness of visual art in language, and he mimicked the mental and emotional stimulation of an exhibition space in his organization of Leaves of Grass.Why did Walt Whitman write Leaves of Grass?In 1855, Whitman published nine of his poems in the form of a book called Leaves of Grass. Leaves of Grass received plenty of criticism from critics and American poets because according to them, his poetry was a negative reflection of American culture and lacked rhythm.