Which innovative poetic form did Walt Whitman pioneer in his landmark 1855 collection 'Leaves of Grass', radically departing from traditional British metrical and rhyming systems?
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Correct answer: Free verse with irregular line lengths, anaphoric repetition, and no fixed rhyme
Walt Whitman is widely celebrated as the father of American free verse. By abandoning formal European rhyme and meter, he crafted a loose, expansive rhythm that mimicked conversational American speech and the natural cadence of biblical prose. This open structure mirrored the democratic and unbounded ideals of the developing American nation.
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