The poet of "Democracy," born in Long Island, U.S., of parents of mingled English and Dutch blood; was a large-minded, warm-hearted man, who led a restless life, and had more in him than he had training to unfold either in speech or act; a man eager, had he known how, to do service in the cause of his much-loved mankind; wrote "Leaves of Grass," "Drum-Taps," and "Two Rivulets" (1819-1892).