U.S. poet praised in Russia

A monument to celebrated American poet/essayist Walt Whitman, often referred to as “the father of free verse”, has been unveiled in the Russian capital to mark the arrival of the U.S. president in Moscow.

The sculpture has been placed in front of the entrance to the Philological Faculty of the Lomonosov Moscow State University.

It’s believed that the prominent American poet of the 19th century was a major influence and inspiration to some of Russia’s leading poets of the 20th century, namely Vladimir Mayakovsky and Velimir Khlebnikov.