When was whitman considered a success as a writer? Was he alive then?

Walt Whitman was an American poet, journalist, and essayist, whose known in his verse collection, Leaves of Grass. It was a collection of free-verse poems. It was criticized by many because of the overt sexuality theme of his poems. In 1855, he published the first edition using the money that he got from the house the he sold. It was only in the late 1860 that Whitman's work began to receive recognition, and that was when he published the fourth edition of his book.

He was ridiculed and ostracized during his lifetime. He was criticized because of his poems that are mostly about love and sex in explicit and most personal ways. However, he was already recognized and was praised by intellectuals and other writers before the time of his death.