Content:
The date is unknown. Whitman used the image
of a procession many times in his poetry, including in section 38 of "Song of
Myself" and in section 6 of "Return of the Heroes" (in the final versions of those
poems). However, this manuscript is most likely a draft toward a different poem
altogether. It is possible these lines were
composed between 1861 and 1870, when
Whitman had most reason to employ imagery of marching.
Whitman Archive Title: Poem of Poets (now) in all lands
Content:
Manuscript with notes for a poem to describe "the poetical sentiments in all
lands," of which the connection to Whitman's published work is unknown. This fragment has been attached by a collector or archivist to a
backing sheet, together with "Poem (bequeathing to others a charge) what poems are wanted."
