Content:
This prose fragment appears to be part of a draft of the essay, written by Whitman, titled "An English and an American Poet." Whitman published the essay anonymously in the
American Phrenological Journal
in October 1855, and he also printed and included it with other reviews in some copies of the 1855 edition of
Leaves of Grass
. He printed the review yet again in a section of reviews called "Opinions. 1855–6" at the end of the 1856 edition. A prose note (duk.00154) is written on the back of the manuscript leaf.
Whitman Archive Title: 1854 Alexander Smith's Poems
Content:
This is a note on Scottish poet Alexander Smith and American poet Bayard Taylor. Whitman describes one passage from Smith about "a great forthcoming Poet"; Whitman quoted this passage in his "An English and an American Poet" published in the
American Phrenological Journal
in October 1855.
