Content:
Poem draft, parts of which have been printed as "? Ashes of Roses." The
manuscript may bear a relationship to "Ashes of Soldiers," a poem published first
in 1865 as "Hymn
of Dead Soldiers" in
Drum-Taps
. It was only in 1871 that Whitman added the
imagery of ashes to this poem. The manuscript was likely composed around
1870-1871, when Whitman was revising and expanding the poem for
republication. Alternatively, the manuscript may be a draft of a unique
poetic work unpublished in Whitman's lifetime.
Content:
Draft of lines which bear a relationship to "Ashes of Soldiers," first published in
1865.
This manuscript was likely composed around 1870-1871, when
Whitman was revising and expanding the poem for republication. This
manuscript appears to be a draft of the first two linegroups of "Ashes of Soldiers."
These linegroups were added in 1871 to a poem first published as "Hymn of Dead Soldiers"
in
Drum-Taps
(1865). It
was only in 1871 that he added the imagery of ashes to this poem.
Content:
Corrected pages, many originally appearing in the 1876
Leaves of Grass,
of cluster "Songs of Parting," containing 17 poems.
Opposite a portrait of Whitman, the title page reads, "Songs of Parting,
by Walt Whitman, The Poet's Corrected Proof." These corrections were
probably intended for the 1881–82 edition of
Leaves of Grass
. The 17 poems included
are: "As the Time Draws
Nigh,"
"Ashes of Soldiers,"
"Years of the
Modern,"
"Thoughts,"
"Song at Sunset,"
"My Legacy,"
"Pensive on Her Dead
Gazing, I Heard the Mother of All,"
"Camps of Green,"
"Bathed in War's
Perfume,"
"Now Finalé to the
Shore,"
"As they Draw to a
Close,"
"The Untold Want,"
"Portals,"
"These Carols,"
"To the Reader at
Parting,"
"Joy, Shipmate,
Joy!," and "So
Long."
