Content:
A brief paragraph suggesting that the unifying motif of a projected volume of miscellaneous prose pieces should be various aspects of nature viewed from the perspective of democracy. Although Whitman eventually titled his collection
Specimen Days
(1882–83), the present manuscript uses the working title "Mulleins & Bumble Bees," one of many that he considered over the rather long period during which he contemplated publication. In "Cedar-Plums—Names," one of the short essays in the collection, he discusses some of his difficulties with coherence and titling.
Content:
A draft of a poem unpublished in Whitman's lifetime entitled "Wood Odors." The poem was
apparently written as Whitman was making notes for his 1882-1883 book,
Specimen Days & Collect
.
Specifically, the poem appears to respond to the visit he made to the
Stafford farm in New Jersey in the mid-1870s. Some have argued that this draft
is not a poem at all, but a list of phrases toward the composition of
Specimen Days & Collect
(see David
Goodale, "Wood Odors,"
Walt Whitman Review
8
[March
1962], 17). "Wood
Odors" was published first in
Harper's Magazine
221 (December 1960), 43.
Whitman Archive Title: [Among the many]; [It is not this]
Content:
On one side of the leaves, Whitman explores the idea that life, with its
petty concerns, is "an exercise, a training & development" for an
afterlife. A note at the top possibly indicates that the poet considered
developing this thought in conjunction with "From Noon to Starry Night," a cluster that
first appeared in the 1881–82 edition of
Leaves of Grass
. Edward F. Grier suggests,
alternatively, that the writing is connected with
Specimen Days
(1882–83), "which is full of references to stars" (Walt
Whitman,
Notebooks and Unpublished Prose
Manuscripts,
Edward F. Grier, ed. [New York: New York
University Press, 1984], 6:2106). The writing on the reverse sides of
the leaves explores the ideal roles of authors and the general public in
shaping government and legislation. These notes are possibly related to
Democratic Vistas,
in which Whitman discusses the role of what he calls here the
literary class
in connection to democracy, as well as issues of voting and women's rights. The two leaves are housed and
described separately at the repository.
