Content:
This manuscript was probably composed in the late 1850s or in 1860 as Whitman was preparing the 1860 edition of
Leaves of Grass
. It is a draft of No. 4 of the "Thoughts" cluster published first in the 1860 edition. In later editions, Whitman dispersed the individual lines, presenting them as separate poems or incorporating them into newly created poems. In the 1871–1872
Leaves of Grass
, the first line appeared as the initial line of "Thoughts [Of ownership]." In the 1881–1882 edition, the second line returned as "Thought [Of Equality];" and the third and fourth lines were titled "Thought [Of Justice]."
