Content:
Prose manuscript expressing the belief that human existence possesses a
grandeur that surpasses artistic accomplishments. It is unclear whether this
manuscript is related to Whitman's published poetry or prose. Based on the appearance of a transcription of this manuscript with transcriptions of other early manuscripts in Richard Maurice Bucke's
Notes and Fragments
(1899), Edward Grier dates it to the 1850s (
Notebooks and Unpublished Prose Manuscripts
[New York: New York University Press, 1984], 4:1558). The handwriting and the paper also would suggest an early date.
