Content:
Notes about the hermit thrush in a small homemade notebook, which are
related to lines in the poem "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd,"
first published in 1865.
Content:
A manuscript fragment containing what appear to be poetic lines written about the dead of the Civil War, and which are included at the Huntington Library with a group of notes labeled "Hospital Notes 1863." Edward Grier suggests that these lines may have been for an early version of a lecture that Whitman intended to give on "The Dead in this War." The lines also anticipate portions of "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd." The manuscript is labeled "Reminiscences 64" at the top.
Content:
The notes contained in this manuscript, significantly titled "In Mem. of
A.L." ("In Memory of Abraham Lincoln") are focused on the sense of
collective grieving for the death of Lincoln, a founding theme for the
poem "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard
Bloom'd," initially published in
Sequel to Drum Taps
, issued by Gibson Brothers in the fall
of 1865 and bound with
Drum
Taps
. The poem made its first appearance in the text of
Leaves of Grass
in 1867.
Content:
This manuscript, significantly titled "For Funeral piece A.L." ("For
Funeral piece A.L."), is composed of a short note which can be read as a
general outline of the poem "When Lilacs Last
in the Dooryard Bloom'd," followed by some lines of poetry
that bear resemblance with section eleven of the same poem. The poem was
initially published in
Sequel to Drum
Taps
, issued by Gibson Brothers in the fall of 1865 and bound with
Drum
Taps
. The poem made its first appearance in the text of
Leaves of Grass
in 1867.
Content:
A list of about ninety words expressing sorrow. These words were
evidently used as Whitman composed "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd,"
first published in 1865.
