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The Great Laws do not

About This Item

  • Title: The Great Laws do not
  • Date: Between 1850 and 1855
  • Creator(s): Walt Whitman
  • Whitman Archive ID: duk.00264
  • Source: Trent Collection of Whitmaniana, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University. Transcribed from digital images of the original. For a description of the editorial rationale behind our treatment of the manuscripts, see our statement of editorial policy.
  • Editorial note: Whitman probably drafted this manuscript in the early 1850s as he was composing the first (1855) edition of Leaves of Grass. The manuscript includes language similar to lines that appeared in two of the poems in that edition, eventually titled "A Song for Occupations" and "Who Learns My Lesson Complete?"
  • Related Item(s):
  • Cite this page: Whitman, Walt. "The Great Laws do not." The Walt Whitman Archive. Gen. ed. Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price. Accessed 19 April 2024. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
  • Source File: duk.00264.xml (TEI)

Key

Textual Feature Appearance
Overwritten brown with strikethrough
Added inline purple with double underline
Uncertain gray with wavy underline
Supplied from another source turquoise with brackets
Metamark green with triple underline
Long deletion gray background with top and bottom border
  [begin leaf 1 recto] 245  
 2485 The Great Laws do not treasure chips, and or  
 stick for the odd cent; I am of the same fashion—for I am their  
 friend.— I rate myself high—I receive no small sums; I must have my full price—whoever enjoys me. I feel satisfied my visit will be worthy of me  
 and of my Hosts and Favorites; I leave it to them how to receive me.—   [begin leaf 1 verso]
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