Table of Contents
Color Key

[Leaf 1 recto]

[at least several letters torn away]and

Starry [Uni?]on_{Hands Ro[und]}

[See!?] see! see! where the sun is beaming!

See! see! all ^see! how ^all the _^^bright stars, they are ^a-gleaming! ^{? all the stars a-gleaming!}

? O See by day [how the sun is beaming]

What the word ^charm of power unbroken?

O what ? Columbia's

What the Charm ^word ^spell of heavens own^ly ^God's ^ceaseless ^{[several letters illegible]n} token?

Union all! O its Union all!^{? O its hand in hand, & a Union of all}

O its all for ⁱⁿ each & ^its each for ⁱⁿ all

What Columbia's mystic ^{? [one word illegible] friendliest} token‑

'Tils the hands we take for the Union _{of all}

Herse's mine—give me thine—for the Union _{of all}

What Columbia's friendliest token?

'Tis the hands we take ^{All hands round} for the Union all!

Here's mine—give me thine—for the Union all

Stars of the sky ^{up above} in eternal lustre

Stars of the earth ^States in a compact clustre

Clasping, holding, earthward, heavenward

Onward, on,

Circling, circling, ^moving roundward & onward

As our hands we grasp ^{All hands round} for the Union all

Here's mine—give me thine—for the Union all

[Leaf 2 recto]

Red, white, blue ^[to?] in[one word torn away] eastward ^{[one word torn away], western} westward

Red, white, blue, to the sou ^northern, southern ^{with the breezes waving}

All including, ^combining, folding, loving,

E Northward, Southward, Westward moving

O its all hands round for the

Union all! O its Union all

Here's mine—give me thine—for the Union all

O its all _^^for each—and each for al

[paper glued]

Ever O orbs, be it ^{Hand in hand clasping ^[linking,?]holding,} _^^{clasping, circling} earthward, or heavenward!

Onward! onward! onward! onward!

[paper glued]

Stars of ^for the sky in their eternal _{the eternal} ^{an refulgent eternal} lustre

Stars of ^{for here}the world _^^earth in the ^an endless ^a _{in a compact} cluster

Of Union all ^{Then our hands ^here we give} for the Union all!

O its all for each ^{hand round} —and each for all!

Ever orbs in

Ever ^O Orbs of ^to ^{be it} [about one word illegible][earthward?] ^{a[at least one letter illegible]}

Date: Sculley Bradley and Harold Blodgett believe (with a certainty they don't explain) that this manuscript was composed in 1876 in celebration of the United States centennial. See Leaves of Grass, Comprehensive Reader's Edition, p. 673. Another possibility is that the poem was composed when Whitman was drafting the cluster "Marches now the War is Over" in 1871.

Editorial note

This poem was never published in Whitman's lifetime, though he worked on it through several different draft forms.

The verso of leaf #1 is blank.

Location: Hands Ro[und] MS quarto 24 | The Trent Collection of Walt Whitman Manuscripts, Duke University Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library.

Whitman Archive ID: duk.00024

Starry [Uni?]onHands Ro[und]

Starry [Uni?]on_{Hands Ro[und]}