[Leaf 1 recto]

Interpolation Sounds.

Over and through the burial chant,

Organ and solemn service, sermon, bending priests,

To me come interpolation sounds not in the show—

plainly to me crowding up the aisle, and

from the window,

Of sudden battle's hurry and harsh noises—war's,

war's grim game to sight and ear in earnest;

The scout call'd up and forward—the General mounted,

and his aides around him—the new‑brought

word—the instantaneous order issued,

The rifle crack—the cannon thud—the rushing

forth of men from their tents,

The clank of cavalry—the strange celerity of

forming ranks—the slender bugle note,

The sound of horses' hoofs departing—saddles,

arms, accoutrements.

Walt Whitman

[Leaf 1 verso]

Date: This manuscript is undated, but must have been composed between 1888, the year of General Sheridan's death, and 1891, the year that "Interpolation Sounds" appeared in Leaves of Grass.

Editorial note

This manuscript, a tribute to General Philip Sheridan, is a signed, but undated, holograph poem. The unusually clean nature of this manuscript suggests that it may have been a gift copy.

The verso of leaf #1 is blank.

Location: Interpolation Sounds | The Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature, the New York Public Library.

Whitman Archive ID: nyp.00059