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last
2
At the Mouth of the River
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[Last of ebb]
| Last of the the ebb, and daylight waning, |
| Scented sea‑breaths landward making—smells |
| of the salt and sedge incoming, |
| While many the a half‑caught voice sound comes up from |
| those frantic the whirls and eddies, |
| Many the a muffled confession, many a the a sob |
| and whispering word, |
| As of speakers voices speakers far or hid. |
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 [Leaf 2 recto]    |
| How they sweep down and out! how |
| they mutter! |
| Hopes Pride of youth— manhood—tones of the dying— |
athechorus of age's complaints—feverish |
| love,—the last, —hope's last bitter words, |
| [paper glued] |
Haply the The heHeroes unknown, unnamed, borne down off——the poets |
| and artists unknown, yet |
| greater than any, known |
| [paper glued] |
| Some suicide's despair's beguiling words, cry, and wish, |
Away Away tTo the boundless waste, and to and |
| never again return.ing. |
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| [Leaf 3 recto] |
?
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So ^Hold ye so
many burnt-out lives, O ye drowning tide ^and waning fading light
!? |
| Such ventures, —such aspirations lost? such failures? |
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On (On!! on to oblivion,, then! ^ye ventures aspirations lost [aspirations?]
On, more quickly quicker |
| on quicker yet yet, ye sweltering, whirling, shrouding |
| waters!) ebb!) waters!) |
On to oblivion then! ^on quicker, quicker yet on, quicker yet, on ye sweltering shrouding watersr |
| ^(On for your time ye furious debouché! On, quicker yet |
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Date
- Whitman probably composed this manuscript shortly before its publication in 1885.
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Editorial note
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This manuscript is a draft of the poem "Last of Ebb, and Daylight Waning," first published in the "Fancies at Navesink" sequence of poems in the August, 1885 issue of Nineteenth Century.
The verso of leaf #1 is blank.
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Notes written on manuscript
- In top margin, in unknown hand: 11.
- In top margin, in unknown hand: 12.
- In top margin, in unknown hand: 13.
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Location
- Last of ebb, and daylight waning | Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library.
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Whitman Archive ID
- yal.00046
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