Content:
Although Whitman did not publish these verses himself, their structure and the
type of paper upon which they are inscribed suggest a close relationship with the
lines on another manuscript in the University of Virginia collection, which were
revised to form part of section 14 of "Chants Democratic" in the 1860 edition of
Leaves of Grass
, a set of verses
eventually transformed into an independent poem under the title "Poets to Come."