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Whitman Archive Title: Poemet
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Whitman Archive ID: uva.00325
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Repository: Catalog of the Walt Whitman Literary Manuscripts at the Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia
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Folder: 50-51
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Date: 1857-1859
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Genre: poetry
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Physical Description: 2 leaves, 21 x 13 cm, handwritten
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Content:
On two pink leaves (21 x 13 cm), in black ink, with revisions in the same ink and
in light ink. Pinholes in center, at top, and in top-left corner. This poem was
originally titled "Leaf" and
apparently numbered 78; Whitman inscribed its new title, "Poemet," in light ink. It became
number 17 of the "Calamus" cluster in
1860, with the lines on the first leaf corresponding to verses 1-7 and those on
the second ("And what I dreamed I will/ henceforth tell...") to verses 8-13 of the
first published version. Retitled "Of
Him I Love Day and Night" in 1867, it was transferred to the "Whispers of Heavenly Death"
cluster in
Passage to India
in
1871. In 1881 Whitman incorporated it, with the rest of the cluster, in the main
body of
Leaves
.
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