About this Item

Title: The Elder Brother of the

Creator: Walt Whitman

Date: Before or early in 1855

Whitman Archive ID: med.00911

Source: The transcription presented here is derived from Walt Whitman, Notes and Fragments, ed. Richard Maurice Bucke (London, Ontario: A. Talbot & Co., [printer], 1899), 46. The location of this manuscript is unknown. For a description of the editorial rationale behind our treatment of manuscripts, see our statement of editorial policy.

Editorial note: Because the manuscript has not been located it is difficult to speculate on the circumstances of its composition, but it is possible that it was written in the early 1850s as Whitman was preparing materials for the first (1855) edition of Leaves of Grass. The phrasing and imagery are reminiscent of a line in the first poem in that edition (eventually titled "Song of Myself"), suggesting that this manuscript was composed before or early in 1855.