The Walt Whitman Archive
In Whitman's Hand
Manuscripts
About this Item
Title: The spotted hawk salutes the
Creator: Walt Whitman
Date: Between 1850 and 1855
Whitman Archive ID: uva.00570
Source: Papers of Walt Whitman (MSS 3829), Clifton Waller Barrett Library of American Literature, Albert H. Small Special Collections Library, University of Virginia. Transcribed from digital images of the original. For a description of the editorial rationale behind our treatment of manuscripts, see our statement of editorial policy.
Editorial note: Whitman probably drafted this manuscript in the early 1850s as he was composing the first (1855) edition of Leaves of Grass. Lines from the manuscript were included in the first poem in that edition, eventually titled "Song of Myself."
Related item: Several lines of poetry are drafted on the back of this leaf. See uva.00238.
Contributors to digital file: Nicole Gray, Michael Carmody, and Amy Hezel
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The spotted ? hawk ? salutes the approaching night;
He [swoops?] by me, ^ and rebukes me hoarsely with his invitation;
He complains with sarcastic voice of my lagging
I feel apt to clip it, and go;
I am W W— — the American
I am but not not half tamed,—yet.—
[cut away] keeps its [cut away]
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![[Page image: https://whitmanarchive.org/manuscripts/figures/uva.00238.001.jpg]](https://whitmanarchive.org/manuscripts/figures/uva.00238.001.jpg)