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50-51uva.00183xxx.00005xxx.00047xxx.00062[Once I passed through a populous]I am the child of Democracy1857

16 cm; The recto verses appearing on this manuscript became the main section 9 of Enfans d'Adam in 1860

and were retitled Once I Pass'd Through a Populous City in 1867.

[Once I passed through a populous]

WynnThomasNew York CityNew York City"This is the city," wrote Whitman, "and I am one of the citizens"

The Spectator and the City in Nineteenth-Century American Literature.

Unreal Cities. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins UP, 1990. Spann, E.K.

"Whitman's Tale of Two Cities." American Literary History 6 (1994): 633-657. Versluys, Kristiaan.

The Poet in the City. Tubingen: Gunter Narr Verlag, 1987.  New York City

New York City Chapter 4. Boston, 1860 Chapter 5. Washington, D.C. Chapter 6.

and of these the Irish formed about 45 percent; of the city's total population, 30 percent were Irish

Few realize the Irish were in America before the American Revolution and that many were involved in the

In New York City conditions were no better.

So many of them remained in the city that in 1860 New York was the most Irish city in the United States

The "school question" refers to the controversy surrounding early 1840s public schooling in New York City

By the 1840s, over a full third of the population of New York City consisted of immigrants, nearly half

of which were Irish.

"Where" asks the writer, "are the thunders of the American press?"

Alas, were we to publish what he has written, we should hear enough of those, with not enough of American

The "school question" refers to the controversy surrounding early 1840s public schooling in New York City

Irish Catholics were by far the most vocal and politically influential group opposing the teaching methods

of New York City consisted of immigrants, nearly half of which were Irish.

with having to subject their children to the teachings of a Protestant curriculum, where educators were

directly opposed those of the largely Democratic working class and immigrant population (James Grant

MaireMullins"Once I Pass'd Through a Populous City" (1860)"Once I Pass'd Through a Populous City" (1860

)Originally published in the third (1860) edition of Leaves of Grass, by Thayer and Eldridge, Boston,

The poem records a visit to a crowded city and a woman "casually met there," the memory of whom takes

The last three lines of the poem shift to the present moment, when the memory of the "populous" city,

"Once I Pass'd Through a Populous City" (1860)

doubtless the case The The most immense share part of a A ncient History is altogether unknown ,— There were

Powerful, busy, and populous, and powerful nations, existed, on all the continents of the earth, at

busy populous and powerful nations on all the continents of the earth ; and doubtless for the certain

surely empires, cities cities, states pastoral tribes and uncivilized hordes upon the earth.

— 189 the feeling of war and war and justice and who were witty and wise, —and who were brutish and undeveloped—and

includes ideas and phrases that resemble those used in "Unnamed Lands," a poem published first in the 1860

The manuscript was therefore probably written between 1855 and 1860, and at one time likely formed part

See, for instance, the lines: "What vast-built cities—What orderly republics—What pastoral tribes and

phrenology, / What of liberty and slavery among them—What they thought of death and the Soul, / Who were

, / Some prowling through woods—Some living peaceably on farms, laboring, reaping, filling barns" (1860

Whitman lived for almost three decades in Brooklyn, New York, longer than his association with any other city

of the boroughs of New York City until 1898.

In the 1820s Brooklyn's population numbered only seven thousand, and there were no streetlights or sidewalks

The city's population grew from 40,000 in 1845 to 100,000 in 1850 and to 250,000 in 1855.

in the 1860s ("Centenarian's Story").BibliographyAllen, Gay Wilson.

For Whitman, these disciplines, and his own interest in and dedication to them, were often conflated:

"There were busy, populous, and powerful nations, on all the continents of the earth, at intervals [.

Through the stretch of time [. . .] there were busy, populous, and powerful nations."

Iowa City: University of Iowa Press, 1995. Camboni, Marina. Il corpo dell'America: 1855 .

"Whitman and American Empire."

Ronald W.Knapp"I Dream'd in a Dream" (1860)"I Dream'd in a Dream" (1860)This is one of the poems in the

The poems in the "Calamus" collection were written to celebrate the love of man for man—"Adhesiveness

Walt Whitman: An American. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1943.Cavitch, David.

Minor Prophecy: Walt Whitman's New American Religion. Bloomington: Indiana UP, 1989.

"I Dream'd in a Dream" (1860)

TimothyStifelDenver, ColoradoDenver, ColoradoA city founded just east of the Rocky Mountains, Denver

City was named after James W.

Railroads connected Denver to the national economy in 1870, and the following two decades were periods

of tremendous population growth.

to replace the original log cabins of the city.

Through Charles Eldridge, the publisher of the third edition of Leaves of Grass (1860) who was serving

Thereafter, the comrades were inseparable, spending long hours riding on Doyle's streetcar, or taking

During and after the War, the city's population was swelled by Southern refugees, especially African

Americans escaping oppression and poverty.

Reveille in Washington, 1860–1865. New York: Harper, 1941.Reynolds, David S.

The 1860 census put Brooklyn's population at 266,661 inhabitants, making it the third–largest city in

Of these 511 were of stone, valued at $5,000,000; and 8,039 were of brick, valued at $40,000,000.

The rest were, of course, wooden edifices, and were valued at $30,000,000.

The topography of the city of Brooklyn is very fine.

The City Hall is a handsome structure enough.

Magazine (September 17, 1916) and then in The Uncollected Poetry and Prose of Walt Whitman (Garden City

style and content of the piece are consistent with other known Whitman writings of this period.; The 1860

census put Brooklyn's population at 266,661 inhabitants, making it the third–largest city in the United

there had existed two associated companies, the first of which was established in 1839.; The Brooklyn City

The Baltimore Clipper sets up in defence, that however wicked the American-governed city of Baltimore

may be, it is it it it is not so bad as the Republican city of Boston, or the Democratic city of Brooklyn

the ratio of crime is great in proportion to the population than in any of the large cities on our seaboard

than in any other of the five cities which have been mentioned.

We have been used to hear Brooklyn called the City of Churches and its population a most moral and virtuous

William G.Lulloff"Mannahatta [I was asking...]" (1860)"Mannahatta [I was asking...]" (1860)Walt Whitman's

It was first published in the third edition of Leaves of Grass (1860).

Whitman's original poem included significant closing lines that were deleted after 1871.

The earlier conclusion calls "Mannahatta" "The free city! no slaves!

"Mannahatta [I was asking...]" (1860)

Names were powerful. As Whitman indicates in An American Primer (1904), "Names are magic.

The names of American cities should reflect their physical features and life of their citizens—expressing

the essence of the cities.Some of the best names, he believed, were the ones given by Native Americans

, a second poem 1888), "Yonnondio" (1887), and "Starting from Paumanok" (1860).Native names were particularly

American Indian names and his poetry were "original," "not to be imitated—not to be manufactured . . 

British General William Howe defeated American General George Washington.

All were swept away by the great fire of '48.

After the fire, the courts were transferred to City Hall. Mrs.

The population of Brooklyn was then but eighteen or twenty thousand.

Johnson was an Episcopalian pastor in New York City as early as the 1830s and as late as the 1860s.

Magazine (September 17, 1916) and then in The Uncollected Poetry and Prose of Walt Whitman (Garden City

British General William Howe defeated American General George Washington.

After the fire, the courts were transferred to City Hall.; The old Log Cabin to which Whitman refers

Johnson was an Episcopalian pastor in New York City as early as the 1830s and as late as the 1860s.;

of Brooklyn in 1837.; Joshua Rogers was another Brooklyn city Alderman in 1837.; R.

to have the theatre as "a permanency" in our city.

The Marquis de Lafayette was a Frenchman who fought in the American Revolution.

The Prince of Wales visited New York in October 1860.

The Japanese ambassadors visited in May and June 1860.

Such were some of the "events" of those former times in Brooklyn.

Magazine (September 17, 1916) and then in The Uncollected Poetry and Prose of Walt Whitman (Garden City

Many notable names in American theatre also graced its stage, including Edwin Booth and Eleonore Duse

Brooklyn Museum was closed in January 1851.; The Marquis de Lafayette was a Frenchman who fought in the American

Whitman's America (New York: Knopf, 1995), 33–34.; The Prince of Wales visited New York in October 1860

The Japanese ambassadors visited in May and June 1860.; Whitman gives his history of the Apprentices

these histories of Brooklyn after the firing on Fort Sumter in 1861 and contends that the articles were

At the very earliest, schools and churches were established.

The original Dutch, it ought to be known, were among the most learned nations of Europe.

The universities of Holland were among the best.

Libraries were well stocked—and the invention of printing was really discovered there.

Magazine (September 17, 1916) and then in The Uncollected Poetry and Prose of Walt Whitman (Garden City

these histories of Brooklyn after the firing on Fort Sumter in 1861 and contends that the articles were

See Genoways, Walt Whitman and the Civil War: America's Poet during the Lost Years of 1860–1862 (Berkeley

buffalo grass and wild sage in the country's midlands are "North America's characteristic landscape," exceeding

he discovered an analog for his own expansive consciousness and for his idealized conception of Americans

Democratic Vistas: 1860–1880. New York: George Braziller, 1970.Whitman, Walt. Specimen Days.

Once I Pass'd Through a Populous City. ONCE I PASS'D THROUGH A POPULOUS CITY.

ONCE I pass'd through a populous city imprinting my brain for future use with its shows, architecture

, customs, traditions, Yet now of all that city I remember only a woman I casually met there who detain'd

me for love of me, Day by day and night by night we were together—all else has long been forgotten by

Once I Pass'd Through a Populous City. ONCE I PASS'D THROUGH A POPULOUS CITY.

ONCE I pass'd through a populous city imprinting my brain for future use with its shows, architecture

, customs, traditions, Yet now of all that city I remember only a woman I casually met there who detain'd

me for love of me, Day by day and night by night we were together—all else has long been forgotten by

Written on the back of tax forms from the City of Williamsburgh, the manuscripts were likely, at one

of ships, my city."

my city!" And its fifth and final usage in 1860 comes in the volume's concluding poem, "So long!"

on earth to lead my city, the city of young men, the Mannahatta city—But when the Mannahatta leads all

the cities of the earth."

Once I Pass'd Through a Populous City. ONCE I PASS'D THROUGH A POPULOUS CITY.

ONCE I pass'd through a populous city, imprinting my brain, for future use, with its shows, architec-

ture architecture , customs, and traditions; Yet now, of all that city, I remember only a woman I casually

met there, who detained me for love of me; Day by day and night by night we were together,—All else

Once I Pass'd Through a Populous City ONCE I PASS'D THROUGH A POPULOUS CITY.

ONCE I pass'd through a populous city, imprinting my brain, for future use, with its shows, architec-

ture architecture , customs, and traditions; Yet now, of all that city, I remember only a woman I casually

met there, who detain'd me for love of me; Day by day and night by night we were together,—All else

tuition, or amusements, can much longer permanently elude the jealous and passionate instinct of American

Fredson Bowers, have generally assumed that Whitman used the Williamsburgh tax forms from 1857 to 1860

The city of Williamsburgh was incorporated with Brooklyn effective January 1855, so the forms would have

been obsolete after that date (Whitman's Manuscripts: Leaves of Grass [1860] [Chicago: University of

At least two of the tax forms Whitman used were dated 1854 (see, for instance, "Vast national tracts"

or amusements or the costumes of young men, can long elude the jealous and passionate instinct of American

Fredson Bowers, have generally assumed that Whitman used the Williamsburgh tax forms from 1857 to 1860

The city of Williamsburgh was incorporated with Brooklyn effective January 1855, so the forms would have

been obsolete after that date (Whitman's Manuscripts: Leaves of Grass [1860] [Chicago: University of

At least two of the tax forms Whitman used were dated 1854 (see, for instance, "Vast national tracts"

A Broadway Pageant (Reception Japanese Embassy, June 16, 1860) A BROADWAY PAGEANT.

(RECEPTION JAPANESE EMBASSY, JUNE 16, 1860.)

Were the children straying westward so long? so wide the tramping?

Were the precedent dim ages debouching westward from Paradise so long?

Were the centuries steadily footing it that way, all the while unknown, for you, for reasons?

AlanKozlowski["Long I Thought That Knowledge Alone Would Suffice"] (1860)["Long I Thought That Knowledge

Alone Would Suffice"] (1860)This twelve-line poem appeared only in the 1860 Leaves of Grass "Calamus

City"; both in manuscript form refer to the beloved as a man, though "Once I Pass'd" was revised to

Iowa City: U of Iowa P, 1992. 185–205.Killingsworth, M. Jimmie.

["Long I Thought That Knowledge Alone Would Suffice"] (1860)

were even then the remains of an ancient city."

The population were in a state of terror and despair, and hopes were expressed and reports whispered,

Formerly, these were reluctant to mingle with the American population, but this state of things is rapidly

They were met by the Americans under General Jackson, 6000 strong.

—Over one-half of the population are Americans, of British descent.

At one time this scrapbook likely contained numerous additional manuscript pages that were later removed

James E., Jr.Miller'Children of Adam' [1860]'Children of Adam' [1860]Originally entitled "Enfans d'Adam

" in the 1860 edition of Leaves of Grass, this cluster of poems celebrating sexuality was called "Children

For their act of disobedience, they were cast out of the Garden of Eden.

Fool'd," "I Am He That Aches with Amorous Love," "Once I Pass'd through a Populous City," "I Heard You

'Children of Adam' [1860]

Union losses approached 18,000, of whom 2,000 were killed; the Confederate loss probably exceeded 10,000

Wilderness battles, & half of it wrenched off" (Manuscripts of Walt Whitman in the Collection of American

Sunday Railroad Travel—Proportion of Churches to Population Sunday Railroad Travel—Proportion of Churches

to Population.

That the non-church-going class, even of the City of Churches, is a majority of the population, is a

The population numbers about 200,000. In other words, there is one church per 1428 people.

The inference is, that only about one third of the population are habitual church-goers.

emigrating to America in numbers exceeded only by the Irish.

Swedes and Danes were also emigrating but in smaller proportions.

Concurrently, industry and commerce were transforming the Scandinavian countries.

Iowa City: U of Iowa P, 1995. 357–362.Anderson, Carl L. "Whitman in Sweden."

Iowa City: U of Iowa P, 1995. 339–351.Naess, Harald. Knut Hamsun og Amerika.

or amusements or the costumes of young men, can long elude the jealous and passionate instinct of American

Fredson Bowers, have generally assumed that Whitman used the Williamsburgh tax forms from 1857 to 1860

The city of Williamsburgh was incorporated with Brooklyn effective January 1855, so the forms would have

been obsolete after that date (Whitman's Manuscripts: Leaves of Grass [1860] [Chicago: University of

At least two of the tax forms Whitman used were dated 1854 (see, for instance, "Vast national tracts"

(among them were Whitman, Lincoln, the naturalist John Burroughs and the remarkable African American

erected to house the city's swelling population.

of determining those areas of the city where African Americans built some of their own institutions,

While bridges were defended and a ring of forts encircled the city, Washington fostered vibrant life.

What portions of the city were disproportionately affected by disease and crime?

the Molly Maguires, the great railroad strike of 1877, the use of federal troops against civilian Americans

, the riots of the unemployed in Tompkins Square, New York, and, in Whitman's home city of Camden, the

sufferings of working people, Whitman had come to fear that the intractable problems of the Old World were

entry from February 1879 in which Whitman is astonished by the sight of three "quite good-looking American

Chants Democratic: New York City & the Rise of the American Working Class, 1788–1850.

described by one Whitman biographer as "unlovely," an appropriate term for the late-twentieth-century city

But during Whitman's residence in Camden from 1873 to 1892, the city was still young and growing, vigorous

This is one reason why Whitman gradually formed a strong attachment to his adopted city.

Gas street lamps were first lit in 1852, tracks were laid down for horse-drawn streetcars, and a waterworks

Walt Whitman: An American. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1943.

My first impressions, architectural, &c. were not favorable; but upon the whole, the city, the spaces,

Culture (Iowa City, IA: University of Iowa Press, 1992), 8. x  The city’s monuments were of special

The possibilities for African American life were unresolved at this time, as were the possibilities for

Washington’s black population tripled by 1870, jumping from 19 percent of the city’s total population

Mapping American Culture. Iowa City, IA: University of Iowa Press, 1992. French, R. W.

with those of last year in point of numbers, while in respectability of demeanor and attire it far exceeded

The twenty distinguished gentlemen whose names were on the bills did not appear—and to our mind the meeting

Consequently the managing committee had to fall back on local speakers, and the audience were probably

reception evinced the depth of interest with which this ferry question is regarded by the people of this city

of the Executive Committee appointed at the mass meeting of the Citizens of Brooklyn, held at the City

Review, TheWestminster Review, TheAmong the powerful arbiters of taste in nineteenth-century England were

These popular British magazines were often pirated in American editions.

periodicals in his editorial pages reveals that ideas which some have thought he picked up from American

Whitman's enthusiasm for the Westminster Review during the 1850s, the attack on his poems in the October 1860

A defense of Leaves of Grass in the Brooklyn City News on 10 October was almost certainly written by

The fire spread quickly to the wooden buildings nearby, all of which were dry as the result of a long

During that time, the fire burned approximately eight city blocks and destroyed about two hundred buildings

in the densely populated area in the vicinity of Fulton and Nassau Streets ("The Doings of a Night,"

That the Water Works of the city, if they operate at all, as there is no doubt they will, will confer

a benefit on the city far exceeding their pecuniary cost, both by raising the value of property and

twelve millions of dollars worth of benefit from them, that we are to pay more for them than they were

the wealthy, the wise, the good, of the city par excellence .

The city has therefore a right to expect from such men, so appointed, an administration of pre-eminent

What is now the paved and populous city around us was then of course a sparse collection of old fashioned

York city at all hazards; and this was to be done through Brooklyn.

While these things were under way here, and the people on this island and elsewhere were in great excitement

Over the river, in New York city, among the people, the “Liberty Boys” were not content with the ringing

thousand American martyrs!

Seas and Lands, Chapter VI: Men and Cities CHAPTER VI: MEN AND CITIES.

low-lying farmsteads around Baltimore and northward—so that many fields of maize, tomato, and melon were

the American Republic.

In a very few minutes, I may venture to say, we were like old friends.

I., "Men and Cities," in Seas and Lands (New York: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1891), 72–83.

I., "Men and Cities," in Seas and Lands (New York: Longmans, Green, and Co., 1891), 72–83.

William A.PannapackerPhiladelphia, PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia, PennsylvaniaKnown as the Quaker City and

the City of Brotherly Love, Philadelphia should have sounded promising to Walt Whitman, an admirer of

With over a million inhabitants in 1890, Philadelphia was the third most populous city in the United

The relationship between the two cities was reminiscent of what he had known in Brooklyn and Manhattan

From 1882 until his death, most of Whitman's American publications were handled in Philadelphia by David

Kings), as is probably known to many of our readers, used to be at Flatbush, and the County Courts were

to be held, and all writs and processes were returnable, at the new Court-house in Brooklyn.

have been held at that place were transferred to the Apprentices Library in Brooklyn.

Then there were conflicting opinions, too, about the preference for different sites.

Some of these, we believe, were really purchased; and the Supreme Court and Court of Appeals [were] invoked

Magazine (September 17, 1916) and then in The Uncollected Poetry and Prose of Walt Whitman (Garden City

He died in office.; Anthony Campbell served as sheriff from November 1860 to November 1863.; Our transcription

Emerson, and we looked over the volume of one who has been declared about 'to inaugurate a new era in American

those faultless monsters, whom the world ne'er saw, whose 'mission' it is to comfort the sable population

Sir Rohan's Ghost: A Romance (1860) was written by Harriet Elizabeth Prescott Spofford.

Review of Leaves of Grass (1860–61)

Sir Rohan's Ghost: A Romance (1860) was written by Harriet Elizabeth Prescott Spofford.

History of the Introduction of Water into the City HISTORY OF THE INTRODUCTION OF WATER INTO THE CITY

As early as 1835, public meetings were held on the subject of a water supply.

relied upon as sources of supply for the city.

were to be laid, and eight hundred hydrants provided for the then wants of the city.

On the 27th of March the report of the committe were adopted.

The population of the State of New York was 3,426,212; of these only 2,222,341 were natives of the State

Of the 652,322 voters, 135,577 were naturalized.

In Kings County there were 18,277 native voters against 14,350 adopted.

In live stock Kings does not retain the high relative position it occupies as regards population.

of the State are church goers; and the proportion in this city of churches is below even that of the

1718 by Jean Baptiste Lemoine, Sieur de Boinville, New Orleans has been the largest, most important city

three-sided bend of the Mississippi River as it reaches the Gulf of Mexico—hence its name "The Crescent City

As people of means and social standing were later drawn to the new land of opportunity, a Creole society

Battle of New Orleans in 1815 and the Mexican War (1846–1848) highlighted the significance of the city

Still others see further evidence in "Once I Pass'd through a Populous City," in which Whitman penned

his reform activities as the editor of a temperance newspaper and subsequently as secretary to the American

In 1855 Clapp was among those arrested in New York City while attending a meeting of the Free Love League

The two were close in age and congenial in their political sympathies.

Clapp's journal folded in 1860.

"The Literary Bohemians of New York City in the Mid-Nineteenth Century." Diss. St. John's U, 1977.