|
[at least several letters torn away]and
Starry [Uni?]on
Hands Ro[und]
|
|
[See!?] see! see! where the sun is beaming! |
| See! see! all
see
! how
all the ^
bright stars, they
are
a-gleaming!
? all the stars a-gleaming!
|
|
? O See by day [how the sun is beaming]
|
| What the word
charm
of power unbroken? |
|
O what ? Columbia's
|
| What the Charm
word
spell
of heavens ownly
God's
ceaseless
[several letters illegible]n token? |
|
Union all! O its Union all!
? O its hand in hand, & a Union of all
|
|
O its all for
in
each & its each for
in
all
|
What Columbia's mystic
?
[one word illegible]
friendliest
token‑ |
'Ti
l
s
the hands we take for the Union of all
|
Her
s
e's
mine—give me thine—for the Union of all
|
| What Columbia's friendliest token? |
|
'Tis the hands we take
All hands round
for the Union all! |
| Here's mine—give me thine—for the Union all |
|
| |
| Stars of the sky
up above
in eternal lustre |
| Stars of the earth
States
in a compact clustre |
| Clasping, holding, earthward, heavenward |
|
Onward, on,
|
| Circling, circling,
moving
roundward & onward |
|
As our hands we grasp
All hands round
for the Union all |
| Here's mine—give me thine—for the Union all |
|
| |
| |
 [Leaf 1 verso]
|
| Red, white, blue
[to?]
in[one word torn away]
eastward
[one word torn away], western westward |
| Red, white, blue, to the sou to the sou
northern
, southern, southern
with the breezes waving
|
| All including,
combining,
folding, loving, |
|
E Northward, Southward, Westward moving |
| O its all hands round for the |
|
Union all! O its Union all |
| Here's mine—give me thine—for the Union all |
|
O its all ^
for each—and each for al
|
|
[paper glued]
|
|
Ever O orbs, be it
Hand in hand clasping
[linking,?]
holding,
^
clasping, circling earthward, or heavenward! |
| Onward! onward! onward! onward! |
|
[paper glued]
|
| Stars of
for
the sky in their eternal
the eternal
an refulgent eternal
lustre |
| Stars of
for here
the world
^
earth
in the in the
an
endless endless
a
in a compact
cluster |
|
Of Union all
Then our hands here we give
for the Union all! |
| O its all for each
hand round
—and each for all! |
|
Ever orbs in
|
|
Ever
O
Orbs
of
to
be it
[about one word illegible]
[earthward?]
a[at least one letter illegible]
|
|
|
-
Date
- Sculley Bradley and Harold Blodgett believe (with a certainty they don't explain) that this manuscript was composed in 1876 in celebration of the United States centennial. See Leaves of Grass, Comprehensive Reader's Edition, p. 673. Another possibility is that the poem was composed when Whitman was drafting the cluster "Marches now the War is Over" in 1871.
-
Editorial note
- This poem was never published in Whitman's lifetime, though he worked on it through several different draft forms.
- The verso of leaf #1 is blank.
- The verso of leaf #2 is blank.
-
Location
- Hands Ro[und] MS quarto 24 | The Trent Collection of Walt Whitman Manuscripts, Duke University Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special Collections Library.
-
Whitman Archive ID
- duk.00024
|
