The New York Herald

Whitman published the largest number of his periodical poems—34 of them—in the New York Herald, founded by James Gordon Bennett as a "penny paper" in 1835. The Herald, one of the longest-running newspapers begun in the nineteenth century, was published daily, despite a few breaks in print, until it went out of print in 1924. The newspaper covered news, finance, amusements, sports, and provided editorials and extensive advertisements. With a circulation that ranged from around 30,000 in 1850 to its peak of 190,500 in 1885, the Herald was the most popular and well-read paper in the United States, known for printing a variety of domestic and international news, as well as for its sensational reporting style. Whitman's earliest appearance in the Herald was on November 9, 1842, when a "Wm. Whitman" was listed among the 52 leading newspaper writers of New York. On June 26, 1872, Whitman's first poem published in the paper, "As a Strong Bird on Pinions Free," was printed along with an article about the Dartmouth College graduation ceremonies, held on June 27. Several years later, in late 1887, James Gordon Bennett, Jr., now the editor of the Herald, invited Whitman to contribute a series of poems and prose pieces for the paper. From December 1887 through August 1888, 33 of Whitman's poems appeared, usually in the pages devoted to notices of amusements and performances.

Poems

"As a Strong Bird on Pinions Free." New York Herald 26 June 1872: 3. This poem was later published with seven other poems in a pamphlet, As a Strong Bird on Pinions Free (1872). It was later included as a supplement bound with Two Rivulets (1876). Later, Whitman changed the title to "Thou Mother with Thy Equal Brood," added a new opening stanza, and additional revisions, and incorporated the poem into Leaves of Grass (1881–82).

"As the Greeks Signal Flame." New York Herald 15 December 1887: 3. Reprinted in the Boston Daily Advertiser (17 December 1887); Munyon's Illustrated World (January 1888); and then in the "Sands at Seventy" annex to Leaves of Grass (1888).

"To Those Who've Fail'd." New York Herald 27 January 1888: 6. Reprinted in the "Sands at Seventy" annex to Leaves of Grass (1888).

"Halcyon Days." New York Herald 29 January 1888: 12. Reprinted in the "Sands at Seventy" annex to Leaves of Grass (1888).

"After the Dazzle of Day." New York Herald 3 February 1888: 4. Reprinted in the "Sands at Seventy" annex to Leaves of Grass (1888).

"America." New York Herald 11 February 1888: 4. Reprinted in the "Sands at Seventy" annex to Leaves of Grass (1888).

"Abraham Lincoln (Born Feb. 12, 1809)." New York Herald 12 February 1888: 12. Reprinted in the "Sands at Seventy" annex to Leaves of Grass (1888).

"True Conquerors." New York Herald 15 February 1888: 6. Reprinted in the "Sands at Seventy" annex to Leaves of Grass (1888).

"Soon Shall the Winter's Foil Be Here." New York Herald 21 February 1888: 6. Reprinted in the "Sands at Seventy" annex to Leaves of Grass (1888).

"The Dismantled Ship." New York Herald 23 February 1888: 4. Reprinted in the "Sands at Seventy" annex to Leaves of Grass (1888).

"Old Salt Kossabone." New York Herald. 25 February 1888: 6. Reprinted in the "Sands at Seventy" annex to Leaves of Grass (1888).

"Mannahatta." New York Herald 27 February 1888: 4. Reprinted in the "Sands at Seventy" annex to Leaves of Grass (1888).

"Paumanok." New York Herald 29 February 1888: 6. Reprinted in the "Sands at Seventy" annex to Leaves of Grass (1888).

"From Montauk Point." New York Herald 1 March 1888: 6. Reprinted in the "Sands at Seventy" annex to Leaves of Grass (1888).

"My Canary Bird." New York Herald 2 March 1888: 6. Reprinted in the "Sands at Seventy" annex to Leaves of Grass (1888).

"A Prairie Sunset." New York Herald 9 March 1888: 6. Reprinted in the "Sands at Seventy" annex to Leaves of Grass (1888).

"The Dead Emperor." New York Herald 10 March 1888: 6. Reprinted in the "Sands at Seventy" annex to Leaves of Grass (1888).

"The First Dandelion." New York Herald 12 March 1888: 4. Reprinted in the "Sands at Seventy" annex to Leaves of Grass (1888).

"The Wallabout Martyrs." New York Herald 16 March 1888: 4. Reprinted in the "Sands at Seventy" annex to Leaves of Grass (1888).

"The Bravest Soldiers." New York Herald 18 March 1888: 14. Reprinted in the "Sands at Seventy" annex to Leaves of Grass (1888).

"Orange Buds by Mail from Florida." New York Herald 19 March 1888: 4. Reprinted in the "Sands at Seventy" annex to Leaves of Grass (1888).

"Continuities." New York Herald 20 March 1888: 6. Reprinted in the "Sands at Seventy" annex to Leaves of Grass (1888).

"Broadway." New York Herald 10 April 1888: 6. Reprinted in the "Sands at Seventy" annex to Leaves of Grass (1888).

"Life." New York Herald 15 April 1888: 16. Reprinted in the "Sands at Seventy" annex to Leaves of Grass (1888).

"The Final Lilt of Songs." New York Herald 16 April 1888: 4. Reprinted as "To Get the Final Lilt of Songs" in the "Sands at Seventy" annex to Leaves of Grass (1888).

"To-day and Thee." New York Herald 23 April 1888: 6. Reprinted in the "Sands at Seventy" annex to Leaves of Grass (1888).

"Queries to My Seventieth Year." New York Herald 2 May 1888: 6. Reprinted in the "Sands at Seventy" annex to Leaves of Grass (1888).

"The United States to Old World Critics." New York Herald 8 May 1888: 6. Reprinted in the "Sands at Seventy" annex to Leaves of Grass (1888).

"Out of May's Shows Selected." New York Herald 10 May 1888: 6. Reprinted in the "Sands at Seventy" annex to Leaves of Grass (1888).

"As I Sit Writing Here." New York Herald 14 May 1888: 4. Reprinted in the "Sands at Seventy" annex to Leaves of Grass (1888).

"A Carol Closing Sixty-Nine." New York Herald 21 May 1888: 4. Reprinted in the "Sands at Seventy" annex to Leaves of Grass (1888).

"Life and Death." New York Herald 23 May 1888: 6. Reprinted in the "Sands at Seventy" annex to Leaves of Grass (1888).

"The Calming Thought of All." New York Herald 27 May 1888: 12. Reprinted in the "Sands at Seventy" annex to Leaves of Grass (1888).

"[Over and through the burial chant]." New York Herald 12 August 1888: 7. Reprinted as "Interpolation Sounds" in Good-Bye My Fancy (1891).

Bibliography

"Bennett, James Gordon." Dictionary of American Biography. Ed. Allen Johnson. Vol. 2. New York: American Council of Learned Societies, 1929.

Blodgett, Harold W., and Sculley Bradley, eds. Leaves of Grass: Comprehensive Reader's Edition. New York: New York University Press, 1965.

Greenspan, Ezra. Walt Whitman and the American Reader. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1990.

Mott, Frank Luther. American Journalism a History: 1690-1960. 3rd ed. New York: Macmillan Company, 1962.

Myerson, Joel. Walt Whitman: A Descriptive Bibliography. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1993.

Reynolds, David. Walt Whitman's America: A Cultural Biography. New York: Vintage, 1995.