Outing: A Journal of Recreation

Founded in Albany, New York in 1882, Outing: A Journal of Recreation was a part of a new trend in catering to leisure time activities, such as fishing, bicycling, and yachting. The editor, William Bailey Howland, published news about resorts and travel articles and also included fiction and poetry. Outing was not well-financed, however, and the magazine had a difficult start, published for a few months in 1882–1883, closed, and then started again in April 1885. Whitman published "The Voice of the Rain" in August 1885, after Outing had merged with Wheelman, a cycling magazine, and the new Outing expanded to include articles on a wide range of recreational sports, such as tennis, rowing, and lacrosse, as well as additional articles on travel and exploration. Whitman's first choice for "The Voice of the Rain" had been Harper's, he noted in his daybook, but he sent it next to Outing and received a payment of $12.00.

Poems

"The Voice of the Rain." Outing 6 (August 1885): 570. Reprinted in the "Sands at Seventy" annex to Leaves of Grass (1888).

Bibliography

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

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

Whitman, Walt. Daybooks and Notebooks. Ed. William White. Vol. 2. The Collected Writings of Walt Whitman. New York: New York University Press, 1978.