Once a Week

Within three months of Whitman's death on 26 March 1892, three of his poems appeared in Once a Week, An Illustrated Weekly Newspaper. Once A Week, founded by P.F. Collier in 1889, was the offshoot of the popular Collier's Library of fiction and eventually became Collier's, The National Weekly, which was published until 1957. Determined to promote his editions of fiction, Collier established Once A Week as a family newspaper with stories, humor, comics, and theater reviews. The editor, Nugent Robinson, who accepted Whitman's work, was widely regarded for his high standards and commitment to first-rate contributors, including H. Rider Haggard, Julian Hawthorne, and James Whitcomb Riley. The weekly was also known for its numerous illustrations, which appeared on virtually every one of its sixteen pages. "[On, On the Same, Ye Jocund Twain]" and "[Unseen Buds]" were published on the same day on 9 June 1891, more than two months after Whitman's death. Whitman's third piece in the newspaper, "A Thought of Columbus," was promoted by his friend Horace Traubel as the poet's final poem. A week after "A Thought of Columbus" appeared, Once a Week printed a facsimile of Whitman's manuscript under the title "The Good Gray Poet's Last Verses." Two weeks after the poem's first printing, Traubel published an article in the magazine explaining the circumstances under which Whitman composed the poem, writing that the poet was inspired by a newspaper article about the four hundredth anniversary of the arrival of Christopher Columbus in the "New World."

Poems

"[On, On the Same, Ye Jocund Twain]." Once a Week (9 June 1891). Reprinted in Good-bye My Fancy (1891). Transcription not currently available. The Whitman Archive has not yet verified publication information for this poem.

"[Unseen Buds]." Once a Week (9 June 1891). Reprinted in Good-bye My Fancy (1891). Transcription not currently available. The Whitman Archive has not yet verified publication information for this poem.

"A Thought of Columbus." Once a Week (2 July 1892): 4.

Bibliography

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

Mott, Frank Luther. A History of American Magazines, 1885–1905. Vol. 4. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard UP, 1957.

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

Stuckey-French, Ned. "A Thought of Columbus." Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia. Ed. J. R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings. New York: Garland, 1998.