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As a Strong Bird on Pinions Free

  • Whitman Archive Title: As a Strong Bird on Pinions Free
  • Whitman Archive ID: nyp.00003
  • Repository: Catalog of the Walt Whitman Literary Manuscripts in The Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature, The New York Public Library
  • Box: Manuscript box.
  • Date: around 1872
  • Genre: poetry
  • Physical Description: 14 leaves, handwritten
  • View Images: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28
  • Content: A copy of "As a Strong Bird on Pinions Free" with directions to the printer, as returned to Whitman from the printing office. "As a Strong Bird on Pinions Free" was first published in the New York Herald on 26 June 1872. Afterward the poem was published with seven others 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, made additional revisions, and incorporated the poem into Leaves of Grass (1881–82). This manuscript was presented by the author to Richard J. Hinton, who in turn presented it to J. H. Johnston.

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