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Whitman Archive Title: [Iron works]
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Whitman Archive ID: nyp.00021
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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
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Date: 1855–1856
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Genre: poetry, prose
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Physical Description: 1 leaf, handwritten
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1
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Content:
Prose notes and poetic lines that relate to "A Song for Occupations," which first appeared in the 1856 edition of
Leaves of Grass
, under the title "Poem of the Daily Work of the Workmen and Workwomen of These States." The title of this poem shifted throughout the editions of
Leaves of Grass
, and included the following variants: "Chants Democratic,"
"The Workingmen," and "Carol of Occupations." Whitman finally settled on the title, "A Song for Occupations," in the 1881–1882 edition. The line, "The forge-fires in the mountains...the men around, feeling the melt with huge crowbars" appeared slightly revised in both early and late versions of this poem. Other ideas detailed in the prose portion of this manuscript can be found in this poem; however, the connection of this manuscript to Whitman's published prose work is unclear.
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