Content:
Whitman probably drafted this manuscript in the early 1850s as he was composing the first (1855) edition of
Leaves of Grass
. The fragmentary lines may relate to a section on touch included in the first poem in that edition, eventually titled "Song of Myself." Poetic lines on the back of this manuscript leaf (uva.00256) relate to lines in the poem eventually titled "The Sleepers."
