INTRODUCTION
TO “DEATH-BED” EDITION
In the thirty-six years between the First Edition
of Leaves of Grass and the so-called “Death-bed” Edition,
Whitman’s original collection of twelve poems grew to more than 400
poems. Each of the original twelve appeared in some form in the
“Death-bed” Edition. Other poems were created from lines extracted
from other works: “Youth, Day, Old Age and Night,” for example, is
comprised of lines 19 through 22 of “[Great Are the Myths].”ad The
1860 poem “States!” was excluded from the final edition of
Leaves; instead it formed the basis for “Over the Carnage
Rose Prophetic a Voice” and “For You, 0 Democracy.” Most of the new
poems were inspired by national events as much as by Walt’s
personal history. Just as he had prophesied in the 1855 preface,
the poet’s spirit “responds to his country’s spirit.” Whitman’s
Leaves of Grass was an ever-developing idea, itself a song
that evolved as organically as its title suggests, along with the
singer and his subject.
For those interested in the complex publication
history of Whitman’s poems, the section “Publication Information”
at the end of this book provides dates and title changes. Below is
a list of editions Whitman published during his lifetime:
1855 (First Edition): Two impressions the same
year, the later one with preliminary leaves including three of
Whitman’s very positive, anonymous self-reviews.
1856 (Second Edition): A single impression,
including Emerson’s congratulatory letter in a promotional section
entitled “Leaves-Droppings.”
1860-1861 (Third Edition): Two impressions of the
same text, which included special titled groupings of poems
(“clusters”) for the first time.
1865 (Drum-Taps): A separate book of poems
on the Civil War, not initially part of Leaves of Grass but
an important later addition and defining collection.
1865-1866 (Sequel to Drum-Taps): Bound in
with Drum-Taps after Lincoln’s death.
1867 (Fourth Edition): Leaves of Grass
poems, plus the annexes “Drum-Taps,” “Sequel to Drum-Taps,” and
“Songs before Parting.”
1871, 1872, 1876 (Fifth Edition): The Fifth
Edition was published in Washington, D.C., in 1871 with ten new
poems, and republished again later that year with the separately
paginated section Passage to India, also published as a
separate volume that year. The 1872 impression contains the annexes
“Passage to India” and “After All, Not to Create Only.” The 1876
impression came out in two variants: Leaves of Grass: Author’s
Edition, with Portraits and Intercalations and Leaves of
Grass: Author’s Edition, with Portraits from Life; a companion
volume entitled Two Rivulets accompanied both Author’s
Editions.
1881, 1882, 1883, 1884, 1888, 1889, 1891—1892
(Sixth Edition): The 1881 plates were used in all subsequent
impressions of Leaves of Grass during Whitman’s lifetime,
though each of these editions has some individuating features (such
as annexes, covers, or altered poem titles).
Most readers are introduced to the “Death-bed”
Edition as “the” Whitman text and are confounded by the book’s
actual prior history. Why did Whitman revise Leaves of Grass
so frequently? Here was a man who needed to sell his work,
without family money, rich friends, or another substantial income;
here was a newspaper editor and journalist who was skilled at (and
even enjoyed) the task of editing; here was a poet striving to
write a people’s poetry, always ready to respond to new stimuli and
revise his definitions. The year before his death, however, Whitman
apparently realized that he would have to put his various editions
in some preferential order. He thus gave his blessing to the
“Death-bed” Edition, published as indicated on the title page in
“1891-‘2.” “As there are now several editions of L. of G.,
different texts and dates, I wish to say that I prefer and
recommend this present one,” Whitman notes on the verso of the
title page. The “Death-bed” Edition thereby became the staple of
Whitman anthologies.
The editors of the authoritative Leaves of
Grass: A Textual Variorum of the Printed Poems (see “For
Further Reading”) note that there is a major problem with accepting
Whitman’s pronouncement: The text approved by Whitman was not
necessarily the same one that later bore his letter of approval.
About a hundred presentation copies of the “approved” edition that
were issued were actually the uncorrected 1888 Leaves of
Grass poems; later, the corrected 1889 plates were issued with
the same green cloth binding used for the uncorrected 1888 plates
(for more details, see volume I of the Variorum, pp.
xxiv-xxv). To avoid problems and confusion, the current edition is
based on the Variorum text, still the definitive example of
Whitman’s actual “Death-bed” Leaves of Grass.
There are many benefits to beginning one’s study of
Whitman with the 1891-1892 edition. These are, after all, the poems
Whitman thought best represented a lifetime of writing. Helpful
features not included in some prior editions (such as section
numbers) make long poems easier to read and study. Several major
“clusters” of poems are maintained, important prose pieces (such as
“A Backward Glance o‘er Travel’d Roads”) are included, and two
annexes (“Sands at Seventy” and “Good-Bye My Fancy”) are added for
the first time. It is a large, impressive collection that resists
chronological order and often groups poems by “idea.”
—Karen Karbiener