How to use the notes on pp. 789-864 of

Walt Whitman: The Complete Poems

Ø To find out which poems were in the 1855 edition of Leaves of Grass and which ones were added in 1856, search through the notes on these pages for the dates 1855 and 1856. If you see 1855, then the poem was in the first edition.

Ø If you see 1856 and NOT 1855, then the poem was added in 1856.

Ø If you see something like this

title] LG 1867

at the beginning of a note, it means the poem got its current TITLE in 1867; that‘s not the first time it was published, however. Read the rest of the note and find the earliest date.

Let’s take the poem, “A Woman Waits for Me,” whose note, found on p. 797, is reproduced below:

title] LG 1867; Poem of Procreation LG 1856; Enfans d’Adam, No. 4

LG 1860.

Ø This means the poem got its current title in the 1867 edition of Leaves of Grass; it was called “Poem of Procreation” when it was published in the1856 edition of Leaves of Grass; it was called “Enfans d’Adam” No. 4 in the 1860 edition of Leaves of Grass.

Ø So this poem was first published in 1856; we can tell this because there is no earlier date given in the note.

You can tell where to find a note on a particular poem by seeing what page number the poem is on and then going to the section of notes that includes the page. The same goes for sections of poems and the notes on the sections, such as Children of Adam or Calamus.