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Printed poem proof entitled "Of that Blithe Throat of Thine," one page, 5.25 x 4, no date but circa 1884–1885, boldly signed at the conclusion in ink, "Walt Whitman." After a brief statement setting the scene—approaching the North Pole, "the song of a single snow-bird merrily sounding over the desolation"—the poem begins: "Of that blithe throat of thine from artic bleak and blank, / I'll mind the lesson, solitary bird: let me too welcome chilling drifts, / E'en the profoundest chill, as now—a torpid pulse, a brain unnerv'd, / Old age land-lock'd within its Winter bay—(cold, cold, O cold!) / These snowy hairs, my feeble arm, my frozen feet, / For them thy faith, thy rule I take, and grave it to the last; / Not summer's zones alone—not chants of youth, or south's warm tides alone, / But held by sluggish floes, pack'd in the northern ice, the cumulus of years— / These with gay heart I also sing." Attractively double-matted and framed with a portrait to an overall size of 17.25 x 11.5. In fine condition, small stains from prior mounting at the top.
The 1955 Detroit Public Library catalog, entitled 'Walt Whitman, A Selection of Manuscripts, Books and Association Items gathered by Charles E. Feinberg,' states that this proof of the poem "Of that Blithe Throat of Thine," was one of the series sent to various publishers and friends. Whitman's instructions to the printer, written on one of the copies in the Detroit collection, were to 'Correct carefully then take 50 impressions on paper like this (so as to write on) ab't this size 20 as here with the name then take out the name (Walt Whitman) & print the other 30 - (try to give good impressions a good clean job).'
The twenty with the printed signature were sent to magazines and newspapers, while the thirty autographed copies of which this is one were distributed by Whitman personally. The first magazine to use the poem was Harper's Monthly, which ran it in the January 1885 issue. This proof, then, may date from the latter part of 1884. The poet was at this time suffering from illness and was unable to produce more than a few new pieces.
In 1888, after not publishing a book for seven years, he came out with November Boughs. This collection included "Of that Blithe Throat of Thine," which was subsequently reprinted in the 'Sands at Seventy' portion of the 1889 Leaves of Grass.
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