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The Elder Brother of the

  • Whitman Archive Title: The Elder Brother of the
  • Whitman Archive ID: med.00911
  • Repository: Catalog of Unlocated Walt Whitman Manuscripts
  • Date: Before or early in 1855
  • Genre: poetry, prose
  • Physical Description: number of leaves unknown, handwritten
  • View Images: currently unavailable
  • Content: The phrasing and imagery in this manuscript are reminiscent of the following line of the first poem in the 1855 edition of Leaves of Grass , ultimately titled "Song of Myself": "And I know that the spirit of God is the eldest brother of my own" (1855, p. 16). Because this manuscript has not been located it is difficult to speculate on the circumstances of its composition, but it is possible that it was written in the early 1850s as Whitman was preparing materials for the first edition of Leaves of Grass .
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