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There are 175 comments in this document
  1. MANNAHATTA (2)
  2. PAUMANOK (1)
  3. FROM MONTAUK POINT (1)
  4. TO THOSE WHO’VE FAIL’D (1)
  5. A CAROL CLOSING SIXTY-NINE (1)
  6. THE BRAVEST SOLDIERS (1)
  7. A FONT OF TYPE (1)
  8. AS I SIT WRITING HERE (2)
  9. MY CANARY BIRD (2)
  10. QUERIES TO MY SEVENTIETH YEAR (4)
  11. THE WALLABOUT MARTYRS (3)
  12. THE FIRST DANDELION (1)
  13. AMERICA (2)
  14. MEMORIES (1)
  15. TO-DAY AND THEE (2)
  16. AFTER THE DAZZLE OF DAY (2)
  17. ABRAHAM LINCOLN, BORN FEB. 12, 1809 (1)
  18. OUT OF MAY’S SHOWS SELECTED (1)
  19. HALCYON DAYS (1)
  20. FANCIES AT NAVESINK (20)
  21. ELECTION DAY, NOVEMBER, 1884 (2)
  22. WITH HUSKY-HAUGHTY LIPS, O SEA! (17)
  23. DEATH OF GENERAL GRANT (4)
  24. RED JACKET (FROM ALOFT.) (1)
  25. WASHINGTON’S MONUMENT, FEBRUARY, 1885 (4)
  26. OF THAT BLITHE THROAT OF THINE (11)
  27. BROADWAY (1)
  28. TO GET THE FINAL LILT OF SONGS (6)
  29. OLD SALT KOSSABONE (1)
  30. THE DEAD TENOR (10)
  31. CONTINUITIES. [From a talk I had lately with a German spiritualist.] (1)
  32. YONNONDIO (7)
  33. LIFE (2)
  34. “GOING SOMEWHERE.” (2)
  35. SMALL THE THEME OF MY CHANT (0)
  36. TRUE CONQUERORS (2)
  37. THE UNITED STATES TO OLD WORLD CRITICS (2)
  38. THE CALMING THOUGHT OF ALL (3)
  39. THANKS IN OLD AGE (1)
  40. LIFE AND DEATH (1)
  41. THE VOICE OF THE RAIN (4)
  42. SOON SHALL THE WINTER’S FOIL BE HERE (6)
  43. WHILE NOT THE PAST FORGETTING (1)
  44. THE DYING VETERAN. [A Long Island incident — early part of the present century.] (1)
  45. STRONGER LESSONS (0)
  46. A PRAIRIE SUNSET (4)
  47. TWENTY YEARS (2)
  48. ORANGE BUDS BY MAIL FROM FLORIDA (2)
  49. TWILIGHT (5)
  50. YOU LINGERING SPARSE LEAVES OF ME (1)
  51. NOT MEAGRE, LATENT BOUGHS ALONE (1)
  52. THE DEAD EMPEROR (2)
  53. AS THE GREEK’S SIGNAL FLAME. [For Whittier’s eightieth birthday, December 17, 1887.] (0)
  54. THE DISMANTLED SHIP (0)
  55. NOW PRECEDENT SONGS, FAREWELL (0)
  56. AN EVENING LULL (0)
  57. OLD AGE’S LAMBENT PEAKS (0)
  58. AFTER THE SUPPER AND TALK (0)
  59. By That Long Scan of Waves (16)
Avatar of bmzreece bmzreece
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Whitman's simple, optimistic poem is amazingly among those which caused uproar in his day. Whitman's poem celebrates the great level of American civilization in its [America's] ability to deliver a parcel across "a thousand miles" through storm and snow in a mere 3 days. But citizens suffering misfortune at the time, due to the March blizzard of 1888 that blindsided the coast, took great offense at Whitman's optimism and good fortune and many wrote poems mocking Whitman [though most of these took particular aim at "The First Dandelion," published 6 days earlier]. For more, see these notes from the Walt Whitman Archive: http://www.whitmanarchive.org/published/periodical/poems/per.00126
Avatar of bmzreece bmzreece
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The part of the poem that Whitman's contemporary readers seemed to miss, Whitman indicates his purpose in writing.
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