Leaves of Grass: The First (1855) Edition
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As Malcolm Cowley says in his Introduction, the first edition of Leaves of Grass "might be called the buried masterpiece of American writing," for it exhibits "Whitman at his best, Whitman at his freshest in vision and boldest in language, Whitman transformed by a new experience." Cowley has taken the first edition from its narrow circulation among scholars, faithfully edited it, added his own Introduction and Whitman's original Introduction (which never appeared in any other edition during Whitman's life), and returned it to the common readership for whom the great poet intended it.
Introduction and CelebrationviiSuggestions for Further ReadingxxxixFacsimile Frontispiece2Facsimile Title Page3Whitman's Preface5Song of Myself28A Song for Occupations97To Think of Time109The Sleepers117I Sing the Body Electric129Faces137Song of the Answerer142Europe: The 72d and 73d Years of These States146A Boston Ballad148There Was a Child Went Forth151Who Learns My Lesson Complete?154Great Are the Myths156
