FEINBERG/WHITMAN    LITERARY FILE    POETRY FILE  "Unveil Thy Bosom, Faithful Tomb"(1865).  A. MS. draft.
Box 30  Folder 22

583
1865 April  Unveil thy Bosom,  Faithful Tomb:  poem.  A.MS.  (1p.  appr. 7½  x  17 cms.)

Written in pencil on a scrap of paper torn from a larger sheet,
bottom part missing,  36 words:

Unveil thy bosom, faithful tomb.
[April  1865]

Unveil thy bosom, faithful tomb;
Keep on—the precious gifts grow
[great indeed, more & more] plentiful
Thy [land], soil, [my] O land, [has] indeed
[mines] grows rich, [with]
[wh]

(Date and square brackets are by Whitman.)

1865

UNVEIL THY BOSOM,  FAITHFUL TOMB

Trial lines of a poem written immediately
following the death of Abraham Lincoln, in
which Whitman expresses the grief of the
people.

Unveil thy bosom, faithful tomb.
[April  1865]

Unveil thy bosom, faithful tomb.
Keep on—the precious gifts grow
[great indeed, more & more] plentiful
Thy [land], soil, [my] O land, [has] indeed
[mines] grows rich [with]

Transcribed and reviewed by contributors participating in the By The People project at crowd.loc.gov.