Whitman is a name everyone knows, along with Leaves of Grass. He is known as the father of free verse and is famous for leaving behind the rigid formulaic confines of European poetry. I recently enjoy a deep dive into his little known and never published 12-poem sequence, “Live Oak, with Moss.”
“Live Oak, with Moss” is believed to be a very intentional sequence of poems written as a “Gay Manifesto,” though the poems were later separated in publication. Since Fredson Bowers initially discovered the sequence in the early 1950s and published the discovery in Studies in Bibliography (1953), scholars such as Hershel Parker and Alan Helms have continued researching and discussing the sequence. There has been some debate as to the true title (with or without a comma), the versions of the poems in the sequence, along with the sequence’s overall interpretation – one weighted by abandonment, shame, and remorse, versus one lifted off the page in ebullience, liberation, and triumph.
Setting the enjoyable academic debate aside, Hershel Parker aptly notes, “We strengthen ourselves by acknowledging that the fact Whitman wrote “Live Oak, with Moss” can prove liberating to readers today, even though he did not publish it.” When I learned of this sequence penned sometime around 1858 or ‘59, I’ll admit to feeling a strong sense of glee.
It is difficult to find the sequence printed in full. The Alan Helms version can be found at the link below, but Hershel Parker’s is more difficult – reach out if you’re interested and I can share it!
The Hershel Parker version: Parker, Hershel. “The Real “Live Oak, with Moss”: Straight Talk about Whitman’s “Gay Manifesto”.” The Walt Whitman Archive. <https://whitmanarchive.org/item/anc.00157>.
The Alan Helms version: Helms, Alan. “Whitman’s ‘Live Oak with Moss’.” The Walt Whitman Archive. <https://whitmanarchive.org/media/data/whitman-criticism/source/pdf/anc.01061.pdf>.
Additional commentary can be enjoyed online in The Walt Whitman Archive.
marks in the sand 