Fanny Wright

In David Reynolds review of the biography Fanny Wright, Rebel in America by Celia Morris Eckhardt, he summarizes the public’s view of Fanny Wright as such:

To her enemies, she was the ''Red Harlot of Infidelity,'' whose ideas, if put into practice, would turn the world into ''one vast immeasurable brothel.'' To her admirers, she was a bold apostle of liberation and equality in an age of prudish sexual mores, widening class division and slavery.

Fanny Wright was an uncompromising social activist who seems to have been no stranger to controversy in her day. Originally born in Scotland, Wright traveled to the U.S. when young and while a proponent of the social system she found in place in the U.S. relative to what she viewed as the corrupt social and political fabric of Europe, she found no shortage of problems with the U.S. social system as well. While diverse in the causes she pursued, she was particularly active in promoting the causes of racial equality, female equality, and the plight of the poor. She was polemical in her attacks on organized religion, greed, and capitalism, and the resulting social injustices caused by these institutions.

In many ways, Fanny Wright feels like a “radicalized” version of Whitman. Whitman maintained similar points of view with respect to racial and female equality which he speaks about frequently in his poetry. Unlike Wright, Whitman was not willing to pursue more extremist ends though to achieve change in the status quo. He preferred to believe that the pleas of his poetry would be sufficient to ultimately affect change. Similar to Wright, Whitman also maintained a somewhat negative view of institutions such as the church and various aspects of the U.S. government. Instead of viewing them as inherently evil though, he took a softer stance viewing them as poor representations of the noble underpinnings which they theoretically were based on. It is unclear if Whitman ever met Wright, but it’s clear that he was a reader of her writing and was influenced by many of her ideas.

The Evolution of A Song for Occupations

A Song for Occupations (“ASFO”) is very much an extension of some of the themes highlighted in Song of Myself. So much so that Whitman begins ASFO with a comment regarding the “unfinished business” of the poem. As in Song of Myself, the individual remains the focus and the recognition of the soul the panacea for all. As an extension of this, there is a similar general dismissal of institutions, be they government, business or religion, in favor of the self. The “every atom” line that opens Song of Myself is essentially repeated as Whitman again invites his reader to push close to him and to give/take all the best they possess. Whitman again outlines his views on the equality of all people (“Is it you that thought the President greater than you? or the rich better off than you?”) and aligns himself personally with the workingman. Ultimately, ASFO is Whitman’s commentary on the paradox he sees in the everyday work of common people. On the one hand, he sees one’s labor as providing hints at the underlying nature of one’s soul while on the other hand viewing labor to be separate and not intrinsic to one’s identity as a person:

…In them [the occupations] the heft of the heaviest…. in them far more than you estimated, and far
less also,
In them realities for you and me…. in them poems for you and me, [Added in 1860 version]
In them, not yourself…. you and your soul enclose all things, regardless of estimation,
In them your themes and hints and provokers.. if not, the whole earth has no
themes or hints or provokers, and never had.

Whitman clearly sees one’s “occupation” as a window to their soul. In a later version of the poem, he adds to the opening: “In the labor of engines and trades and the labor of fields, I find the developments and find the eternal meetings.” It is interesting that Whitman himself had so many occupations in his early lifetime – a diverse occupational existence, one might call it, which certainly meshes with the diversity of his poetry and its themes.

There is something blasphemous about laying out Whitman in tabular format but it seemed to me the most effective way to capture the basic changes to the poem in the various editions -- see the summary below for some notes on each edition. In general, the poem gradually shifts from a position of prominence in the 1855/56 editions, to slightly less prominence in the 1860 edition (still up front but a segment of a larger poem), to less prominence in the 1867 and beyond editions. While the poem is moved to the middle of the collection in the 1867 edition, Whitman continued to make meaningful revisions to this edition. Beyond 1867, the poem remains substantially the same with the exception of the elimination of the original lines of the poem in 1882. In general, the poem initially expands from its original version and then contracts somewhat in Whitman’s middle age years before settling into a “final” version in 1867. It is certainly difficult to parse the “shifting identity” of the poem in a couple of sittings (I feel like I could spend a whole week on this), but overall I get the sense that Whitman’s connection to the themes of ASFO diminishes over time. As his popularity and success increased, Whitman could possibly have felt less connected to the “rough” workingman he considered himself to be in his early days. I have not read the other poems that received higher billing in the later editions, so I can’t comment on where his attentions shifted or how he portrays himself in these poems. And while it’s totally unfair for me to draw formal conclusions based on what are purely personal speculations, I can’t help but be a little disappointed in Whitman. It’s a bit to me like seeing Alice Cooper playing in celebrity golf tournaments (which he does frequently). I keep waiting for him to do something outrageous like spit blood on the other golfers or eat a live chicken, but instead, I quickly realize he is just there to play golf because he enjoys it. Just like all the other straight laced golfers. Such a bummer!

1855 Edition:
Title: No title given
Location: 2^nd of 12 poems
Major Changes to Text: None / initial version
Other Comments: None

1856 Edition:
Title: Poem of the Daily Work of the Workmen and Workwomen of These States
Location: 4^th of 32 poems
Major Changes to Text: Punctual; Significant additions to working categories at end of poem (“The Brewery…”, “electric telegraph…”, “Coins and medals…”, etc.); Addition to final stanza: “When I can touch the body of books… and when they touch my body back again”
Other Comments: Maintains prominent position within overall text

1860 Edition:
Title: Chants Democratic
Location: Third poem in considerably larger volume (behind Walt Whitman and proto-leaf)
Major Changes to Text: Additions of “Male and Female!” and “Workmen and Workwomen!” to opening lines of poem ; Strikes “Utahan” and “Iroquois” lines; In working categories at end of poem, adds: “In them realities for you and me… in them poems for you and me.”; Intro to final stanza adds: “…All I love America for, is contained in men and women like you.”
Other Comments: Original text comprises 3^rd section of new longer poem (Chants Democratic)

1867 Edition:
Title: To Workingmen
Location: Poem moved to back half of collection
Major Changes to Text: Key new stanza to beginning of poem: “This is the poem of occupations; In the labor… I find the developments, and find the eternal meanings.”; Kills line “If you see a good deal remarkable in me I see just as much remarkable in you.”; Kills line “I see and hear you, and what you give and take…”; Kills line “The naïve, the simple and hardy, he going to the polls to vote…”; Word addition “Camerado”; Moves ending stanza to middle of poem; Adds line” Strange and hard that paradox true I give; Objects gross and the unseen Soul are one.”; Reworks and shortens the working categories at end of poem; Strikes mention of President in final stanza
Other Comments: Poem feels less substantial both in terms of placement and length

1872 Edition:
Title: Carol of Occupations
Location: Middle of collection
Major Changes to Text: Poem remains substantially the same as the 1867 version
Other Comments: None

1882 Edition:
Title: A Song for Occupations
Location: Poem remains in middle of collection but moves up slightly
Major Changes to Text: Kills first eight lines of original poem; Starts with addition of “A song for occupations!” and picks up with “In the labor of engines…”; He moves the original closing lines of 1855 version back to the end of the poem from the middle.
Other Comments: None

1892 Edition:
Title: A Song for Occupations
Location: Substantially the same position as 1882 edition
Major Changes to Text: Essentially no changes to poem
Other Comments: None

The Bowery B'Hoys

There is a lot of great information out there on the Bowery B’Hoys. In general, the term Bowery B’Hoys refers to the groups of young working class men who frequented the Bowery section of lower Manhattan for entertainment in the 1830’s/40’s. According to the book Five Points: The 19th Century New York City Neighborhood that Invented Tap Dance, Stole Elections, and Became the World's Most Notorious Slum by Tyler Anbinder (lengthy but great title!), the bowery b’hoys “loved fun, adventure, hard drinking, and a night out with his pals.” While the group had a unique style of dress (which was partially tied to their frequent role as firefighters), the book also quotes George C. Foster who described a unique attitude maintained by most bowery b’hoys: “the governing sentiment, pride and passion of the B’hoy is independence – that he can do as he pleases and is able, under all circumstances, to take care of himself. He abhors dependence, obligation.” The book goes on to further describe the bowery b’hoys as maintaining a commitment to family and friends, a dislike of the aristocracy, and a love of adventure (known for feats of courage). In addition, they are described as typically being native Americans working as tradespeople.

The bowery b’hoys status as working class men was certainly one that appealed to Whitman. While Song of Myself espouses little animosity for any group (excluding a few pokes at the upper class), Whitman certainly related to the working class and functions through his poetry as a champion of the common working person regardless of class status – man, woman, white, black, etc. According to David Reynolds, Whitman frequently mixed with the bowery b’hoys, attending plays and other forms of entertainment and tried to capture the “vitality and defiance” of the b’hoys in his poetry. And while Whitman was not a fan of the frequent violence in lower Manhattan that was sometimes associated with the bowery b’hoys, he held their defiance in high regard – as he states in his preface to Leaves of Grass: “A heroic person walks at his ease through and out of that custom or precedent or authority that suits him not.” In this sense, Whitman was certainly a b’hoy himself.