The poem took on its first form as "A Song for Occupations", a piece of work that branches from the larger roots of "Song of Myself" and begins to let the idea of the "celebrated me" reach out to embrace and procreate with the hopefully-to-become the "celebrated you". It may be the time that this poem was read that may contribute to this, but the poem is refreshing in that it gives the reader a sense of uplifting and purpose, for it's a lovely reminder that, as proclaimed in "Song of Myself", that all are equally divine and wonderful in their own ways, and that it's important to remember that no one can be better than yourself. This song is a verse of the message from "Song of Myself" that makes call and reference to many members of the working class (the misunderstood folks), and aspires to bring them all together along with the all aspects of life and with the speaker. ("I intend to reach them my hand and make as much of them as I do of men and women." (p.52))
1856 -- "Poem of the Daily Work of Workmen and Workwomen of These States"
It's only been a year, but Whitman, much like in "Song of Myself", polishes this poem into fitting the structure of a more formal poem. He cleans up some punctuation, replacing ellipses with dashes, commas, and semicolons. However, one part that strikes me in particular is the following section:
"The wife, and she is not one jot less than the
husband!"
The daughter, and she is just as good as the
son!"
The mother, and she is every bit as much as the
father!"
As it is compared to the 1855 version:
"The wife -- and she is not one jot less than the husband,
The daughter -- and she is just as good as the son,
The mother -- and she is every bit as much as the father." (p.46)
Here, besides the changes from arrangement of lines and boldness derived from the inclusion of the exclamation points, there is this new emphasis of "husband", "son", and "father" from the two changes that bring in a new perspective. The title refers to not just "workmen" but "workwomen"; Whitman acknowledges all people, regardless of gender, and makes this more clear with the alterations. Around this time and earlier from the late 18th century to the 20th century, the women's rights movement sought for women's suffrage.
In addition to referring to the working class in the title, the section that lists out many, many, aspects of working life, here in the 1856 version, has been expanded to include not only more features and types of labor, but some more details in regards to the mentioned task. Whitman is making sure to include all (or as many as possible) forces of the working class into the poem, and portraying details to exhibit a sense of sharing the task and sharing understanding and ability with the equally understanding and able people.
Whitman, in this poem as a whole, introduces and supports the notion that people ought to look beyond the social norms and structures created artificially by the elite and see that they, themselves, are worth more than they think. Just as Whitman arranges the male-figure words so that they're about parallel to the female-figure words, he maintains his original voice as he poses parallels throughout the poem to unite all among the communal universe.
1860 -- "Chants Democratic. 3."
The poem has become a member of a larger group of poems under "Chants Democratic and Native American". It feels as though, here, Whitman has stripped the individuality of the poem and has brought it into an almost anonymous being. Perhaps this is done to give the character of being "anyone" to the poem among a large "chant" of people banded together. Taking a Greek and Roman Mythology class, this, to me, also reflects Nietzsche's idea of the Dionysian, that, to be engaging, amorphous, irrational, full of emotion to channel through, there's the sense of giving up one's individuality to join oneself with the communal cosmic order -- to embrace madness to become one with a divine source, something that can't be achieved with artificial, stable, Apollonian rationality alone.
But beyond that (or perhaps related), Whitman has introduced a new beginning to the poem. Here, he adds stanzas beckoning "Male and Female!" before the lines "I pass so poorly with paper and types, I must pass with the contacts of bodies and souls"; he includes "American masses!" to introduce the lines "I do not thank you for liking me as I am, and liking the touch of me -- I know that it is good for you to do so"; finally, he addresses "Workmen and workwomen!" before the lines that follow. Here, the voice of a chanting fellow is emphasized as one calling out, one calling for unity.
Which then raises an interesting note of the lines I quoted from before. In this poem, the lines revert to a similar punctuation as the version that comes from "A Song of Occupations", though maintains the new, formalized line structure (that creates parallels) of the 1860 version (though oddly this would only apply to the first and second lines). The exclamatory voice of 1856 has quieted as the chant leads into a almost chorus-like tone that is not just the speaker speaking, but a sense of many people taking on the persona of the speaker -- that coming together and merging that follows one person introducing the chant into becoming one with many to chant.
1871-72 -- "Carol of Occupations"
To me, a carol bears the connotation of more than one person singing to a song, and it's this collective participation that makes the song/poem give it's true meaning of bonds. In regards to its earlier source, "A Song for Occupations", it returns to the ideas of the working class who are occupied with their trades. As the 1856's title labels the poem's service to reach out to these people, a new line from this poem serves the same function:
"This is the carol of occupations;
In the labor of engines and trades, and the labor of
fields, I find the developments,
And find the eternal meanings."
In addition to serving as an introduction, these lines do well to conclude and round up the essence of the poem's meaning -- the reader dives through the poem and take in the many details of labor, the ideas of being worth something more, and have them reverberate throughout to take in the words Whitman wants to share.
This poem, however, has strayed even farther from its roots, (even "Walt Whitman" a version of "Song of Myself" no longer follows the introduction). There's also the editing of "-ed" verbs becoming "'d" verbs, perhaps alluding to the old, widely respected texts and tones from poets such as Shakespeare. The lines of the gender figures now include a semicolon dividing the sentences, showing not only a separation of thoughts between them but also a new sense of organization in syntax that comes from a "higher" sense of writing -- being "learnt".
But a very noticeable change to the poem comes from the ending stanza of the previous aforementioned versions being moved to (and having one line completely changed) a section closer to the middle, with a whole new ending replacing it with another stanza:
| Happiness, knowledge, not in another place, but this place—not for another hour, but this hour; |
| Man in the first you see or touch—always in friend, brother, nighest neighbor—Woman in mother, lover, wife; |
| The popular tastes and employments taking precedence in poems or any where, |
| You workwomen and workmen of These States having your own divine and strong life, |
| And all else giving place to men and women like you. |
Several of these lines come from version of the poems as earliest as the 1860 version, as if, over time, Whitman brings new ideas together to create this new ending, a new ending that refreshingly reaffirms his true message of every person, especially to the working class who may not see this, that there's this sense of being that is far greater than anything, within all.
1881-82 & 1891-92 -- "A Song for Occupations"
The cycling of thought brings us back to the original title after all these years. It's peculiar to note as well that these last two versions of "Leaves of Grass" are oddly similar, as if there was hardly any changes between the two. The poem is found close to the beginning middle of the entire collection, distant from it's roots, "Song of Myself" (which has also returned to it's former title).
The poems, here, strangely, revert back to the original ending, as if Whitman may wanted to return to the roots of showing that, regardless of anything, he'll be out there with open arms to all people. But he keeps the new ending as a penultimate lead into the ending, maintaining the conclusion's message. The cycle blends the exclamations of older versions, the higher use of poetic format from later versions, the chanting individualistic voice that beckons all from 1860, and the communal carol with all as one from 1871, essentially bringing all voices into this latest version, symbolically taking all parts into a new whole.
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