The first annex contains fifty-seven poems, all of them fairly short and written relatively late in Whitman’s life. They cover a wide range of topics, including American democracy, the birth of Lincoln and the death of Grant, and the beauty of the natural world. There is a particular focus on the sea as a symbol of untamed majesty and a source of inspiration for the poet.

From Montauk Point

The poet stands on a rock that resembles “some mighty eagle’s beak.” Gazing eastward, he sees nothing but sea and sky, as he stares out at the tossing waves and the ships in the distance. The wild waves with their “snowy, curling caps” seek the shore, and he watches them idly. 

As I Sit Writing Here

The poet says that not the least burden of old age and the sickness which comes with it is “aches, lethargy, constipation.” Instead, the impact of ceaseless boredom and gloom may taint his songs. 

Abraham Lincoln, Born February 12, 1809

A “breath of prayer—a pulse of thought” goes out to Lincoln’s memory from everyone in America on the day of his birth. 

Had I the Choice

If the poet had the choice to tally the greatest bards in history—Homer, Shakespeare, and Tennyson—he would gladly trade all these for “the undulation of one wave” or the breath of the sea upon his verse.

Election Day, November, 1884

The most powerful scene in the Western world is not Niagara Falls and not the canyons of Colorado; it is neither Yosemite, Yellowstone, nor the Mississippi River. Instead, it is an American election day. The essence of this lies in the democratic exercise of “the quadrennial choosing” rather than who is chosen. Throughout America, the ballots fall like snowflakes in “the peaceful choice of all.” The gusts and winds of democracy that blow on such days swell the sails of Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln.

Death of General Grant

The great actors on the stage of world history are withdrawing one by one. The “lurid, partial act of war and peace” is over, with both the victors and the vanquished mellowing in their graves. Abraham Lincoln and Robert E. Lee are dead, and now General Grant joins them: “Man of the mighty days—and equal to the days!”

To Get the Final Lilt of Songs

The poet remarks on the difficulty of appreciating “the final lilt of songs.” He lists some of the greatest poets in history: Job, Homer, Aeschylus, Dante, Shakespeare, Tennyson, and Emerson, commenting on how hard it is truly to understand and encompass them. The price of entry to this understanding is old age “and what it brings from all its past experiences.”

The Dying Veteran

The poet recalls a story from his boyhood, which he says is likely to offend the reader in “these days of order, ease, prosperity.” A savage old man who fought under Washington’s command in the Revolutionary War lay dying, surrounded by his sons, daughters, and the church deacon. They heard him mumbling, wishing that he could return to his time as a soldier, return to the cannon, the smoke, and the deafening noise. He wants nothing to do with the joys of peace and, with his dying breath, says: “Give me my old wild battle-life again!”

Twenty Years

Whitman chats with a newcomer on the wharf, who tells him that he first went to sea as a boy and has circled the globe in ships for more than twenty years. Coming back home, he finds that the familiar places have changed; the old landmarks are gone, and his parents are dead. He...