The texts in this anthology should NOT be cited as direct quotations from Whitman.

Many lines, and even whole stanzas, in this anthology are direct quotations. But often they combine words from different sources in Whitman’s work. I have split up his poetry and prose into separate lines, or parts of lines, and combined those with words that treat the same theme from other Whitman sources, to create new poems and prose paragraphs. Some of my individual lines combine sets of words from different sources.

Occasionally I have changed a few words, or the order of the words, to create verses that read more smoothly, without changing the sense of the line. In a very few instances I have changed or added words in ways that do change the sense, to better reflect my own thoughts, values, and experience. (Read more about this in “The Editor’s Creative Role.”) More often I resisted the temptation to add or change words that would change the sense. I have tried to let the poet speak for himself.

Passages from this anthology may be quoted, without any permission or restriction, as long as the citation makes it clear that they are from In the Words of Walt Whitman, not from Whitman’s own writings.

FINDING THE SOURCE OF A PASSAGE:
I chose not to cite the sources of the words in the anthology, because I did not want an endless series of footnotes to interfere with the reading experience. To find the source of any specific line or set of words, you can use the Whitman Quote Finder: https://whitman-quote-finder.emergent.host

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