wishy washy walty?

          The first edition of Leaves of Grass did not burst onto the market and into the homes of folks. It was not in high demand, but Whitman wanted it to be- he wanted it to be carried around with all- physical or mentally. Like anything (ex. Movies) with potential, it is revised and redistributed as something familiar and also something new and different. I actually don’t have the 1855 version of the book (I ordered the wrong copy) and it’s been difficult for me to find it online in a way where I could accurately note the differences. From what I understand, his poems were originally title-less and the copy was much slimmer. Since then, he added more poems stretching the size of the book while altering what was already in the book. I have noticed that Song of Myself is altered in ambiguous locations (from what I’ve gone over) and the thought is there but my copy has a few more words here or there. It’s interesting that these differences DO create a new text, a modification. Some of the differences may be slight, but they alter the context and interpretation. He had more creative control with Thayer and Eldridge (1860) designing a more involved cover etc. He used this control to draw upon the idea of being one with nature, using a butterfly, sunrises and more ethereal subjects from nature.

            Whitman begs me to wonder: is there a true edition? Nabokov did a similar process with his novel Despair. He had his original edition, his English translation and then a revised edition later on. What does it mean for an author to alter what he/she writes, why can’t they? I asked my friend (an extremely talented art professor in my opinion) if he finished a painting I had seen him working on. He simply told me that no painting was ever really done, that they are all a work in progress forever. He worked with oil paints which take several days to dry, allowing for the artist to come back the next day and continue manipulating the painting as if there was no lapse in time. This ability to alter also distinguishes the painting as delicate- the paint can literally be wiped off the canvas, erasing all the work. As I took up painting for fun, I realized he was right. I literally leave certain parts of my paintings unfinished in order to keep that window open. (There is a small area here that is always left undone- it is reassuring to know that I can still change something.)

 I haven’t sprayed any sort of fixing agent on my paintings – they are not fixed. I think Whitman and company enjoy the freedom to change their mind, to change a word – add and subtract. Perhaps Whitman pioneered the idea of art as a process never to be finished. There can be no one true version because every version is true; they all represent an aspect of the complexities within the human who created it.