Leaves of Grass

This is the only poem in the first edition of Leaves of Grass that was previously published. It appeared in the New York Daily Tribune on June 21, 1850, under the title “Resurgemus,” Latin for “we will rise again.” It is also the earliest poem in the 1855 edition in terms of date of composition. In the second edition, it was titled “Poem of the Dead Young Men of Europe, The 72d and 73d Years of These States.” The poem assumed its present title, “Europe: The 72d and 73d Years of These States,” in the third edition in 1860.

The year 1848 was a significant one for the monarchies of Europe, as the spread of liberal, democratic, and nationalist ideas resulted in revolutions aimed at overturning the established order. Revolutionary activity in Sicily in January quickly spread to France, Germany, Italy, and the Austrian Empire. In many states, the revolutions achieved only minor changes and were defeated by military action; authoritarian governments were restored.

Whitman’s poem pays tribute to all the young men who died in the pursuit of freedom, encouraging the forces of revolution not to give in to failure but to keep fighting. It speaks to Whitman’s love of political liberty and his hatred of despotic rulers. One of only two political poems in the 1855 edition (the other is “A Boston Ballad”), this poem lacks the metaphysical and psychological perspectives of the collection’s other works, but it does carry the indomitable optimism that is a feature of the collection as a whole.