"Sea-Drift" is the title of a section of

Walt Whitman Walter Whitman (; May 31, 1819 – March 26, 1892) was an American poet, essayist and journalist. A humanist, he was a part of the transition between transcendentalism and realism, incorporating both views in his works. Whitman is among ...

's great poetic work ''

Leaves of Grass ''Leaves of Grass'' is a poetry collection by American poet Walt Whitman. Though it was first published in 1855, Whitman spent most of his professional life writing and rewriting ''Leaves of Grass'', revising it multiple times until his death. T ...

'', first published in 1855. It is a compilation of poems referring to the sea or the sea-shore. ''Sea-Drift'' follows the section titled ''A Broadway Pageant'', and precedes the section ''By The Roadside''. The poems included in ''Sea-Drift'' are: *''

Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking" by American poet Walt Whitman is one of his most complex and successfully integrated poems. Whitman used several new techniques in the poem. One is the use of images like bird, boy, sea. The influence of music ...

'' *''As I Ebb'd with the Ocean of Life'' *''Tears'' *''To the Man-of War Bird'' *''Aboard at a Ship's Helm'' *''On the Beach at Night'' *''The World Below the Brine'' *''On the Beach at Night Alone'' *''Song for All Seas, All Ships'' *'' Patrolling Barnegat'' *''After the Sea-Ship''

Musical settings

Various works of 20th-century classical music have been inspired by the poems. *'' Sea Drift''.

Frederick Delius Delius, photographed in 1907 Frederick Theodore Albert Delius ( 29 January 1862 – 10 June 1934), originally Fritz Delius, was an English composer. Born in Bradford in the north of England to a prosperous mercantile family, he resisted atte ...

set part of ''Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking'' for baritone solo, chorus and orchestra. It received its first performance in Germany ( Essen, Tonkünstler-verein, Josef Loritz (baritone), cond. Georg Witte) in 1906, and its first British performance, sung by

Frederic Austin Frederic William Austin (30 March 187210 April 1952) was an English baritone singer, a musical teacher and composer in the period 1905–30. He is best remembered for his restoration and production of ''The Beggar's Opera'' by John Gay and Joha ...

and conducted by Henry J. Wood, in autumn 1908 at the

Sheffield Sheffield is a city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire a ...

Festival. *''

A Sea Symphony ''A Sea Symphony'' is an hour-long work for soprano, baritone, chorus and large orchestra written by Ralph Vaughan Williams between 1903 and 1909. The first and longest of his nine symphonies, it was first performed at the Leeds Festival in ...

'' by Ralph Vaughan Williams. After an introduction ('Behold, the Sea Itself!' etc.), the text of ''A Song for All Seas, All Ships'' is taken up ('Today a rude brief recitative..'). The second movement takes as its text ''On the Beach at Night Alone.'' The poems of the last two movements are taken from elsewhere in ''Leaves of Grass''. The Symphony was completed and published in 1909: the composer conducted the first performance at the

Leeds Festival The Reading and Leeds Festivals are a pair of annual music festivals that take place in Reading and Leeds in England. The events take place simultaneously on the Friday, Saturday and Sunday of the August bank holiday weekend. The Reading Festiv ...

on 12 October 1910. *'' Sea Drift''.

John Alden Carpenter John Alden Carpenter (February 28, 1876 – April 26, 1951) was an American composer. Carpenter's compositional style was considered to be mainly "mildly modernistic and impressionistic"; many of his works strive to encompass the spirit of America ...

wrote a tone poem of this name in 1933, which was premiered by the

New York Philharmonic The New York Philharmonic, officially the Philharmonic-Symphony Society of New York, Inc., globally known as New York Philharmonic Orchestra (NYPO) or New York Philharmonic-Symphony Orchestra, is a symphony orchestra based in New York City. It is ...

under Werner Janssen in 1934.*D. Ewen, ''Encyclopedia of Concert Music'' (New York; Hill and Wang, 1959).

References

{{Walt Whitman 1855 poems American poetry collections Poetry by Walt Whitman