AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPT SIGNED (AMS): "A Song for New Year's Eve"
n.p. 31 December 1856. Manuscript. A handwritten poem on a 7-1/2" x 8" sheet of paper folded vertically SIGNED "W. C. Bryant" at the conclusion. The poem consists of 6 six-line stanzas with the second and third stanzas transposed from the final printed version and the second stanza here containing corrections and added lines. The poem's first and last stanzas:
Stay yet, my friends, a moment stay
Stay till the good old year,
So long companion of our way,
Shakes hands, and leaves us here.
Oh stay, oh stay,
One little hour, and then away.
Even while we sing, he smiles his last,
And leaves our sphere behind.
The kind old year is with the past;
Oh be the new as kind!
Oh stay, oh stay,
One parting strain, and then away.
The word "good" as per the published version is struck through here with the word "kind" added above it. Near Fine. Item #020649
Price: $1,500.00