Written in Walt Whitman’s own hand, this early manuscript version of "To a Locomotive in Winter" shows Whitman’s creative process as he revised and reworked the poem, changing words and even pasting paper overlays of new passages until he was satisfied with the result. This manuscript poem is dated February 23, 1874, but Whitman continued to modify the text and it was considerably altered when published in 1876 in "Two Rivulets," a companion volume to the 1876 edition of "Leaves of Grass." This poem was republished in the 1900 edition of "Leaves of Grass," well after Whitman’s death.