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This collection is made up of 2 collections of manuscript poems and 2 printed items. Many of the poems are elegies about loved ones' deaths, and many were copied from publications.

This collection is made up of 2 collections of manuscript poems and 2 printed items. Many of the poems are elegies about loved ones' deaths, and many were copied from publications.

The poems, which include previously published works, works set to music, and hymns, are collected in 2 loosely-bound groups. Many are elegies, laments, and narratives about death, often told from the point of view of a loved one facing an imminent loss. "James Bird," a narrative poem, pertains to a young man's death on Lake Erie during the War of 1812. Death and bereavement are the most prominent topics, but a few poems address children or pertain to love. One group of poems is bound in a copy of Philadelphia's Dollar Newspaper (November 13, 1850).

The printed items are a newspaper article about Nellie Grant Sartoris and her inheritance from her father-in-law, an Englishman ("One of Grant's Daughters") and "Quotations for Autograph Albums," which include proverbs and epigrams.

• Book 1
  • "An Elegy on the Death of [Selah] Foster"
  • "The Traveling Preacher's Complaint"
  • "[Crazy] Jones"
  • "My Mother"
  • "Reply to the White Pilgrim"
  • "Delia's Funeral Dirge"
  • Two untitled short poems
  • "Mary Across the Wild Moor"
• Book 2
  • "Children Go"
  • "The Troubador"
  • "Good Bye"
  • "Brazilian Lover"
  • "The Watcher"
  • "The Dying Child's Request"
  • "My Mother"
  • "James Bird"
  • "My Mother's Bible"
  • "The Orphan's Prayer"
  • "Oh Take Me Home to Die"
  • "The Orphan Boy"
  • "Are We Almost There"
  • "The Field of Monterey"
  • "Mary Across the Wild Moor"
  • "Lie Up Nearer Brother"
  • "Lilly Dale"