Sea-Drift is the title of a section of Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman

Walter "Walt" Whitman 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 the most influential poets in the American canon, often called the father of free verse...

's great poetic work Leaves of Grass

Leaves of Grass

Leaves of Grass is a poetry collection by the American poet Walt Whitman . Though the first edition was published in 1855, Whitman spent his entire life writing Leaves of Grass, revising it in several editions until his death...

, 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
  "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking" is a poem by Walt Whitman, published in Whitman's Leaves of Grass collection. "Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking" is found in the title section, Sea-Drift. It was originally called 'A child's Reminiscence' and was published individually by the New York...
  
  
• 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 twentieth-century classical music have been inspired by the poems.

• Sea Drift
  Sea Drift (Delius)
  Sea Drift is among the larger-scale musical works by the composer Frederick Delius. Completed in 1903-1904 and first performed in 1906, it is a setting for baritone, chorus and orchestra of words by Walt Whitman.- The poem adaptation :...
  
  . Frederick Delius
  Frederick Delius
  Frederick Theodore Albert Delius, CH was an English composer. Born in the north of England to a prosperous mercantile family of German extraction, he resisted attempts to recruit him to commerce...
  
   set part of Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking for baritone solo, chorus and orchestra. It received its first performance in Germany (Essen
  Essen
  - Origin of the name :In German-speaking countries, the name of the city Essen often causes confusion as to its origins, because it is commonly known as the German infinitive of the verb for the act of eating, and/or the German noun for food. Although scholars still dispute the interpretation of...
  
  , Tonkünstler-verein, Josef Loritz (baritone), cond. Georg Witte) in 1906, and its first British performance, sung by Frederic Austin
  Frederic Austin
  Frederic Austin 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 Johann Christoph Pepusch, and its sequel, Polly, in 1920–23...
  
   and conducted by Henry J. Wood, in autumn 1908 at the Sheffield
  Sheffield
  Sheffield is a city and metropolitan borough of South Yorkshire, England. Its name derives from the River Sheaf, which runs through the city. Historically a part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, and with some of its southern suburbs annexed from Derbyshire, the city has grown from its largely...
  
   Festival.

• A Sea Symphony by Ralph Vaughan Williams
  Ralph Vaughan Williams
  Ralph Vaughan Williams OM was an English composer of symphonies, chamber music, opera, choral music, and film scores. He was also a collector of English folk music and song: this activity both influenced his editorial approach to the English Hymnal, beginning in 1904, in which he included many...
  
  . 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
  Leeds Festival (classical music)
  The Leeds Festival was a classical music festival which took place between 1858 and 1985 in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.The first festival celebrated the opening of Leeds Town Hall by Queen Victoria on 7 September 1858...
  
   on 12 October 1910.

• Sea Drift
  Sea Drift (Carpenter)
  Sea Drift is a tone poem for orchestra composed by John Alden Carpenter in 1933; it was premiered by the New York Philharmonic under Werner Janssen in 1934. Impressionist music inspired by the Walt Whitman poems Sea-Drift, it is in two sections...
  
  . John Alden Carpenter
  John Alden Carpenter
  John Alden Carpenter was an American composer.-Biography:Born in Park Ridge, Illinois, Carpenter was raised in a musical household. He was educated at Harvard University, where he studied under John Knowles Paine, and was president of the Glee Club and wrote music for the Hasty-Pudding Club...
  
   wrote a tone poem of this name in 1933, which was premiered by the New York Philharmonic
  New York Philharmonic
  The New York Philharmonic is a symphony orchestra based in New York City in the United States. It is one of the American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five"...
  
   under Werner Janssen
  Werner Janssen
  Hans-Werner Janssen was an American conductor of classical music, and composer of classical music and film scores.-Biography:...
  
  in 1934.