whittier, however, had acknowledged his authorship in an obscure massachusetts magazine in 1858. in preparing for an address at a centennial celebration in 1877, a resident of bennington named daniel roberts asked whittier to confirm his authorship. in july of that year, whittier acknowledged authorship as "a boy's practical joke." the poem was included in the 1904 oxford complete edition of whittier's poetry, "the poetical works of john greenleaf whittier. oxford complete edition".