Washington, U. S.
Sept. 19, 1871.
My Dear Mr. Dowden:
The gentleman who will hand you this is John Burroughs,1 a very valued friend of mine, who is about to start for Europe, and thinks of visiting Dublin, & making a call on you.
I have rec'd your letter of Sept. 5,2 & hope to write you further—Believe me I deeply appreciate all you send me—
Walt Whitman
Notes
- 1. Burroughs wrote to Walt
Whitman from London on October 3–4, 1871,
after he had visited St. Paul's, where he had a staggering revelation, not
unlike Henry James's in a Parisian gallery: "I saw for the first time what power
& imagination could be put in form & design—I felt for a moment
what great genius was in this field.…I had to leave them & sit
down.…My brain is too sensitive. I am not strong enough to confront these
things all at once…It is like the grandest organ music put into form."
Whitman wrote in the margin: "Splendid off hand letter from John
Burroughs—? publish it." On October 8, 1871,
William Michael Rossetti referred to a visit three days earlier from Burroughs:
"I like his frank manly aspect & tone." Burroughs visited Dowden in November
1871; see Fragments from Old Letters, E. D. to E. D. W.,
1869–1892 (1914), 16–17. [back]
- 2.
In his letter of September 5, 1871, Dowden
cited a number of Dublin admirers, and concluded: "One thing strikes me
about everyone who cares for what you write—while your attraction is
most absolute, & the impression you make as powerful as that of any
teacher or vates, you do not rob the mind of its independence, or divert it
from its true direction. You make no slaves, however many lovers."
Dowden replied to Whitman's letter on October 15,
1871.
[back]