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Robert G. Ingersoll to Walt Whitman, 29 December 1891

About This Item

  • Title: Robert G. Ingersoll to Walt Whitman, 29 December 1891
  • Date: December 29, 1891
  • Creator(s): Robert G. Ingersoll
  • Whitman Archive ID: loc.02353
  • Source: The Charles E. Feinberg Collection of the Papers of Walt Whitman, 1839–1919, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. Transcribed from digital images or a microfilm reproduction of the original item. For a description of the editorial rationale behind our treatment of the correspondence, see our statement of editorial policy.
  • Contributors to digital file: Cristin Noonan Brandon James O'Neil Breanna Himschoot Stephanie Blalock
  • Cite this page: Ingersoll, Robert G.. "Robert G. Ingersoll to Walt Whitman, 29 December 1891." The Walt Whitman Archive. Gen. ed. Matt Cohen, Ed Folsom, & Kenneth M. Price. Accessed 25 April 2024. <http://www.whitmanarchive.org>.
  • Source File: loc.02353.xml (TEI)
 loc.02353.001_large.jpg 45. Wall Street New York1 Dec 29th 91 My Dear Whitman,

I am glad that you have lived long enough to know that Leaves of Grass will live forever,—long enough to know that your life has been a success—that you have sown  loc.02353.002_large.jpgwith brave and generous hands the deeds of liberty—and love.2 This is enough, and this is a radiance that even the darkness of death cannot extinguish.

Maybe the end of the journey is the best of all, and maybe the end of this is the beginnning of another loc.02353.003_large.jpg and maybe the beginning of that is better than the ending of this.

But however and whatever the fact may be, you have lightened the journey here for millions of your fellow-men. In the great desert you have dug wells and you have planted palms. As long as water and shade are welcome to the faint and loc.02353.004_large.jpg weary your memory will live,—

Wishing you many, many, days of health and happiness—and with a heart full of love

I Remain Yours always R. G. Ingersoll  loc.02353.005_large.jpg see notes Dec 30 1891  loc.02353.006_large.jpg

Correspondent:
Robert "Bob" Green Ingersoll (1833–1899) was a Civil War veteran and an orator of the post-Civil War era, known for his support of agnosticism. Ingersoll was a friend of Whitman, who considered Ingersoll the greatest orator of his time. Whitman said to Horace Traubel, "It should not be surprising that I am drawn to Ingersoll, for he is Leaves of Grass. He lives, embodies, the individuality I preach. I see in Bob the noblest specimen—American-flavored—pure out of the soil, spreading, giving, demanding light" (Traubel, With Walt Whitman in Camden, Wednesday, March 25, 1891). The feeling was mutual. Upon Whitman's death in 1892, Ingersoll delivered the eulogy at the poet's funeral. The eulogy was published to great acclaim and is considered a classic panegyric (see Phyllis Theroux, The Book of Eulogies [New York: Simon & Schuster, 1997], 30).

Notes

  • 1. This letter is addressed: Walt Whitman | Camden | New Jersey. It is postmarked: [illegible]| Dec 29 | 7 PM | 91, Camden, N.J. | Dec 30 | 6 AM | 91 | Rec'd. [back]
  • 2. On December 17, 1891, Whitman had come down with a chill and was suffering from congestion in his right lung. Although the poet's condition did improve in January 1892, he would never recover. He was confined to his bed, and his physicians, Dr. Daniel Longaker of Philadelphia and Dr. Alexander McAlister of Camden, provided care during his final illness. Whitman died on March 26, 1892. [back]
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