A mark'd & good & welcome change of temperature the first thing in the morning—a merino undershirt & socks—& a coat—it is just right to-day & it helps me—now past for nine days uninterrupted hot & sweltering—frequent rains (evn'gs or nights) but not the least relief—(good they say for the corn crop)—I have been the last hour and over with the proof of "Elias Hicks," the concluding paper in the Boughs2—Shall have to wait & slowly subside into some verdict (literary & personal) for myself about it all—am not certain whether I am satisfied or no—Have just sent the Herald (at their request) a short poem for Sheridan's burial3—I expect it will be in H. 12th4—
Saturday—toward noon—Aug. 11.— Delightful day—am sitting here ab't as usual—had my breakfast ab't 9—(get my dinner ab't 4 or ½ past)—nothing very notable—rec'd a letter from Mrs. Costelloe5—nothing very special—but I enclose it as you might care to hear—I also send proof pages 119 to 127—part of "Elias Hicks"6—In a few days shall send 118 & all the rest—I send my best remembrances & respects to Mr Harkness7—I believe Herbert Gilchrist8 is coming soon back to America—quiet day here—
Walt WhitmanCorrespondent:
Richard Maurice Bucke (1837–1902) was a
Canadian physician and psychiatrist who grew close to Whitman after reading Leaves of Grass in 1867 (and later memorizing it) and
meeting the poet in Camden a decade later. Even before meeting Whitman, Bucke
claimed in 1872 that a reading of Leaves of Grass led him
to experience "cosmic consciousness" and an overwhelming sense of epiphany.
Bucke became the poet's first biographer with Walt
Whitman (Philadelphia: David McKay, 1883), and he later served as one
of his medical advisors and literary executors. For more on the relationship of
Bucke and Whitman, see Howard Nelson, "Bucke, Richard Maurice," Walt Whitman: An
Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York:
Garland Publishing, 1998).