The addresses on Giordano Bruno have come to me2—many
thanks—& are most welcome both for their own sakes and as a token of
your kind remembrance. I have read them with
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great interest & they have helped me to understand something of Bruno's philosophy.
I trust the Spring finds you fairly well. I often feel you near me in your books, & get strength & joy from them.
I have had a sorrow lately
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in the death of my elder sister.3 She had led a very active & useful life as a
clergyman's wife. I saw her a few days before her death & found her joyous, although
not through any false detachment from what had been dear to her in life. In a day or two
I go to visit my father who is in his ninety–first year &
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who has been saddened by this loss.
Correspondent:
Edward Dowden (1843–1913), professor of
English literature at the University of Dublin, was one of the first to
critically appreciate Whitman's poetry, particularly abroad, and was primarily
responsible for Whitman's popularity among students in Dublin. In July 1871,
Dowden penned a glowing review of Whitman's work in the Westminster Review entitled "The Poetry of Democracy: Walt Whitman," in which Dowden described
Whitman as "a man unlike any of his predecessors. . . . Bard of America, and
Bard of democracy." In 1888, Whitman observed to Traubel: "Dowden is a book-man:
but he is also and more particularly a man-man: I guess that is where we
connect" (Horace Traubel, With Walt Whitman in Camden,
Sunday, June 10, 1888, 299). For more, see Philip W. Leon, "Dowden, Edward (1843–1913)," Walt Whitman: An
Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York:
Garland Publishing, 1998).