Anne Gilchrist to Walt Whitman, 11 March 1876
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1 Torriano Rd.
March 11./76
I have had such joy this morning, my Darling—Poems of yours given in the "Daily
News" sublime Poems (one of them reaching dizzy heights) filling my soul with strong
delight. These prefaced by a few words timid enough yet kindly in tone, & better
than nothing.—The days, the weeks are slipping by my Beloved, bearing me swiftly
surely to you1—before the beauty of the year begins to fade
we shall come. The young folk too are full of bright anticipation & eagerness now,
I am thankful to say; and Per 2 getting
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on with I trust such near & definite prospect of his happiness that he will be
able to pull along cheerily towards it after we are gone in spite of loneliness.
I expect Darling we must go to some little town or village ten or twenty miles short
of Philadelphia till the tremendous influx of visitors to the Centennial3
has ceased, else we shall not be able to find a corner there.—By the bye I feel
a little sulky at your always taking a fling at the poor Piano. I see
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I have got to try & show you it too is capable of waking deep chords in the human
soul when it is the vehicle of a great Master's thought & emotions—if only my
poor fingers prove equal to the task! All my heart shall go into them—Take from my
picture a long long look of tender love and joy and faith, deathless ever young, ever
growing, ever learning aspiring love, tender cherishing, domestic love.
Oh may I be full of
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sweet comfort for my Beloved's Soul and Body through life, through and after death.
Correspondent:
Anne Burrows Gilchrist
(1828–1885) was the author of one of the first significant pieces of
criticism on Leaves of Grass, titled "A Woman's Estimate
of Walt Whitman (From Late Letters by an English Lady to W. M. Rossetti)," The Radical 7 (May 1870), 345–59. Gilchrist's long
correspondence with Whitman indicates that she had fallen in love with the poet
after reading his work; when the pair met in 1876 when she moved to
Philadelphia, Whitman never fully returned her affection, although their
friendship deepened after that meeting. For more information on their
relationship, see Marion Walker Alcaro, "Gilchrist, Anne Burrows (1828–1885)," Walt
Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New
York: Garland Publishing, 1998).
Notes
- 1. In 1876, Anne Gilchrist (1828–1885), Whitman's friend and the author of "A Woman's Estimate of Walt Whitman," one of the first significant pieces of criticism on Leaves of Grass, moved with three of her children (Herbert, Beatrice, and Grace) from England to Philadelphia. The family lived in Philadelphia from 1876 to 1878; Whitman visited their home almost daily and even had his own room. From April 1878, to 1879, the Gilchrists lived in Concord, Boston, and New York, before returning to England. Anne's son Herbert (1857–1914) remained in America and lived in Philadelphia, maintaining a close relationship with Whitman; after Whitman's death in 1892, he returned to England. For more on Whitman and the Gilchrists, see Marion Walker Alcaro, "Gilchrist, Anne Burrows (1828–1885)," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 2. Percy Carlyle Gilchrist (1851–1935) was the son of Alexander and Anne Gilchrist, the only of their four children who did not accompany their mother to Philadelphia in 1876 when she met Whitman, as Percy Gilchrist was newly married to Norah Fitzmaurice at the time. At about the same time, Percy Gilchrist collaborated with his cousin Sidney Gilchrist Thomas on refining the Bessemer process for the mass production of steel from 1875 to 1877. [back]
- 3. In 1876, the National Centennial commemorated the 100th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The Centennial was marked by celebrations across the United States, not the least of which was the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, which ran from May to November 1876 with approximately 10 million visitors in a seven month period. [back]