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Camden
Saturday 8 P M
Jan 18 '90
Been out a little in the wheelchair1 this afternoon—yesterday
also—Horace2 here every evening—I write a
little3—¾s people here & hereabouts
have the grip—I am free so far (Perhaps Beelzebub himself having possession
keeps out the smaller devils)—weather variable beyond example—pleasant
enough now—sunny to-day—very cold yesterday—this "cold in the
head" (or gathering) continues thro' all—bladder business troublesome at
night—am sitting here in my den alone as usual by the stove—my nurse4 gone to the p o—y'rs of 17th5 came to night, welcome—corn beef (good) & good
roast potato for my supper—appetite sharp enough
Sunday a m
Fine bright day—shall probably get out soon after noon—some stew'd
chicken for breakfast— —no doctors & no medicine-taking for many
months— —have been formally invited to the Browning6 memorial testimonial Boston
but of course cannot go & do not feel the Spirit move me to write them any
thing7—few letters &c. lately—a good
sprinkle of visitors—Good luck to you & all—
Walt Whitman
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Correspondent:
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).
Notes
- 1. Horace Traubel and Ed
Wilkins, Whitman's nurse, went to Philadelphia to purchase a wheeled chair for
the poet that would allow him to be "pull'd or push'd" outdoors. See Whitman's
letter to William Sloane Kennedy of May 8,
1889. [back]
- 2. Horace L. Traubel (1858–1919)
was an American essayist, poet, and magazine publisher. He is best remembered as
the literary executor, biographer, and self-fashioned "spirit child" of Walt
Whitman. During the late 1880s and until Whitman's death in 1892, Traubel visited
the poet virtually every day and took thorough notes of their conversations,
which he later transcribed and published in three large volumes entitled With Walt Whitman in Camden (1906, 1908, & 1914).
After his death, Traubel left behind enough manuscripts for six more volumes of
the series, the final two of which were published in 1996. For more on Traubel,
see Ed Folsom, "Traubel, Horace L. [1858–1919]," Walt
Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New
York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 3. On January 8, 1890,
Whitman sent "A Death-Bouquet" to Franklin File of the New York Sun for which he received $10 (The
Commonplace-Book, Charles E. Feinberg Collection of the Papers of Walt
Whitman, 1839–1919, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.). See Prose Works 1892, ed. Floyd Stovall, 2 vols.
(1963–1964), in Collected Writings, 671n. It
appeared in the Philadelphia Press on February 2, 1890.
See Whitman's February 2–3, letter to
Bucke. [back]
- 4. Frank Warren Fritzinger
(1867–1899), known as "Warry," took Edward Wilkins's place as Whitman's
nurse, beginning in October 1889. Fritzinger and his brother Harry were the sons
of Henry Whireman Fritzinger (about 1828–1881), a former sea captain who
went blind, and Almira E. Fritzinger. Following Henry Sr.'s death, Warren and
his brother—having lost both parents—became wards of Mary O. Davis,
Whitman's housekeeper, who had also taken care of the sea captain and who
inherited part of his estate. A picture of Warry is displayed in the May 1891
New England Magazine (278). See Joann P. Krieg, "Fritzinger, Frederick Warren (1866–1899),"
Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and
Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998), 240. [back]
- 5. See Bucke's January 17, 1890, letter to Whitman. [back]
- 6. The English poet Robert Browning (1812–1889), known for his dramatic monologues, including "Porphyria's Lover" and "My
Last Duchess," was also the husband of poet Elizabeth Barrett Browning
(1806–1861). [back]
- 7. Dana Estes of Boston
invited him on January 14, 1890, to attend a
meeting of the Browning Society. [back]