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O Captain! My Captain! O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN! 1 O CAPTAIN! my captain!
Leave you not the little spot, Where on the deck my captain lies.
Fallen cold and dead. 2 O captain! my captain!
This arm I push beneath you; It is some dream that on the deck, You've fallen cold and dead. 3 My captain
But I, with silent tread, Walk the spot my captain lies, Fallen cold and dead.
was a little frightened at first seeing your writing dident didn't look at first at the burlington my
but but all well she says she calafornia when uncle comes home well walt i cant can't write much more my
warmer it will get better George has just been up and tells me they have sold one of the houses to the captain
he was captain of the contest taken by the alabamans in the war times) this peice piece was cut out
Thomas Jefferson "Jeff" Whitman wrote that Mason "used to be in my party on the Water Works" (see his
The name of the "captain" and the "contest taken by the alabamans" are unclear.
If a ship captain, it cannot be Homer C.
Blake, the captain of the USS Hatteras, the only Union warship taken by the CSS Alabama, because Blake
Or this captain may have been associated with a Union defeat in the land war.
15 March 67 M 15 my dear walter i just write a line to you this friday Friday morning before breakfast
begins to look quite old jeff is to let him have 200 dollars he is in hopes of selling one to a sea captain
matty still has company mrs mason i felt walt as if i must write a line or two i am still troubled with my
wrist and my thumb it pains me some but i feel thankful i can dress myself and around Walt think you
the 6th inst. relative to proceedings pending in your District "to confiscate the property of the Captain
already—the grass & trees are beginning to look green—they have made a large flower garden right in front of my
idea for days & days, & of course suffered awfully—One of the watchmen of the Treasury, (formerly a Captain
Walt If Mary & the girls come, you must give them my love, & tell Mary I shall send her a small package
18 City Hall Octo. 3d '67 My dear Walt, I have this moment clipped the enclosed paragraphs about Garibaldi
He is not a great captain; as a tactician he is no better than JEANNE D'ARC, but like her he has a familiar
ALEXANDER DUMAS to write my memoirs from.
to my bare-stript heart, And reach'd till you felt my beard, and reach'd till you held my feet.
My voice goes after what my eyes cannot reach; With the twirl of my tongue I encompass worlds, and volumes
My ties and ballasts leave me—I travel—I sail—my elbows rest in the sea-gaps; I skirt the sierras—my
We closed with him—the yards entangled—the cannon touch'd; My captain lash'd fast with his own hands.
Now I laugh content, for I hear the voice of my little captain,(says my grandmother's father;) We have
Now I laugh content, for I hear the voice of my little captain,(says my grandmother's father;) We have
my Captain!
O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN! 1 O CAPTAIN! my captain!
Leave you not the little spot, Where on the deck my captain lies.
Fallen cold and dead. 2 O captain! my captain!
as my body did its food.
It strengthened my faith, and very curiously wrought upon and contributed to my sense of self, my personality
And again: "My comrade!
O my rapt song, my charm—mock me not!
When it was concluded he added O Captain, My Captain ,and a few other pieces, and joining them to the
Grose's membership in the Surrey regiment earned him the title of captain in 1766, which he adopted as
My dear loving boy, I wish things were situated so you could be with me, & we could be together for a
I must put something to you better than that in my letter.
So I will cheer my boy [&] tell you again, Benton, that I love you dearly, & always keep you in mind,
I am a married man but I am not happy for my disposition is not right.
1867 letter, Wilson acknowledged Walt Whitman's reply of April 12: "I do not want you to misunderstand my
motives in writing to you of my Situation & feelings as I did in my last letter or else I shall have
to be more guarded in my letters to you.
I wrote so because you wanted me to write how I was situated, and give you my mind without reserve, and
My dear Mr. Rosetti Rossetti : I suppose Mr.
weeks since, assenting to the substitution of other words, &c. as proposed by you, in your reprint of my
When I have my next edition brought out here, I shall change the title of the piece "When lilacs last
It is quite certain that I shall add to my next edition (carrying out my plan from the first,) a brief
Very likely some of my suggestions have been anticipated.
propose would of course be adopted by me with thanks & without a moment's debate, were it not that my
Rossetti agreed to this change on December 8, 1867: "I had previously given it a title of my own, 'Nocturn
Simpson My dear Sir: I have been absent in New York & Brooklyn & only returned three days ago.
At present, I can only say that if you are going into publishing & if you feel like taking hold of my
My address is at this office.
…One of my reasons for securing your friendship is my appreciation for you as a man, with knowing your
Walt Whitman, I was very much pleased a few days ago to receive your prompt answer of April 12 th to my
I recd received a letter from my wife about the middle of last week she had arrived safely and was enjoying
I do not want you to misunderstand my motives in writing to you of my Situation & feelings as I did in
my last letter or else I shall have to be mor more guarded in my letters to you.
I wrote so because you wanted me to write how I was situated, and give you my mind without reserve, and
I am a married man but I am not happy for my disposition is not right.
21, 1867, Wilson acknowledged Whitman's reply of April 12, 1867: "I do not want you to misunderstand my
motives in writing to you of my Situation & feelings as I did in my last letter or else I shall have
to be more guarded in my letters to you.
I wrote so because you wanted me to write how I was situated, and give you my mind without reserve, and
Syracuse April 7th/67 Dear Friend & Comrade I can not make any other excuse for my delay in answering
thought would interest you, and I do not know as it will now for I have not much to write of except my
My Wife started for New York City last friday night to be gone several weeks. she is to be with her Sister
I am a married man but I am not happy for my disposition is not right.
and to talk about, but I fear I shall weary you with such a letter as this so I will close it with my
I am a married man but I am not happy for my disposition is not right.
21, 1867, Wilson acknowledged Whitman's reply of April 12, 1867: "I do not want you to misunderstand my
motives in writing to you of my Situation & feelings as I did in my last letter or else I shall have
to be more guarded in my letters to you.
I wrote so because you wanted me to write how I was situated, and give you my mind without reserve, and
See John Townsend Trowbridge, My Own Story (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1903), 265–67.
O joy of my spirit uncaged—it hops like a bird on the grass mounds of earth.
O joy of my spirit
The first several lines of "Pictures" (not including this line) were revised and published as "My Picture-Gallery
A similar line in that poem reads: "O the joy of my spirit! It is uncaged!
night, and will not lose any time in answering it this time, but I do not know as you will approve of my
writing on Sundays, but that is about the only time I have for writing except evenings and then my hands
tremble so from my work (which is nearly all done by the hands) that I can scarcely write inteligibly
deserve his love as well as that of thousands of others myself included, and I wish you to give him my
I am a married man but I am not happy for my disposition is not right.
21, 1867, Wilson acknowledged Whitman's reply of April 12, 1867: "I do not want you to misunderstand my
motives in writing to you of my Situation & feelings as I did in my last letter or else I shall have
to be more guarded in my letters to you.
I wrote so because you wanted me to write how I was situated, and give you my mind without reserve, and
15 th Sunday 18 67 Dear Friend Walt Whitman I know that you will not think I have forgotten you by my
long silence for I have been waiting patiently for more than four months for an answer to my last letter
I spent a week in New York City in June, my Wife was taken sick there while visiting her Sister and they
I am a married man but I am not happy for my disposition is not right.
21, 1867, Wilson acknowledged Whitman's reply of April 12, 1867: "I do not want you to misunderstand my
motives in writing to you of my Situation & feelings as I did in my last letter or else I shall have
to be more guarded in my letters to you.
I wrote so because you wanted me to write how I was situated, and give you my mind without reserve, and
original "Inscription" to the 1867 edition, ultimately appearing under the title "Small the Theme of My
that the authorization in my letter of November 1st to Mr.
of the full volume of my poems.
I cannot & will not consent of my own volition, to countenance an expurgated edition of my pieces.
I feel it due to myself to write you explicitly thus, my dear Mr.
But I guess you will pick out my meaning. Perhaps, indeed, Mr.
written on November 17, 1867: "I shall always hold it one of the truest & most prized distinctions of my
offer of "friendship": "To be honoured by your friendship is as great a satisfaction & distinction as my
But my kind Old Friend you must not think that because I wrote to you and mentioned it, that I wish you
myself in debt six hundred dollars and finally came to the conclusion that it was time I closed up my
business, so I did so about the first of July last, and am now at work at my trade in a Piano Forte
& Melodeon Manufactory and find that it pays me better than business on my own book.
Now I think I have given you a good statement of my situation and hope it will be to your satisfaction
I am a married man but I am not happy for my disposition is not right.
21, 1867, Wilson acknowledged Whitman's reply of April 12, 1867: "I do not want you to misunderstand my
motives in writing to you of my Situation & feelings as I did in my last letter or else I shall have
to be more guarded in my letters to you.
I wrote so because you wanted me to write how I was situated, and give you my mind without reserve, and
My Dear Friend, W.H.
Piper , using my name.
My love to the O'Connors.
1870, letter to Trowbridge, Whitman announced that he had "engaged in electrotyping a new edition of my
year or more ago of some Boston publisher, or bookseller, who was willing (or perhaps wished) to sell my
See John Townsend Trowbridge, My Own Story (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1903), 265–67.
My dear Conway: Mr. Whitman has shown me your letter of October 12, with news of Mr.
But as I have made Leaves of Grass & their author my study for the last seven years, & have had some
These are the points, my dear Conway, that I wish, through you, to submit to Mr. Rosetti.
Whitman my intention of writing him, & he, W., has made no objection.
He observed to Traubel: "It gives my idea of my own book: a man's idea of his own book—his serious idea—is
Whitman referred to Rossetti's edition as a "horrible dismemberment of my book" in his August 12, 1871
We havnt got the money yet, but I suppose it is sure— I like my boarding house very well, take it altogether—we
Van Velsor Whitman's letter of February 27, 1867 was filled with complaints about her health ("i feel my
My children and grand-children—my white hair and beard, My largeness, calmness, majesty, out of the long
stretch of my life.
is my mind!
O the real life of my senses and flesh, transcending my senses and flesh; O my body, done with materials—my
O to have my life henceforth my poem of joys!
VIGIL strange I kept on the field one night, When you, my son and my comrade, dropt at my side that day
battle, the even-contested battle; Till late in the night reliev'd, to the place at last again I made my
long-drawn sigh—Long, long I gazed; Then on the earth partially reclining, sat by your side, leaning my
chin in my hands; Passing sweet hours, immortal and mystic hours with you, dearest comrade—Not a tear
, not a word; Vigil of silence, love and death—vigil for you, my son and my soldier, As onward silently
Not Heaving From My Ribb'd Breast Only Not Heaving from my Ribb'd Breast only.
NOT heaving from my ribb'd breast only; Not in sighs at night, in rage, dissatisfied with myself; Not
in those long-drawn, ill-supprest sighs; Not in many an oath and promise broken; Not in my wilful and
savage soul's volition; Not in the subtle nourishment of the air; Not in this beating and pounding at my
O pulse of my life! Need I that you exist and show yourself, any more than in these songs.
earth, she cried—I charge you, lose not my sons!
local spots, and you airs that swim above lightly, And all you essences of soil and growth—and you, O my
; And you trees, down in your roots, to bequeath to all future trees, My dead absorb—my young men's beautiful
darlings—give my immortal heroes; Exhale me them centuries hence—breathe me their breath—let not an
O my dead, an aroma sweet! Exhale them perennial, sweet death, years, centuries hence.
My dear friend, I regret to say that our hopes of getting out the complete and arranged edition of your
My first feeling at hearing of this arrangement was one of regret.
In the next place it is far better, in my opinion and that of your real friends here, that the introduction
facts together with the assured social and literary position of Rossetti make him of all persons of my
Conway Observe my change of address Moncure D. Conway to Walt Whitman, 12 October 1867
Whitman referred to Rossetti's edition as a "horrible dismemberment of my book" in his August 12, 1871
editorial decisions, which included editing potentially objectionable content and removing entire poems: "My
my own rhymes—being assisted in this (perhaps unwise move) by my friends.
May I send you a copy of my book in June?—when it will be safely out. D. V.
MY FRIEND I have a friend who is so true to me, We may not parted be.
away; He is my perfect day.
Thou art indeed my friend while ages roll, O! thou my deathless soul. C. W. S. AT ANCHOR.
ONE breath, O my silent soul, A perfum'd thought—no more I ask, for the sake of all dead soldiers.
Buglers off in my armies!
At present I ask not you to sound; Not at the head of my cavalry, all on their spirited horses, With
Invisible to the rest, henceforth become my compan- ions companions ; Follow me ever!
Perfume therefore my chant, O love! immortal Love!
Not My Enemies Ever Invade Me NOT MY ENEMIES EVER INVADE ME.
NOT my enemies ever invade me—no harm to my pride from them I fear; But the lovers I recklessly love—lo
me, ever open and helpless, bereft of my strength!
That Shadow, My Likeness THAT SHADOW, MY LIKENESS.
THAT shadow, my likeness, that goes to and fro, seek- ing seeking a livelihood, chattering, chaffering
it where it flits; How often I question and doubt whether that is really me; But in these, and among my
lovers, and carolling my songs, O I never doubt whether that is really me.
WHILE my wife at my side lies slumbering, and the wars are over long, And my head on the pillow rests
at home, and the mys- tic mystic midnight passes, And through the stillness, through the dark, I hear
, just hear, the breath of my infant, There in the room, as I wake from sleep, this vision presses upon
with eager calls, and orders of officers; While from some distant part of the field the wind wafts to my
or near, (rousing, even in dreams, a devilish exultation, and all the old mad joy, in the depths of my
WHEN I heard at the close of the day how my name had been receiv'd with plaudits in the capitol, still
it was not a happy night for me that fol- low follow'd ; And else, when I carous'd, or when my plans
ing undressing , bathed, laughing with the cool waters, and saw the sun rise, And when I thought how my
all that day my food nourish'd me more—and the beautiful day pass'd well, And the next came with equal
joy—and with the next, at evening, came my friend; And that night, while all was still, I heard the
take great pleasure in writing to you again, and in giving you some of the particular in regard to my
health, limb situation, &c My health at present is very good—better than at any time since I left the
troubled me of any account have worn my artificial nearly all the time since the winter of –'64.
dist) threw me out of my position as doortender.
my not writing let them lay it to my inabilities instead of my inclination Waiting to hear from you
Loud I call to you, my love!
who I am, my love.
Hither, my love! Here I am! Here!
But my love no more, no more with me!
O what is my destination?
dear brothers' and sisters' sake—for the soul's sake; Wending my way through the homes of men, rich
children—with fresh and sane words, mine only; Young and strong I pass, knowing well I am destin'd my
- self myself to an early death: But my Charity has no death—my Wisdom dies not, neither early nor late
, And my sweet Love, bequeath'd here and elsewhere, never dies. 3 Aloof, dissatisfied, plotting revolt
side, warlike, equal with any, real as any, Nor time, nor change, shall ever change me or my words.
SCENTED HERBAGE OF MY BREAST.
O blossoms of my blood!
WHAT THINK YOU I TAKE MY PEN IN HAND? WHAT think you I take my pen in hand to record?
MY LIKENESS! EARTH! my likeness!
THAT SHADOW, MY LIKENESS.
My dear Sir, Your letter of 22 Novr. reached me the other day thro' Mr. Conway .
I think the most convenient course may be for me first to state the facts about my Selection.
publisher told me that he projected bringing out a selection from your poems, & (in consequence of my
My Prefatory Notice explains my principle of selection to exactly the same effect as given in this present
I had previously given it a title of my own, "Nocturn for the Death of Lincoln"; & in my Prefatory Notice
editorial decisions, which included editing potentially objectionable content and removing entire poems: "My
Dear friend, My brother does not get on quite as well as I had anticipated.
Yet I still hold to the judgment in my previous letter.
(Also the first letter soon after my arrival here.)
If my brother does not get worse, & no crisis takes place, I think, (as at present intending) I shall
Nelly, I send you my true love, my darling. Walt.
I remember I said, before my leaves sprang at all, I would raise my voice jocund and strong, with re-
con- tribute contribute to them, When breeds of the most perfect mothers denote America, Then to me my
I have press'd through in my own right, I have offer'd my style to every one—I have journey'd with confident
step, While my pleasure is yet at the full, I whisper, So long!
Remember my words—I love you—I depart from materials, I am as one disembodied, triumphant, dead.
O harsh surrounding cloud that will not free my soul!
And what shall my perfume be, for the grave of him I love?
O wild and loose to my soul! O wondrous singer!
While my sight that was bound in my eyes unclosed, As to long panoramas of visions. 18 I saw the vision
Must I pass from my song for thee; From my gaze on thee in the west, fronting the west, com- muning communing
O my soldiers twain! O my veterans, passing to burial!
have I also give you. 9 The moon gives you light, And the bugles and the drums give you music; And my
heart, O my soldiers, my veterans, My heart gives you love.
Give me the drench of my passions! Give me life coarse and rank!
with the dancers, and drink with the drinkers; The echoes ring with our indecent calls; I take for my
love some prostitute—I pick out some low person for my dearest friend, He shall be lawless, rude, illiterate—he
shall be one condemn'd by others for deeds done; I will play a part no longer—Why should I exile my-
self myself from my companions?
Beginning My Studies BEGINNING MY STUDIES.
BEGINNING my studies, the first step pleas'd me so much, The mere fact, consciousness—these forms—the
pleas'd me so much, I have never gone, and never wish'd to go, any farther, But stop and loiter all my
walks home late at night, or as I lay in my bed, they came upon me.
; That I was, I knew was of my body—and what I should be, I knew I should be of my body.
, My river and sun-set, and my scallop-edg'd waves of flood-tide, The sea-gulls oscillating their bodies
face, Which fuses me into you now, and pours my meaning into you.
loudly and musically call me by my nighest name! Live, old life!
O my father, It is so broad, it covers the whole sky! FATHER.
now the halyards have rais'd it, Side of my banner broad and blue—side of my starry banner, Discarding
eastern shore, and my western shore the same; And all between those shores, and my ever running Mississippi
, with bends and chutes; And my Illinois fields, and my Kansas fields, and my fields of Missouri; The
My limbs, my veins dilate; The blood of the world has fill'd me full—my theme is clear at last : —Banner