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Me, ruthless and devilish as any, that my wrists are not chain'd with iron, or my ankles with iron?

the air I breathed froze me; A thick gloom fell through the sunshine and darken'd me; Must I change my

indifferent , but trembling with age and your unheal'd wounds, you mounted the scaffold;) I would sing in my

know not why, but I loved you…(and so go forth little song, Far over sea speed like an arrow, carrying my

love, and drop these lines at his feet;) —Nor forget I to sing of the wonder, the ship as she swam up my

bay, Well-shaped and stately the Great Eastern swam up my bay, she was 600 feet long, Her moving swiftly

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?

greater heroes and bards, They refuse to awake at the touch of any man but me: It is I, you women—I make my

babes I beget upon you are to beget babes in their turn, I shall demand perfect men and women out of my

WITH antecedents; With my fathers and mothers, and the accumulations of past ages; With all which, had

In the name of These States, and in your and my name, the Past, And in the name of These States, and

in your and my name, the Present time.

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

My dear Sir, Allow me with the deepest reverence & true affection to thank you for the copy of your complete

My selection was settled more than a month ago, & is now going thro' the press .

I shall always hold it one of the truest & most prized distinctions of my writing career to be associated

would have made me feel miserable were it not that before then the matter had already been set right, & my

My first letter to you was written too much from the impulse of the moment; &, finding soon after from

Not one syllable of any one of your poems, as presented in my selection, will be altered or omitted:

To be by your friendship is as great a satisfaction & distinction as my life has presented or ever can

acquiesce in the express views he takes of late years of particular questions wd be simply to abnegate my

Whitman referred to Rossetti's edition as a "horrible dismemberment of my book" in his August 12, 1871

My dear Walt: I duly got your letter of May 5th and was very glad to hear from you.

Part of it is about my coming upon the Times —a sort of hankering treatment of the subject, but no offer

, which of course he couldn't well make, not knowing exactly how useful or available my talent would

Give my loving remembrance to all, especially your mother.

Who is he that would become my follower? Who would sign himself a candidate for my affections?

doned abandoned ; Therefore release me now, before troubling yourself any further—Let go your hand from my

it, Nor do those know me best who admire me, and vauntingly praise me, Nor will the candidates for my

love, (unless at most a very few,) prove victorious, Nor will my poems do good only—they will do just

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

And so will some one, when I am dead and gone, write my life?

(As if any man really knew aught of my life; As if you, O cunning Soul, did not keep your secret well

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

What Think You I Take My Pen in Hand? WHAT THINK YOU I TAKE MY PEN IN HAND?

WHAT think you I take my pen in hand to record?

Weave In, Weave In, My Hardy Life WEAVE IN, WEAVE IN, MY HARDY LIFE. WEAVE in!

weave in, my hardy life!

I cannot tell how my ankles bend, nor whence the causes of my faintest wish, Nor the cause of the friendship

That I walk up my stoop, I pause to consider if it really be.

A morning glory at my window satisfies me more than the meta- physics metaphysics of books."

I blow through my embouchures my loudest and gayest music to them. Vivas to those who have failed.

In the faces of men and women I see God, and in my own face in the glass.

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

My dear Sir: Your note has been received. —Accept—for yourself, the Citizen , & Gen.

Halpine —My sincere thanks for your kindness. I fully appreciate it.

As I have not at my control, at this moment, any bound copies of Leaves of Grass , would you allow me

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

Dear William O'Connor, When I arrived home yesterday I found my brother worse than I had anticipated.

spoon, to some one wrapt in a great blanket, & seated in an arm chair, by the stove—I did not recognize my

Mother put down the cup, &c. & began to cry—this affected poor George—yet I preserved my composure, though

House —also other of my young men friends—they are all very, very cordial & hospitable—I shall go over

Dear Nelly, I send you my love—also to Charles Eldridge—shall probably remain here the ensuing week.

"Henry Clapp," Walt Whitman said to Horace Traubel, "stepped out from the crowd of hooters—was my friend

My dear friend, Your letter, & the two accompanying, came safe. I saw F. P.

Nothing new among my folks, or domestic matters.

purchasing property, or rather becoming responsible for the same — William, you needn't send any more of my

I shall return within three or four days—I shall write out & finish there, as my leave extends two weeks

appreciation of your literary genius, & a special request that you write for the John Burroughs, I send you my

My dear friend, I find my mother in excellent spirits & fair health & strength, considering her age,

Show John this letter—I send him my love—William, I have not yet rec'd any letters—when any come, send

My sister Mat & her children are here. Farewell.

vulgarity and meanness, and described an encounter with her which he came out of with "the back of my

"Henry Clapp," Walt Whitman said to Horace Traubel, "stepped out from the crowd of hooters—was my friend

So I know beforehand that my pamphlet comes to you at a disadvantage" (Charles E.

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.

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

Dear Sir: I have not, as yet, received any proof of the Carol of Harvest I neglected to mention, in my

My dear Mr.

Philp, just starting for London, a copy of my Poems, prepared with care for the printers, with reference

I wish to send you, as also to those other friends & well-wishers whom it seems I have in England, my

Many serious & wonderful things have occurred in our dear country, since you & I last met, my friend.

Philp leaves Washington this evening, & I must hasten my letter.

the Attorney General's Office here, of pay sufficient, & duties entirely agreeable & consistent with my

Dear friend, My feeling and attitude about a volume of selections from my Leaves by Mr.

since that seems to be the pivotal affair, & since he has the kindness to shape his action so much by my

The recherché or ethereal sense of the term, as used in my book, arises probably from the actual Calamus

In reply to your note of some days since, in reference to acting as my agent, for sale of "Leaves of

is covered with snow here, looks wintry enough—cold weather, but somehow I like it—I have no fire in my

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

Give my love to George, & Jeff & Mat. Walt.

hear—But, Mother, you must not worry about it—it will be arranged some way— There is nothing new in my

I write this at my desk—spring is quite advanced here—it is a damp, misty, cloudy forenoon—but pleasant—I

must be pretty tough up there on that bleak hill—It has been very cold here, but I have not minded it—My

Mother, all the news I have to write about my affairs, is the same old thing—we have had another long

this week—they have carried all their measures successfully over the President—I am writing this at my

It is pleasant here this forenoon—as I look out of my window, the river looks fine—there is a slight

I had provided a big molasses pound cake for supper—but the snow was too hard, & the wind right in my

I spend quite a good deal of time, evenings & Sundays, in the office at my desk, as I can get in the

of law, mostly—but we have five or six hundred miscellaneous works—I have described to you before, my

quite bright & pleasant—I am feeling well as usual—It looks like winter at the far north as I look from my

Mason, who "used to be in my party on the Water Works."

time—I am feeling very well—no trouble in the head, nor any thing, so far—I get along very well in my

March 19, 1867 Dearest mother, I got both your letters last week, & they were a relief to my mind—I want

longer—He seemed to be well pleased with his visit, & I am sure it was a great comfort to me— I rather like my

Well, mother, I left my letter awhile, & have been out taking a walk, & now return & finish my letter—It

O'Connor has taken a real liking to him— I hope this will find you relieved of your rheumatism—I send my

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

I wrote in my last letter that I had met her son Willy in the street, Monday Jan. 7, & he told me she

Well good bye, dear mother—& give my love to George, & Jeff, & Matty, & all. Walt.

Attorney Gen'l , has gone on to Philadelphia with wife & child, to spend three or four days—I like my

new boarding place very well, take it altogether — Mother, I am writing this at my table, by the big

Jeff don't say whether you got my last Tuesday's letter, (March 5,) with the envelopes, &c.

very tired, when I arrived home—We don't have dinner till 5 o'clock—but I always take a good lunch in my

please—then I am getting many books for the Library (our office Library) that I have long wanted to read at my

I have just changed my quarters—I moved to-day back again to the same house Mrs.

Benedict— I have not got my old-room but a room right over it—it is in the attic, it is true, but I think

is, as well as one is apt to like any quarters here in Washington—I will write you how I like it in my

stomach, just in the waist—last Saturday he had an operation & had it extracted—it was in, the length of my

My dear friend, I suppose you saw my letter to William O'Connor, a week since, with notice of my safe

Give my best respects to Mrs.

There is nothing specially new or important among my folks—they all wish me to give their best regards

As to me & my fortunes I am in pretty good health, thank God—& I am working in the Attorney General's

I send you my love, dear friend & soldier, & I hope this will find you well in health & in good spirits

next to Lewis Brown's in Armory Square Hospital in 1862 and 1863, and recalled Walt Whitman's visits: "My

My dear Hiram Ramsdell: Mr.

—In respect to Judge Kelly, & his matter, I had already formed my opinion & made out my Report several

I hope it may happen one day that I may have him near at hand, that we get to be friends—such is in my

—There is nothing new in my affrairs—all goes on as usual in the office. I am well.