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A.MS. draft.loc.00248xxx.00236[(Returning to my pages front once]between 1873-1876poetryhandwritten1

[(Returning to my pages front once]

Portions of this manuscript contributed to Some Personal and Old-Age Jottings, Good-Bye My Fancy (1891

new, all strange, & very mixed; but I am now fairly master of the situation, & though I do not expect my

I was so warm & snug & my nest was so well feathered; but I have really cut loose & do not expect to

My greatest loss will be in you my dear Walt, but then I shall look forward to having you up here a good

to close up this bank, then I shall make me another nest among the rocks of the Hudson and try life my

I hope you are well & will write to me, & will go up & see my wife.

look—We would like to pop in on you some evening—what a jolly time we would all have would we not Give my

Walt Whitman after she added this postscript: "Write to poor Mat Walter dear  i am about as usual  my

I was so warm & snug & my nest was so well feathered; but I have really cut loose & do not expect to

I have had a slight stroke of paralysis, on my left side, and especially the leg—occurred Thursday night

last, & I have been laid up since—I am writing this in my room, 535 15th st as I am not able to get

out at present—but the Doctor gives me good hopes of being out and at my work in a few days—He says it

days, but am to-day eating better—I wrote to Mat early last week— Later —I have been sitting up eating my

are both very helpful to me—one comes day time, & one evening—I had a good night's sleep last night—My

mind is just as clear as ever—& has been all the time—(I have not been at all down hearted either)—(My

it—I shall be getting well soon—am on a fair way to it now— latest ½ past 4 I have just set up & had my

30 Jan 73 My dear darling walt Walt I have just got your letter i am glad my dear you are as well as

Walter dear remember me to peter write just as you are say you are better than you are god bless you my

Or it may be my words have led you to do me some kind of injustice in thought,—& then I could defend

only might, but ought, on pain of being untrue to the greatest, sweetest instincts & aspirations of my

own soul, to answer it with all my heart & strength & life.

out life giving warmth & light to my inward self as actually as the Sun does to my body, & draws me

to it and shapes & shall shape my course just as the Sun shapes the Earth's.

sit up several times during the day now, for a few minutes at a time—am gradually gaining the use of my

as I am lying here—I have not written to Han since I had the paralysis—Mother, you might send one of my

letters to her, Han , when you next write—(this one, or any)—Say I sent my love, & will be up before

I rec'd your letter, dear mother—you may rest assured that I write the exact facts about my sickness—I

window looking out on the river & scenery—it is beautiful weather now—they have sent over & paid me my

I am still anchored here in my bed—I am sitting up now on the side—Mrs.

dear, dear, sister Matty—O how I have been thinking of you, & shall all day—I have not now the use of my

Louis, Feb 7th 1873 My dear Mother I wrote you a few days ago apprising you as to Mattie's health  I

feeble, and have distress in the head—these are the worst features—but am gradually regaining the use of my

written a short letter to Hannah , & also one to Jeff —which they must have rec'd by this time— I keep up my

Washington Feb. 8;—noon— (sitting up on the side of my bed.)

dear, dear sister Matty — O how I have been thinking of you, & shall all day—I have not now the use of my

Louis—I can but send you my love, dear, dear sister— Your unhappy, sorrowful, loving brother Walt Walt

to-day—I feel so bad about Mat—I am still improving—but slowly though I realize some improvement every day—my

long—to-day I have been sadly pestered with visitors—every thing goes well with me, except the slowness of my

her—she was cheerful to a degree and at noon of the day she died sat up in her chair and directed how my

Dear Friend Abby, and all my friends, Helen & Emmy & Mr.

Arnold, I will write a line only—My paralysis still leaves me extremely feeble—& with great distress

I have lost my dear, dear sister Martha, in St.

present I can hardly move ten steps without feeling sick—I am sitting here now in the rocking chair in my

writing this—most of the time alone which suits me best—it is paralysis of left side—Love to all— Walt (My

rocking chair by the stove— I have just eat some dinner, a little piece of fowl & some toast & tea— my

The doctor comes every day—(I must tell you again I have a first-rate doctor— I think he understands my

thinking all the time it was the day of Matty's funeral— Every few minutes all day it would come up in my

she had moved to Camden, Louisa Van Velsor Whitman complained to Helen Price: "i would rather have my

own shanty and my good friends come to see me" (Pierpont Morgan Library).

, 1873: "i wouldentwouldn't mind living here if i had a place of my own but this living with and not

Now wait till I get my dress fixed and Papa waited and then she fell over & never spoke another word

Louis, Monday Feb 24th 1873 My dear dear Mother Since Matties death I could not write you before—there

 she was cheerful to a degree and at noon of the day she died sat up in her chair and directed how my

and then took my horse and buggy arriving at the house abt 3ck—I found Mattie dressed—furs &c on—sitting

awaiting me—I took her in my arms and carried her out to the buggy as I sat her in—she said "wait now

'till I fix my dress"—these were the last words she spok—She then fell over on her side I immediately

along real well, upon the whole—I went out and over to the office yesterday— went in & sat down at my

desk a few minutes—It was my greatest effort yet, and I was afraid I had overshot the mark again, as

getting along all right—I am going out a little to-day, but not much— I feel now over the worst of my

bit of sickness, & comparatively comfortable— Poor Martha—the thoughts of her still come up in my mind

Price— Mother, I shall try to get out, & get my Feb. pay, I have to get it from the old office, & then

Camden Feb. 1873 febuary February 27 My dear walt Walt i have been waiting till this thursday Thursday

28 Feb. 1873 Saturday noon My dear dear walt Walt i have just got your letter the money came all safe

it over & over again —it is very, very good—so much about your dear mother , it brought the tears to my

eyes, & I had to stop many times—my dear, dear Sister Martha , she must have suffered so much, & to

got just well enough to go out, in a carriage, but, dear Hattie, I am in a miserable condition, as to my

power of moving—The doctor says I shall get well, but it is very, very slow and irksome—my mind is clear

Louis are addressed wrong)—My right address is Walt Whitman Solicitor's office Treasury, Washington,

1873 march March 4 5 oclock o'clock dear walt Walt i suppose you have got my letter i wrote last saturday

and mrs Mrs. buckly be a kind of mother to me and little poor hattie Hattie it made the tears come in my

hot weather i think it would us both good so we must both get so we can walk without limping good bie my

Burlington Tuesday Morning March 4 1873 My Dear Brother How are you this morning.

little I feel glad when its it's bright pleasant weather I think maybe you will gain faster,—I know my

from him and the dear little girls Do you remember Walt some years ago, what a bad time I had with my

back (I think it was neuralgie neuralgia of the spine) anyway I was well only my back I could not walk

do like that young fellow that is so kind to you, Peter Doyle I shall always remember him Good bye my

I have not rec'd any letters for the last two days— I suppose you got my letter Saturday—I have been

to keep house without stopping Hattie's schools and I did not wish to do that—but I shall not sell my

them away as I best may and hope as soon as Hattie gets a couple of years older we will try again Well my

thinking or wondering about you—I have often thought how I would like to see you and if I can so arrange my

My dear walt Walt its another monday Monday morning and edd Edd and me is alone george George has gone

i have been better of the rheumatism this winter untill until a week or so ago i got quite lame in my

knees so i could hardly get down stairs but i think i took cold going out to the privy getting my feet

hardly realize she is gone as her picture hangs here and looks so much like life it brings the tears to my

dear, I feel quite well to-day considering—in good spirits, & free from any pain—I suppose you got my

days, strong & sudden winds, & dust— but it is pleasanter to-day—it is now about ½ past 1—I have had my

Mother, I feel to-day as if I was getting well—(but my leg is so clumsy yet— & my head has to avoid much

March 19, 1873 Walt Whitman Dear friend, By my sister Nell's request I send you today by mail the best

copy I could find of my Medical Electricity.

more pretentious books, published by medical electricilians electricians in this country who have made my

I wrote to my sister my haunting fear that you might use electricity prematurely & incautiously & I rejoiced

I for one have felt my indebtedness to you for great thoughts & words more than ever before.

21 March 1873 M 21 My dear darling walt Walt i receeved received your letter yesterday likewise the gra

mention her name matti Matty was a kind daughter to me i have cause to regret her death) good bie give my

My dear Walt i received your letter yesterday we got the papers you send walter Walter dear i am glad

monday Monday afternoon My dear walt Walt as i am here in the sellen salon or dining room as its called

Louis March 26th 73 My dear Mother I received your latest letter—I was glad indeed to hear from you—yet

acknowledged on March 13 that "the principal trouble is yet in the head, & so easily getting fatigued—my

whole body feels heavy, & sometimes my hand" (Edwin Haviland Miller, ed., The Correspondence [New York

was in bankruptcy, Redfield noted that the balance due Walt Whitman ($63.45) "will have to go in with my

I think my estate will pay 50 cents on the dollar: hope so at any rate."

'73 Friday morning—9 o'clock Dearest mother, The sun shines out bright & cheerful this morning—& in my

first sick) —I think I am feeling better to-day, & more like myself—I have been in the habit of soaking my

cold—so I have stopt stopped it, & I have a notion I feel better from stopping it— —I have just had my

here, rooms enough to live in for you & Ed and me —I realize it more, far more now, than ever—even for my

with a shed kichen with no fireplace in the house except in the kichen. . . . what do you think of my

Saturday My dear Walt i have received severall several paper s this week but no letter that has been

of company this week mostly girls from the place where she used to work all have to be taken up in my

got hans Han's letter and Jeffs Jeff's poor matt i feel so bad about her i cant can't keep her out of my

Louis, March 30th 1873 My dear Walt Although I have written two or three letters to you, and Hattie one

our house you must send your love to her also when you write i wish you would write to them this is my

sometimes you are writing at your desk well i am writing this down stairs all alone i have been on my

though maybee maybe i would come but i havent haven't had a word from her since she dident didn't get my

letter) write as often as you can dear and say if you got my letter of Louisa Van Velsor Whitman to

Sea Captains, Young or Old

If my article on you should appear in any american magazine, I should like to have sent a copy.

Clausen, who Rudolf Schmidt called "my old friend and countryman," corresponded with Schmidt after he

nerves) they say it must not be applied, for it will do more harm than good, might cause convulsions—My

I wrote to Jeff yesterday—I send you Harper's Weekly , mother, it is quite interesting—I still hold my

mind about getting a house here & shall certainly do so —At present my great hope is to get well, to

get so I can walk, & have some use of my limbs—I can write, pretty well, and my mind is clear, but I

cannot walk a block, & have no power to do any thing, in lifting or moving any thing in my room, or

Later a board of inquiry attributed the disaster to dereliction of duty on the part of the captain.

My dear walt Walt i received your letter to day its a great consolation to get your letters nearly all

the comfort i have) as i have no one to talk too to about any of my own i get letters from helen price

without hearing mine they think Lou is in the family way and therefore she has to be kept up stairs in my

since i got up this morning till i come up to writ write this letter i have had very little good of my

8 April 1873 My dear walt Walt i got your letter of sunday Sunday and monday Monday and the papers all

fereplaces fireplaces and its much cheaper to have stove pipes than firplac es what do you think of my

For the poem that he enclosed, see "Sea Captains, Young or Old," published in the April 4, 1873 issue

confined comments on his condition to two brief remarks, that he did "not feel very well" and that "My

My dear Rossetti, The bearer of this note is Col. Richard J.

I am perfectly satisfied with the selections from my poems—and feel grateful to you for your kindness

My address remains the same—Solicitor's Office, Treasury, here. W.W.

These must have been my Selections of American Poems in the series Moxon's Popular Poems. W.M.R."

My dear M r Whitman, Thank you for the kind thought which sent me the newspaper containing good news

under all feeling which the fact of your illness produces lies the one feeling (which the growth of my

Burroughs would be willing to take the trouble; (& he would add to my gain if he would mention to me

My wife joins with mine her love & both go to you together. We are well.

It has always seemed to me more my proper work than prose, but if a sufficient experiment proves the