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Sea Captains, Young or Old

only 5 minutes from Philadelphia ferry, foot of Market st Department of Justice Washington. 187 I send my

Give them my address.—I shall be happy to hear from them. I saw Mrs.

Singing Thrush" (March 15, 1873, later called "Wandering at Morn"), "Spain" (March 24, 1873), "Sea Captains

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.

Dearest Mother , I am sitting in my room waiting for the doctor—Mother, you are in my mind most of the

what has kept me up, & is bringing me through—I think I am still on the gain, though it is very slow—my

it—& settle up there—he does better there—but he was doing well enough here, & was very comfortable—My

head troubles me to-day, but I am over here at my desk, at office—Mother, if convenient write me a line

About May 17, 1873, Louisa wrote: "my dearly beloved walter thank god i feel better this morning" (The

my dear beloved walter."

"On taking my seat among them, I noticed a curious thumping at intervals that made the floor vibrate

beneath my feet.

I was so absorbed in my own grief that at first I was hardly conscious of it.

Sept 4–1873 I am entirely satisfied & at peace "my Beloved—no words can say how divine a peace.

My Darling! take comfort & strength & joy from me that you have made so rich & strong.

When my eyes first open in the morning, often such tender thoughts yearning ineffably pitying sorrowful

—my hands want to be so helpful, tending, soothing, serving my whole frame to support the stricken side

My children send their love, their earnest sympathy.

not think hard of me for not writing oftener, especially the last seven months—If you could look into my

his letter to Anne Gilchrist of August 18, 1873, a ring: "The enclosed ring I have just taken from my

finger & send you with my love."

, 1873, she wrote about her children; and on December 18, 1873, she said of his health: "Perhaps if my

I turn my face to the westward sky and before I lie down to sleep, deep & steadfast within me the silent

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

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

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

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

Dear Charley, My condition continues favorable—& if I dared to hope this will last & improve in proportion—indicates

Eldridge that he had paid Godey, my substitute, the money I sent on for his October pay."

same way this fragment does: "I am still doing as well as when I last wrote" on October 24, 1873, and "My

please—the editor consenting—take two impressions, (proofs) similar to this & send me in this envelope for my

So they are off my mind." The poems appeared in the March 1874 issue (524–25).

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."

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

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

Dearest mother, I suppose you got my letter Monday 12th (written Sunday.)

1873, Louisa Van Velsor Whitman explained that her "nervous system is very much out of order . . . my

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."

about the 1st of next month—I am getting along favorably, they all say, but have frequent distress in my

head, & my leg is clumsy as ever—I am writing this in the office at my desk—I send some papers to-day

May 9, 1873, Louisa Van Velsor Whitman said: "walter dontdon't send any more papers as i cant read. my

way we talked of, (& I have no doubt we shall,) & satisfaction is felt on both sides, it is certainly my

Whitman observed to Horace Traubel in 1889: "What a sweat I used to be in all the time . . . over getting my

May 23 d my inexpressibly beloved mother died in Camden.

Though my plans depend on yet uncertain results, my intention, as far as any thing, is, on getting stronger

My post office address continues there, (Solicitor's Office Treasury.)

I send my love to Percy, & all your dear children.

The enclosed ring I have just taken from my finger & send you with my love.

August 12, 1873, Gilchrist, moved by newspaper reports of his continued illness, addressed him as "My

98–101) she wrote about her children; and on December 18, 1873, she said of his health: "Perhaps if my

I turn my face to the westward sky and before I lie down to sleep, deep & steadfast within me the silent

50 Marquis Rd Camden London Nov. 3/'73 My dearest Friend, All the papers have reached me—3 separate packets

(with the hand writing on them that makes my heart give a glad bound).

May you be steadily though ever so slowly gaining ground, my Darling!

My children all continue well in the main.

And how that line will gladden my eyes Darling! Love from us all. Goodbye.

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

days—I walk very clumsily yet, & do not try to get around by walking—but I think I am stronger now, & my

writing this over at the office—It is pleasant here, but cloudy & coolish—Mother, I suppose you got my

envelopes & I will send them—write whenever you can—I think I shall be able to soon give a good account of my

Washington: "walt if you think you cant get a house for us to live in dontdon't worry about me. i shall live 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 Son Pete, Here I sit again by the heater in the parlor, writing my weekly letter—I have just had

my dinner, some cold turkey & glass of Missouri wine &c.

—had been out to the P.O. some five or six squares distant—but have to take my time—Am still getting

is undoubtedly better, which, I hope will in time bring improvement in my walking, & in my head, &c

November 25, they print a portrait of my beautiful phiz. & a criticism on my books, one of the best &

My improvement is not much in the head troubles, & hardly any in my left leg, but very perceptible in

my strength & vim generally— & my confidence remains (still unaffected in the main, by all the tediousness

took, at my own price at once & sent me the money)—They are in type, and I have read the proofs.

So they are off my mind.

Nelly, my dear, I received your welcome letter last evening. I am waiting for the photos of my St.

The bad spells in my head continued at short intervals all through Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.

ready to have them, and pretty sick and sore and bad, especially in head, confusing me, and affecting my

I have rewritten my Will, with some slight changes and additions, and placed it in the pocket of my trunk

here. … Ate my breakfast like a man this morning.

My eyes gave out before through. . . .

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.

My head has some bad spells, & a touch or more nearly every day, & my locomotion is still as clumsy as

am happy in not having any of those spasms of three weeks since, & indeed I have glimpses again of my

Louis, from my brother Jeff—I am very fond of it for breakfast, can eat it every day—(My appetite is

my love to Wash Milburn—I am writing this up in my room, 3 o'clock, pleasant weather, sun shining, window

Good bye for this time, my loving boy. Walt. Walt Whitman to Peter Doyle, 24 October [1873]

My dear Dan Gilette, Your kind letter—with that of your English friend Chrissie Deschamps, (so full of

It seems to be a fluctuating & pretty stout struggle between my general physique & constitution, & my

My best regards & love to you, my friend, & to my English friends the same.

October 31 . 1873 1874 or 5 Dear boy Pete, My condition remains about the same—I don't get ahead any

to notice—but I hold my own, as favorable as I have stated in my late letters, & am free yet from the

Besides I think upon the whole, my general strength is the best it has been yet—for an interval every

Eldridge that he had paid Godey, my substitute, the money I sent on for his October pay.— Washington

Good bye for this time, my loving boy. Walt.

Dear Son Pete, Nothing very new with me—I continue about the same—my general strength the best it has

—As I write this holding the paper on my lap I am sitting here in the parlor, by the heater—have had

my dinner—drank quite a goblet of wine, which I believe has flown into my head.

I wear my old gray suit, & the old black overcoat,—& when very cold, or stormy my gray shawl—If you should

see me now leaning against Milburn's counter, you wouldn't see any difference from last winter —(but my

mother dear, I am certainly getting well again—I have made a great improvement the last three days, & my

head feels clear & good nearly all the time—& that, the doctor says, will bring my leg all right in

showers here nights—too much rain indeed—still spring is very fine here, & it looks beautiful from my

windows—I am writing this in my room— I am feeling just now well as usual in my general health—part

just as well as ever—but of course I expect a few set–backs before I get well entirely, & supple in my

My head does not get right, that being still the trouble—the feeling now being as if it were in the centre

I keep pretty good spirits, however, & still make my calculations on getting well.

They are the rooms in which my mother died, with all the accustomed furniture, I have long been so used

I have written to Harry Douglas, my fellow clerk in the office, asking him to send me my letters here

My lift at the Ashton's was a great help to me—the change from the 15th st. rooms, & then the weather

makes it just right—I have been out just a little, but was glad to get back—I am feeling tolerable, but my

out, in a few minutes' walk—I have had two or three quite good spells this week,—sufficient to arouse my

My appetite still holds out—& my sister cooks very nice, gets me what I want— Pete your letter of 8.

My brother Jeff has been on here this week from St. Louis—got in a car in St.

desk, from what I hear from my substitute —He writes me now & then—does my work very well, & more work

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,

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

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

it goes, it will be all right—the little Philadelphia paper piece was about the right statement of my

My brother Jeff has come on from St.

excursion, a week on a yacht voyage—I told him to call on you, if possible—& he will if he can work it—My

her I rec'd received her letter & thank her for it—I have not felt to write to her, or any one but my

I have had—but unspeakable —my physical sickness, bad as it is, is nothing to it— The following are

that's about the best I can say—continue to get out a little every day when the weather will permit—but my

last night) is to wear over—I got the stuff, it is first rate Middlesex flannel, cost $5, (same as my

necessary—must then be washed by some one experienced in washing nice flannels—I sent Graphic with my

portrait —(as they sent me some)—also my Capitol letter —I rec'd your good letter last Tuesday Dear

Nash—give them both my love—(I see just a line in the paper that Mr.

June 29 My dear friends John and 'Sula Burroughs, I am here again in Camden, stopping awhile, with the

there—staid about a couple of weeks—obtained two months leave of absence, & (after almost making up my

been for about two weeks—(I think comparatively better the last two days)—occupying the rooms in which my

in life & heart left by the death of my mother is what will never to me be filled— I am comfortably

hour or two every day, while I am in this condition—The last nine or ten days in Washington, I left my

close, as we have had real winter here, snow & bad weather, & bad walking—I have been quite alone, as my

off to Delaware on Wednesday on a Christmas visit, to return to-morrow, Saturday—I am about the same—My

strength still keeps quite encouraging—I think is better than any time yet—my walking no better, & still

a good deal of distress in the head—but, as I said in my letter of Monday last, (did you get it Tuesday

is so much complicated machinery about one of these heaters with all the late improvements—give me my

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.

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.

Dear boy Pete, Well, I am sitting here in the parlor again writing my weekly letter—as I write, the rain

feeling pretty bad, but it seems to be mostly from a severe cold in the head—anyhow I am having one of my

bad spells, of which I have gone through so many—had a bad night last night—but have eat my breakfast

week, & I have enjoyed sailing across the Delaware, & the splendid sunsets most every evening—it is my

you scratch down, as I sit here a great deal of the time, (& time is dull & lonesome, at the best)— My

your Mother telling me of your very severe illness in wich which you have our Heartfelt Sympathy (Both my

poor hand at it—and the trouble with cousin-Sarah she writes her letters so plainly—you must excuse my

that interests me just now and I will tell you all about—it is to take place this month) to two of my

wifes that can grace the parlor or grace the kitchen (if need be) this is the kind of wife, men in my

I could have written a more sympathetic letter (But then my heart is so full of my own sad Afflictions

Still at times my thoughts will go back & hover & nestle about the little home & the many familiar places

I graze in them with my eyes daily. Grass like this is never seen so far south on the Potomac.

summit, & could see the Catskills 50 miles to the North, & peaks that I recognized as visible from my

I have plenty of time on my hands now, but do not seem able to turn it to any account in a literary way

I can't get back my ruminating habit.

May 20 th /73 My dearest Friend Such a joyful surprise was that last paper you sent me, with the Poem

& by thoughts you have given me blent in & suffusing all: No hope or aim or practical endeavour for my

For there is not a line nor a word in it at which my spirit does not rise up instinctive and fearlessly

draught that I know is for me, because it is for all—the love that you give me on the broad ground of my

Good bye my best beloved Friend. Annie Gilchrist.

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

was glad to hear from you—I am still in a pretty bad way —I am writing this over at the office, at my

desk, but feel to-day more like laying down than sitting up—I do not walk any better, & my head has

strength—very slowly—& shall yet get well as ever—Every thing goes on about the same, in the sphere of my

impossible in reality— —I got a long letter from Dowden —he mentions you —As I sit I look over from my

were men out there in their shirt-sleeves raking it up—I have a big bunch of lilacs in a pitcher in my

My dear friend I am having quite a good spell to-day, (if it only lasts)—I wish you, in conjunction with

Peter Doyle, would go over to my room at Dr.

White's, & unlock the big trunk, (the one that is strapped) and take out My gray suit , coat, vest, &

My black overcoat , quite heavy—it is the one in the trunk— Black felt hat, (there are two black hats

I will write promptly if there is any marked change in my condition.

Walter Whitman My Dear Friend: After the laps lapse of over 8 years, & to let you know that your memory

is yet fresh in my mind; I am mooved moved to write you this letter—I Came to this state after being

My health is not good & has not been since I was in the army—My family is well, & children going to school

Dear Pete, dear son, I am sitting here in my room again writing to you—there is no particular change

in the situation—we are having some pretty cold weather here—I go out a little every day, but my walking

I suppose you got mine last Tuesday— —I have just had my dinner, bean soup, boiled beef, & pumpkin-pie

worse—it is now just after 2, & I am feeling quite comfortable—& hope this will find you all right, my