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Forest Hill April 19/61 My Dear Walt.

True I might not prove strong enough for much hard work but I could fire my gun once and die, for my

My dear Walt I am not yet conquered .

I have everything external to crush me and stinging poverty to freeze my heart, but my day is coming

God bless you my dear man.

10 th 89 O Good Gray Poet, When I read the notes on your life made by Ernest Rhys the tears came to my

feeling of the boundlessness of the universe, of the greatness of a man—perhaps, only perhaps, it may be my

glory to help others to "justify" your work; it surely is my heart's desire.

My excuse for writing you is the sending of a book; a first utterance, called "Voices & Undertones"—it

Ferry, I dashed off the enclosed Sonnet, which I take the liberty of send to you, the rather to gratify my

My wife was indignant , and I should not wonder if she wrote a reply to it. W. W.

Sunday Night Aug 31/62 My Dear Walt, I feel just like writing to you.

I together with my dear wife have had lots of hard experiences—ill health, sickness of children and my

is my last night at home.

My friends told me my chance for a berth in the P.O. was one in a thousand.

My heart is in the war & I ache to do something. But I can't.

My wife has arranged to go among her folks on Tuesday, so that day we will probably be out of town.

As Monday is my press day (getting the Register printed & mailed) could not get to meet you that day

My copy was loaned round, till I fear it is lost. Hope you have a copy.

It was at my invitation that Mr.

Walter Whitman— Sir i take my pen in hand to let you know that i am well and i hope that these few lines

may find you the same i have not got a way yet from this hospittle but i think that my papers will be

home. i am sorry that i did not think to tell you to not mind what he told you Well i must [close] My

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

minnesota Wright Co Howard Lake may 12 1874 Walt Whitman my dear friend I received yours dated April

be good for your the there are some comming coming from the different Stats states for their health. my

friend Whitman I love you when I think of the kindness you shew show to me my heart is swelled with

gratitude to you may the lord preserve you and giv give you a home in heaven my friend i have bin been

in a bad stat state of health for 10 months I have the dropsy of the heart I am getting better & my

Howard Lake June 28, 1874 My Dear Friend I Receivied received your kind & Most Welcome Letter A Short

Well My Health I But Verry Very little Better But If I Had Stayed In W Va West Virginia dont don't Suppose

when I went In the army I had a Com fortable Home Was a good Lover My Mother Leives Lives In My Father

Not Seen Her For 8 year My Brothers & Sisters Lives too I Will Close My letter By Saying I Hope you

kindness And Care to me My Children Sends their Love to you Now My Dear Friend I Hope you will write

Howard Lake, Minn Minnesota July 21, 1875 My Dear Friend Walt I was glad to hear from you But Sory Sorry

to know that your Health was not Improving But glad that you remember me My health's Failig Failing

I am trying for an Envelid Invalid Pentian Pension I have Now only the Need of to two witnesses of my

M D Halans is my agent St.

Paul Howard Lake is Improving Fast I wished you would come and visit this place My wife sends her Best

I for my part will advise him to collect and send on the whole amount as soon as he possibly can.

I am sure we shall all be quite satisfied with yr plans, for my part I am pleased that you are going

arranged that my contribution be my expenses to Camden & board bills there helping you get domicilled

(I built my own study out in Ohio when a lad).

But I shan't impart my surmise to any one else.

My Dear Whitman— I return the J. Burroughs Book. & the pamphlet with thanks.

The Burroughs book fed me on my journey home, so that I had to buy no other reading.

I shall cherish the memory of that blessed January 2nd '85 to the end of my days.

I must send you my N. Orleans articles. My Creole article in Lit.

it be the means of my being able to publish it. Dr.

It tickles my diaphragm to see you run huge subsoil prairie plough so deep down under the feet of the

My heart, at least, swells with gladness & pride on account of honors this winter.

I can't for my poor self at any rate.

I send you by this mail my paper—"The New Ars Poetica" I want you to read it, &, if you think best, ask

strange feeling of the educative and epoch-making nature of your style (poetical); & I am confident that my

What do you think of my performance? I wish the libret might even be bound.

He asked what had become of my article. Paper (Camden) Thanks aff affectionately W.S. Kennedy.

Belmont Mass Aug '85 My Dear Friend: You are very kind to remember Kennedy— yr your son by adoption &

My indebtedness to you—estimating values by all that makes life high & noble—is simply boundless.

Your confidential item abt about royalties also makes me glad & wrings my heart at the same time.

The $13. is a pure business debt. $5000. represents my soul indebtedness to Walt Whitman, who is the

the Universe as a whole I can sympathize as to copyrights; I have not rec'd received a cent yet for my

volumes of Horace Traubel's With Walt Whitman in Camden (various publishers: 1906–1996) and Whitman's "My

Belmont Mass Dec 2 '85 My Dear Whitman— Maugre yr your wholesome advice, (exc. that I put in a page on

you & Hugo—parallelism of poetic-technique en-avant freshness &c) I have done gone & published my essay

I set up every stick of it mesilf indade , & corrected my proofs ( wh. which I'll have you know) were

Well, I have learned just enough to set up this & my poems (Heaven bless the mark—"poems" quotha,—I wd'nt

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

Eve (I free from the gnarring of the finite at my heels).

I wont weary you by saying more than to express my heartfelt sympathy & thankfulness & good wishes .

My dear father-confessor, I feel a strong desire to be clasped closer to yr your breast, to know my friend

—Well, there, my eye lights on my memorandum of it.

I have not time to copy out my translation. affec. as always W.S.

I offer my congratulations in advance.

that item about my reading proofs) before I give him the MS.

But my chief reliance is on my pen at present.

In the mean time, calmly, toilingly, ohne hast, ohne rast, working away on my literary chef-d-oeuvre,

"Whitman, the Poet of Humanity,"—here in my idyllic, noiseless home-cottage.

Wish I cd could send you some of the pinks, accept my love instead in return for yours, as something

You renovate & cheerify my ethical nature every time I visit you. WS Kennedy.

Belmont Mass April 19. '86 My Dear Poet: Your postal rec'd. received I have completed (rough finish)

my seven chapters on you.

It is the most scholarly, fiery, and heavy-artillery piece of work I have yet done; took all my strength

I have got in my cellar, Walt, about 50 bottles of elderberry cordial—fine, smacky, made by myself last

My grand poet, my friend Yours as ever W.S. Kennedy How's the pony? Paper also!! good!

have been 2 weeks in a fever of parturition & have gone over all the notes writings, & literature of my

past life in relentless search for material to enrich the book on my hero.

Please don't tell anyone of my project yet— wd would you?

But my chief object is to propagandize.

My Puritan training as a Calvinistic ministers son hindered it for a long time.

My Dear Whitman,— Don't you thik think it would be well for you to give me a line to Prof.

Dowden, telling him that you have read the bibliography of my forthcoming book, and that you think you

I am afraid they will be but dilatory in taking hold of the matter on my request alone,.

For my part, I dislike to ask anyone for to serve as go-between, but you seemed to think it would be

My roses are superb; have pitched a tent in my yard. Aff. Affectionately W. S. Kennedy.

By coming on I could bring my MS with me, & stay three days at least.

I have already made out a long one—going over all my scraps & records for the purpose Our brilliant young

Will send you my Herald article on him when it appears.

I gave it draining regards that fixed it in my mind.

I regard it as a noble work, & am very glad of this rich honor done to my poet, & I want to congratulate

It is a fine, nay a great, work, in my opinion.

Fairchild & her husband are going to drive out & see my Cox photo, some time.

might insure the publication of the book; for purchasers of L. of G. are of all most likely to buy my

This will excuse my dilatoriness as a correspondent) Rhys & I go up to lunch with Sanborn Friday—Rhys

Nothing delights me more & my limitations are so many.

Return at my expense by ditto. Take yr your time. I am dissatisfied with the thing.

But in this case I feel particularly blue—after all my rooster-crowing—for anything put beside writing

As I sit here looking up Brattle Square Cambridge from my proof-room window, the gay elastic children

It took me several days to absorb it and make my extracts &c.

(I fear my digestion must be poor to-night judging from the tone of the foregoing!)

I keep toiling away kicking my MS into shape, adding touches &c &c W S Kennedy William Sloane Kennedy

That wonderful title page I look at & look at, & can't seem to get dovetailed into my mind.

My day had a sad ending.

Please give my very special congratulations to Traubel anent this big volume (for I suppose he helped

And give my regards to your Canadian nurse-friend.

Belmont Mass Oct 20 '88 My dear W.W.

Mrs K. is in Boston at a Symphony Concert and a precious ½ hour for my soul being at my disposal I feel

We are rolling out 90–100 books at once, & every page must pass under my eye twice & receive my fecit

before it goes out,—my guarantee.

I must stop & copy a page or so (my daily stint) of my Whitman bibliography (sawdusty job rather, but

You dear (young) old F'ellow: — I was just feeling to-day a lack in my soul—a gap—an idea that you had

I continue at my typographical business Hope I hear from Paisley in a fortnight goodnight & love—gloomy

Robert Browning (1812–1889), known for his dramatic monologues, including "Porphyria's Lover" and "My

30, 1868, Whitman informed Ralph Waldo Emerson that "Proud Music of the Storm" was "put in type for my

Just as my MS pkg was consigned to steamer Roman of the Warren Line, comes crawling along—like a fly

Commemoration Ode," which has often, since its publication, been contrasted with Whitman's own tribute, "O Captain

My Captain!"

poems & prose pieces bit by bit, stealhily stealthily to-day, having the book (disguised by cover) in my

I send you the Transcript with my notice of November Boughs —hastily pencil-scrawled bet between jobs

on my proof desk.

I asked Traubel to tell you that Wilson (Glaswegian) had written me my book. cordially yrs yours W.S.Kennedy

They have made my summer glorious. My love of that man is something strong as fate.

Indeed I believe the ties of blood draw me to him & Scotland—my "forbears" being Scotch-Irish (on one

(my book). Glad to hear of yr your new books. Am still reading proof.

WS Kennedy I don't see much prospect of my work on you seeing the light soon, But—.

Belmont My Dear Walter (as poor Emerson wd would say) I some weeks ago devised a cunning scheme for getting

I took up the idea & having my time at my disposal, I am going to work you up a lecture.

Do you think you will be able to come by that time, my dear friend?

I have never heard you either read or lecture & shall be a thousand times repaid for my trouble. aff—

"Last of Ebb" is my favorite. William Sloane Kennedy to Walt Whitman, 28 August 1888

Belmont Sept 15 '89 (Sunday afternoon) Dear Walt:— I never meant my last poor postal to be the answer

to write the bk I told you of, I must bore you with a letter—just to say how'd'e, & to tell you that my

staunch little dame, my brave frau kin is going to make a little visiting tour, & will some day make

for my freedom! [Here I cut a caper] Now for six weeks of thought . I wrote to F.

My gloire di Dijon rose has grown 12 feet high in many rigorous shoots.

—However, with all my deep chagrin, I c but laugh (long & well), over little Stedman & Holmes (I suppose

You say in it "as to my alleged opinion of Stedman: I have no such opinion.

My feeling toward S. is one of good will & thanks markedly—O'C says he is a good fellow, & I say so too

Stedman w never forgive my trying to comfort him . Ha! ha!

I think I shall now pitch overboard fr my book the Hartmannian lading (supplement) entirely.

I have abt 10 minutes a day to my self!

Wilson has my MS now. Am going to take a vacation in a month.

Do drop me a line dear & revered papa, & relieve my anxiety abt you. W. S. Kennedy.

O'C in my hand at arm's length for several minutes trying to realize its import.

My regret is keen that I did not meet our noble & brilliant friend.

I wish you know the depth of my own feeling the tumultuous emotional depths—sort of despair—stirred up

My days are passed in the harrowing uproar of a great printing estab. & it is hard for me to find a soul-hour

O'C dead—if one rightly regarded it—just as much in harmony with the scene as my part of the life-throbbing

In his letter to me I alluded to in my letter of this date to you, O'C says, "I sincerely hope no memoir

I mean give him my regards. & to Dr. B. whose last I shall answer soon W. S. K.

Wilson will tackle in some way my Whitman .

It is firstrate I did make that condition in my letters to Gardner —i.e. that my corrections on proofs