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In fact: "When I got into the hall—up the fine broad stairway—had my seat there at the table—a good bottle

So they set to and transported me without the least effort on my part—chair and all.

It is the usual fate of my things upstairs."

"I shall go for a few minutes into the parlor, then up to my den."

It was in such a way he retorted: and I adopt the story, as fitting my coat!"

I expressed my high value put on the poem, and spoke of its "power." This appeared to strike him.

In the Herald days, though they presented on to fifty of my pieces, never but once or twice—probably

It is evidently drawn to my order—intended for me—I ought to have it."

I said, "In reading of the terrific loss there—ten millions or more—my first wonder was, that a town

I feel I must return to my first love. The summary is brief, yet always definite and satisfactory.

Day by day, in these older years of my life, I see how lucky I was that I was myself thrown out early

I was in a sense a boy of the farm and the streets; it was my fate, my good fate.

Sometimes I do my duty: not always: not because I live by any special method. Duty, duty.

They talked about matter of fact things in a matter of fact way—about their aunts and uncles and my aunts

When I got up to leave and went across the room to W. he took and held my hand and said very seriously

He murmured a "good morning," but I decided not to press my presence.Talcott Williams writes with his

last fund remittance: "I enclose my check for a dearly loved service." 1:20 P.M.

"No, not in the least: my days are dreadful—dreadful." "With pain?"

I turned to W. and gave him my "Good night," which he returned, raising his hand, which I kissed as he

of its poets.Tell W. that I beg of him to give me through you a little light to help me forward with my

As she mentioned the course of her walk, I started, for a dim fear took possession of my mind, to which

"Did you," gasped I faintly, as the name struck my ear, and a feeling of deadly sickness crept over my

I was almost out of my senses with agony and alarm.

But time pressed, and lifting that form so dear to me, in my arms, I bore her into the planter's residence

I shall not think it worth while for my story, to give a minute account of the lady's illness.

Orleans, San Francisco, The departing ships, when the sailors heave at the capstan; —Evening—me in my

room—the setting sun, The setting summer sun shining in my open window, showing the swarm of flies,

, futurity, In space, the sporades, the scatter'd islands, the stars— on the firm earth, the lands, my

thereof—and no less in myself than the whole of the Mannahatta in itself, Singing the song of These, my

my lands are inevitably united, and made ONE IDENTITY; Nativities, climates, the grass of the great

bugle-calls, Trooping tumultuous, filling the midnight late, bending me power- less powerless , Entering my

2 Come forward O my soul, and let the rest retire, Listen, lose not, it is toward thee they tend, Parting

the midnight, entering my slumber-chamber, For thee they sing and dance O soul.

cannot tell itself.) 3 Ah from a little child, Thou knowest soul how to me all sounds became music, My

6 Then I woke softly, And pausing, questioning awhile the music of my dream, And questioning all those

New Orleans, San Francisco, The departing ships, when the sailors heave at the capstan; Evening—me in my

room—the setting sun, The setting summer sun shining in my open window, showing me flies, suspended,

, futurity, In space, the sporades, the scattered islands, the stars —on the firm earth, the lands, my

less in myself than the whole of the Manna- hatta Mannahatta in itself, Singing the song of These, my

ever united lands —my body no more inevitably united, part to part, and made one identity, any more

bugle-calls, Trooping tumultuous, filling the midnight late, bending me power- less powerless , Entering my

2 Come forward O my soul, and let the rest retire, Listen, lose not, it is toward thee they tend, Parting

the midnight, entering my slumber-chamber, For thee they sing and dance O soul.

cannot tell itself.) 3 Ah from a little child, Thou knowest soul how to me all sounds became music, My

6 Then I woke softly, And pausing, questioning awhile the music of my dream, And questioning all those

New Orleans, San Francisco, The departing ships, when the sailors heave at the capstan; Evening—me in my

room—the setting sun, The setting summer sun shining in my open window, showing the swarm of flies,

, futurity, In space, the sporades, the scattered islands, the stars —on the firm earth, the lands, my

less in myself than the whole of the Manna- hatta Mannahatta in itself, Singing the song of These, my

my lands are inevitably united, and made ONE IDENTITY; Nativities, climates, the grass of the great

Although one additional poem, "Come, said my Soul," would later be restored to the Leaves as epigraph

Between the poems and the essay, filling pages 405–422, appeared the second annex, "Good-Bye my Fancy

of his long labors: "L. of G. at last complete—after 33 y'rs of hackling at it, all times & moods of my

work, books especially, has pass'd; and waiting till fully after that, I have given (pages 423–438) my

by the 1889 text of the poems of Leaves of Grass; the two annexes, "Sands at Seventy" and "Good-Bye my

Now I, who so love to see my neighbors happy," the hunchback grinned, "could not bear that the pretty

I approached, and told him my errand.

He took my letter—and then asked me into his hut; for it was near at hand.

He put before me some drink and meat, and then, though he spoke not, I saw he wished my departure.

"And now you have all of my story—and I must go, for it is time Peter Brown received his answer."

Camden Thursday afternoon March 28 My dear friends I am still grunting & unable to go out Walt Whitman

instance, to the boys—the messenger boys—who came often, he would put his hands on their shoulders—say, 'My

or 'Sit down there, my son,' something in that way, with a radiant kindliness, humanity—in a natural

O'Connor, always, and from the first—and my claim always belongs and there was the curious great Russian

I signed them, when signed at all, with my last name—Whitman—Whitman alone!

A sort of silk tape about a quarter of an inch in width—yellow was my color—I used to get it—took delight

this letter from Gilder: Editorial DepartmentThe Century MagazineUnion Square, New YorkMarch 3rd, 1892.My

My best love to Walt.Yours sincerely,R. W. Gilder Thought best to wait—not refer to W. just now.

My work great—from early morning to midnight—putting correspondence in all the odd moments of all the

and with my "oh yes!" I was instantly at the bed and grasped his reaching hand.

Heine, "The moon is up and shining," and he continued, "In the old days it was such an hour I took for my

I am now pretty near the end of my own history, but mark what I have said—it is the gospel of our democracy—the

JohnstonWe have told Wallace of the proposal mentioned in my last letter to you but he says No to it!

W.: "I can realize that abstractly without connecting it with my own person. Yes, I see it."

My business is to be—the rest will come as a matter of course, a necessary incident!"

W. continued on the bed throughout my stay. Tuesday, July 14, 1891

Perhaps he will not pay that, but that is my price." Gave me last number of Review of Reviews.

Some of your late prose has not been to my mind up to your standard—but your verse has not fallen off

excursion but I doubt if it comes to anything—I really have no plans at present—think perhaps it may end in my

But tell me when you want to come and I will keep that in my head in making plans.As far as I myself

That was my impression. It has left a pain with me: I can hardly shake it off. But the letter—oh!

Now I suppose that you would like to know how I enjoy my self: Well I go out most every day but I do

Hospital at Georgetown, so we aint got so many shoulder strapes hear, but we have got enough yet for my

My leg is rather worse this morning & the Doctor sayes that I must stay in bed to day, so I suppose that

Well I think my letter is getting full long as I must begin to think about closing.

scaffold all up—I have not bin up to the Capitol for some time, but probily I will go up on Monday if my

Bent to the very earth, here preceding what follows, Terrified with myself that I have dared to open my

whose echoes recoil upon me, I have not once had the least idea who or what I am, But that before all my

And I would that my tongue could utter The thoughts that arise in me!

"I place my hand upon you," he writes; "I whisper with my lips close to your ear."

"Whoever you are," he pleads, then, "you be my poem."

A man who has had my career is safe against the like.

Now, in these late days, as I look back upon the past, I can see that, in a sense, my misfortunes have

been my fortunes—that it must have been altogether right for me to have travelled a rough, hard road—so

My father has been making a large copy of the Gutekunst picture and W. said: "I shall probably stop in

And on my negative merrily exclaiming, "Nor have I bite!"

"I have had quite a curiosity," he said once more, "to fall on the track of my Brazilian poemetta—I looked

Advising me to take my summer trip to Canada and Dr.

At my entrance W. asked, "What news do you bring?"

fact is, although I had always had the kindliest thought of Boker, he was never a great element in my

I am sure I feel it an honor to be asked, and am glad to have my word go in there, for I feel it is in

I had my doubts from the first."

And the brother, too—Wilhelm—a great man by all my means of knowing.

I am glad you were on hand last night to say your word of dissent, and my word in the bargain."

mast—roughing it in that line a life through—but he was a man, every inch of him—as I may say it again, using my

I should wish everywhere to bear my testimony to him.

But," he added, "as this is a good paid-for piece, let me follow out my custom—credit the poem where

—And after a pause: "But first I want to find my 'last will and testament'"—laughingly—"it is here somewhere

Called my attention to an English catalogue, rehearsing rare and autographed Whitman books for sale—prices

No word from Bucke, but, "Every couple of days I have something from my Lancashire friends—some letter

I want a couple for my sisters, one for my niece, a couple for Lancashire, one for Symonds.

for a week past felt like the devil, Doctor: no relief—none at all—except when I sleep—and curiously my

He said again, "I seem to get no relief—except as I come here—rest stretched out on my back.

He told Longaker, "Doctor, somehow or other I took the notion—it is another of my evil whims I suppose—that

Then said the beautiful Queen Kriemhilde, "My husband i the most noble, and by right this kingdom, and

the queen to Hagen, and, looking upon him with hatred, "Restore," said she, "before it is too late, my

said Kriemhilde, "one useful thing, at any rate, you have restored to me, The sword, the weapon of my

I have made up my mind that the camp hospitals are pretty well cleaned out, the worst cases are here

The more I see of them in the Army, the higher & broader my estimate of them.

So, doctor, I still remain here in Washington, occupying my time nearly altogether among the wounded

most are blanks —I was at Pike's Peak—I liked Denver City very much—But the most interesting part of my

bridge over the Mississippi river —I often go down to the river, or across this bridge—it is one of my

I often think of you & no doubt you often do of me—God bless you, my darling friend, & however it goes

16 th dear Walt i will resume my corresspondence correspondence again haint you missed my letters very

tea and i got it with such pain that i could hardly keep from groaning the matter is i have been on my

MY DEAREST FRIEND: I have just been sauntering in our little but sunny garden which slopes to the South

My breath is so short I cannot walk, which is a privation.

I hope you received the little memoir of my husband all right.

I also saw this summer two women doctors who were very kind & good friends to my darling Bee— Drs.

I hope you received my little book safely.

to care whether you found patience to read it—for I grew to love Mary & Charles Lamb so much during my

New York  I wrote you a letter a couple of weeks since (which I suppose you received) telling you of my

position first rate and am getting along very well indeed, and as the pay is good , I am glad both on my

Well Mother it is getting late and rather chilly writing here in my tent so I must stop and go to bed

Brooklyn 14 April 1869 wensday Wednesday 14 My dear Walt your letter has come to day all right i looked

was to send a draft to George the first of the month for two hundred dollars but it has not come to my

down to the post office and got the money and i have got lots of things for myself i thought now was my

stay here perhaps the ensuing week—The family, (& a fine one they are) are at Newport for the summer—my

combination of character from any you ever saw—& one I am sure you would like—And then the father himself, my

am only middling well—seem to be getting clumsier than ever, more loguey —rheumatic & other ailments—My

Street Camden Tuesday Aug August 7 Dear Comrade & Dear Son Your letter came this morning, & as I think my

Good bye for a couple of days, my own loving boy.

want you to tell (above every one) your mother and father I have written to you & that I send them my

trousers around my boots, and my cuffs back from my wrists, and go with drivers and boatmen and men

gab and my loitering.

to my barestript heart, And reached till you felt my beard, and reached till you held my feet. (15)

to my bare-stript heart, And reach’d till you felt my beard, and reach’d till you held my feet.

You my rich blood!

B. " 25 seq p 155 my duty to pronounce any opinion upon the expediency of issuing a pardon upon such

I can only say that upon a careful examination of all the papers submitted for my consideration, it does

Though he had not yet inscribed my picture he said: "It is ready at any time you choose to take it."

That's a sample of the way my memory works nowadays!" Thursday, September 12, 1889

to take some sickle pears out of a bag on the floor.Asked him about a description of his "study" for my

This is my 'shack.'

And this launched us, my own talk, I suppose, verging on enthusiasm; he interjecting many questions.

Intensely interested in all I told him of the Ingersolls—firing at me question after question to enlarge my

Said to me, "I am looking about the room, trying to collect everything that bears my marks together,

Alluded to the "courtesy" of Youth's Companion editors.As to Truth piece had this to say, "My additions

.— I assume this day, the whole debt of all I take my place by right among the sudorous or sweaty men

a handsomer man with be has better finer health and cleaner shaped limbs than I, who do business in my

4 To me I subject all the teachings of the schools, and all dicta and authority, to my the tests of myself

And myself,—and I encourage you to subject the same to the tests of yourself—and to subject me and my

I walk'd the shores of my Eastern Sea, Heard over the waves the little voice, Saw the divine infant,

maintain the be- queath'd bequeath'd cause, as for all lands, And I send these words to Paris with my

I walk'd the shores of my Eastern sea, Heard over the waves the little voice, Saw the divine infant where

and cogent I maintain the bequeath'd cause, as for all lands, And I send these words to Paris with my

I walked the shores of my Eastern Sea, Heard over the waves the little voice, Saw the divine infant,

and cogent, I maintain the bequeath'd cause, as for all lands, And I send these words to Paris, with my

I walk'd the shores of my Eastern sea, Heard over the waves the little voice, Saw the divine infant where

and cogent I maintain the bequeath'd cause, as for all lands, And I send these words to Paris with my