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My dear friend, I rec'd your first letter of about a month ago, (March 9)—I enquired of a friend in the

it miscarry,) but let that go— The changes in the Attorney Gen's office have made no difference in my

Browning—I couldn't wish to have better bosses—& as to the pleasantness & permanency of my situation

My dear friends, I often think about you all—Helen & Emily in particular, & wish I could look in upon

you, Sunday afternoons—I warmly thank you for your hospitable offers—Give my best respects to Mr.

Y. or Brooklyn, so as not to incommode my folks at home—taking my meals at the restaurants, & home &c—leaving

my time free for my work &c—Now have you such a room for me , at a fair price?

would be very agreeable—Your going off for a week or two would not make any difference—as a lodging is my

main object—write immediately & let me know, as my leave of absence will probably date from Monday next

I have an agreeable situation here—labor moderate—& plenty of leisure—My principal work is to make (from

good spirits—which would be, quite first-rate & good —but every day & every night comes the thought of my

nor disposed to be any more ennuyeed ennuied than ever—but that thought remains to temper the rest of my

Can't use my left leg yet with any freedom—bad spells in the head too frequent yet—then, with all those

I write some—(must occupy my mind.)

I am writing some pieces in the Weekly Graphic—my reminiscences of war times—first number appears in

send by Adams's Express three copies of the only edition of Leaves of Grass , of the few copies at my

I keep stout as ever, my face red and a great beard just the same.

I send my love to you, darling boy. Walt Whitman to a Soldier, early 1866

My Dear Comrade: . . .

me whenever you feel like it—tell me all about things & people down there in Kentucky—God bless you, my

Floyd, Dear Sir, As far as I can tell by my impression—which is a very vague one, for I have never seen

I am still unwell from my cerebral trouble—but still looking for better times, & counting on them.

the comradeship—friendship is the good old word—the love of my fellow-men.

As to the form of my poetry I have rejected the rhymed and blank verse.

everything of the kind from my books."

I said, "Perhaps not, my dear, in the way you mean, and yet, maybe, it is the same thing."

He said: "It is my chief reliance." He talked of death, and said he did not fear it.

Forney asked me to accompany him, and I embraced the opportunity of briefly visiting my brother [Water

Kansas celebration, if I feel as well as now, I shall go out to Denver before I return here to pay my

"Oh, yes; I still write, and this winter shall read my own poems in public and also lecture.

"Oh (smiling), that was my 'Leaves of Grass.'

Yes, I like my present life better—rambling about a little.

communed to- gether together Mine too such wild arrays, for reasons of their own; Was't charged against my

Skirting the river road, (my forenoon walk, my rest,) Skyward in air a sudden muffled sound, the dalliance

That sport'st amid the lightning flash and thunder cloud, In them, in thy experiences, had'st thou my

During my em- MR.

My Captain.

MY DEAR MR.

So go in, my lad.

MY DEAR MR.

Do you not see, O my brothers and sisters?

During my attendance upon Mr.

'I have had my hour'; I have had my hour ; only let me rest in peace until its close."

In these days and nights it is different; my mutton-broth, my little brandy, to be 'turned' promptly

My only difficulty with Mrs. Davis and Warren was in getting them to let me do my full share.

I am spry no longer, but my spirits are as high-flown as ever.

Childs as a man whose hand is open as the day, but I never met him more than twice in all my life.

I could do my work much better with ink-blotches about me and a litter around and with a few broken chairs

My feeling towards him is something more than admiration—it partakes of reverence."

My Captain!"

My Captain!

Captain, 0 my Cap tain" surely one ofthe most tender and beautiful poems in any language.6 The misquotation

I sing the songfmy wallpaper, my ceiling, my floor, my doors, my windows, my around-rooms, under- and

My Captain!

During my employment of seven years or more in Washington after the war (1865-72) I regularly saved a

great part of my wages; and, though the sum has now become about exhausted by my expenses of the last

three years, there are already beginning at present welcome dribbles hitherward from the sales of my

And that is the way I should prefer to glean my support.

In that way I cheerfully accept all the aid my friends find it convenient to proffer.

My work is extremely personal—rightly considered so—and on the fly-leaf of each volume I have put my

photograph with my own hand."

I have printed my own works, and am now printing them in two volumes, for sale.

I am living here at my brother's house.

A paralysis of the left side, which chiefly affects my left leg and thigh, hinders me.

my captain! our fearful trip is done!

Leave you not the little spot Where on the deck my captain lies, Fallen Cold and Dead. O captain!

my captain! rise up and hear the bells! Rise up!

My captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still; My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse

But I, with silent tread, Walk the spot; my captain lies Fallen cold and dead.

One of his own countrymen (a press correspondent) thus writes of him— The only American prophet to my

He has no respect for artificial barriers to poetic inspiration:— "In my opinion the time has arrived

In my opinion, I say, while admitting that the venerable and heavenly forms of chiming versification

"Yes, my brethren, oh!

And thee, My Soul! Joys, ceaseless exercises, exaltations!

September 1st 1877 Mr Whitman My dear friend Your letter of May from Kirkwood was duly rec d received

but as I dislike writing letters, & have been pretty busy I hope you will pardon my delay.

I believe I told you in my last letter of my intention to become, if possible, an engineer, My intention

still holds good, but despite all my efforts, I have failed to obtain a situation I suppose the trouble

lies in my not being acquainted with men of that class, so for the present I will have to take things

Most of my friends were English.

It was the method my mother had followed, when I was four or five, to facilitate my reading Spanish,

since my mother tongue, that of my parents' home, was French, until I was older than fifteen.

Haunts my heart."

"I, my soul, and my body go together, a singular threesome."

in a few lines, I shall only say the espousing principle of those lines so gives breath of life to my

I do not trouble my spirit to vindicate itself or be understood.

The six sentences may be a key to those who like me, but say they don't understand my book.

There is a certain idea in my works—to glorify industry, nature and pure intstict.

I always remember that my ancestors were Dutch .

In my books, in my prose as well as my poetry, are many knots to untie.

I don't know why some men compare my book with the Bible.

Mendelssohn is my favorite. I always like to hear him.

leafhandwritten; This manuscript contains part of an autobiographical sketch on the composition of Good-bye My

In this affair of the clerkship, my friend Mr. Stedman has already printed his disclaimer.

Three months later, in a pamphlet, I did my best to secure for the infamy of Mr.

But it is not my fault if the last fortnight's journals reaching Mr.

My regard for the work antedates by several years my acquaintance with the author, and no one can justly

It was morning in the world with me when I first read those mighty pages, and felt to my imnest soul

Ruskin, however, has recorded himself as my friend."

a log and fired away without listening to any captain's orders.

I stopped working, and from that time my ruin commenced."

They offend my democracy, however.

"I enjoyed it well," was the reply, "and always keep my hand in.

["When you are standing in my way . . ." ], "Ona prishla s moroza raskrasnevshayasya . . ."

I went the other day by appointment to visit him at his home in Camden, and after my usual quantum of

A few commonplace words and I settled my mind to business.

I project the future—depend on the future for my audience.

I know perfectly well my path is another one. Most of the poets are impersonal; I am personal.

In my poems all revolves around, radiates from, and concentrates in myself.

first met Whitman, beginning a friendship that will always form one of the pleasantest memories of my

The task in question, however, would naturally have fallen to my colleague and intimate friend, Frederic

before, I believe—he dropped in upon Guernsey at the Herald and introduced himself with the words: "My

Making known my errand, he greeted me cordially.

"In the moral, emotional, heroic, and human growths (the main of a race in my opinion), something of

almost human tenderness in the atmosphere, to get up and go out, and as I was being wheeled about by my

But I staid just a little too long in my unaccustomed wanderings, because I had not been out before during

It was after sunset when I got back to my home, and I enjoyed my supper better than I had for many a

I can read the magazines, and my friends from abroad keep me advised as to what is going on in the world

But first let me explain part of my head-line.

"But I, for my poems—What have I? I have all to make .

I wish to see my benefactor, and have felt much like striking my tasks and visiting New York to pay you

my respects.

My enemies discover fancy ones.

Rocky Mountains, three weeks ago, especially the Platte Canon Canyon , I said to myself, 'Here are my

"My idea of one great feature of future American poetry is the expression of comradeship.

couple of thousand miles, and the greatest thing to me in this Western country is the realization of my

How my poems have defined them. I have really had their spirit in every page without knowing.

"I would like to go on record as having a feeling of the utmost friendliness to all my fellow poets.

As to my works, I am in a peculiar position.

My works 'Leaves of Grass,' and my prose work, 'Specimen Days,' are printed and on sale, but still I

As I grow older I become the more confirmed in my adherence to my original theories.

Grant, in which are embodied all my original theories.

328 Mickle Street Camden New Jersey U S America Sept: 11 '87 My dear Rhys I suppose you got the copy

Finally I give you the same privilege over the putting together of this, as my other volumes.

I shall expect £10:10s (same as my other vols) and also 10 copies of the "Vistas" bound in roan .

Whitman said: "I am jogging along in the old pathway and my old manner, able to be wheeled about some

days and in rainy weather content to stay shut up in my den, where I have society enough in my books

I see a good many actors, who seem to have a fondness for my society. The death of George H.

"Tennyson still writes to me, as do Buchanan and my German friends.

"John Burroughs is my oldest literary friend now living.

I want to have it done for my own purposes" (Friday, October 16, 1891).For more information on W.

he wrote: "O I must not close without telling you the highly important intelligence that I have cut my

hair & beard—since the event, Rosecrans, Charleston, &c &c have among my acquaintances been hardly mentioned

Similarly, he wrote to Hugo Fritsch: "I have cut my beard short, & hair ditto: (all my acquaintances

In general, attire became more formal and tended toward dark, somber colors (see Reynolds, "'My Book

(See Ted Genoways, "'Scented herbage of my breast': Whitman's Chest Hair and the Frontispiece to the

(See Ted Genoways, "'Scented herbage of my breast': Whitman's Chest Hair and the Frontispiece to the

establishment" that he "had a real pleasant time" (nyp.00407).Of this photo, Whitman said, "It is one of my

Is this my sorry face? I am not sorry—I am glad—for the world."

photo in 1889 that Whitman explained what he saw to be the difficulty of photographing him properly: "my

red, florid, blooded complexion—my gray dull eyes—don't consort well together: they require different

Startle, strikingness, brilliancy, are not factors in my appearance—not a touch of them.

As for me I think the greatest aid is in my insouciance—my utter indifference: my going as if it meant

He called my attention to the dent in the hat.

February 15, 1889]), and claimed "it is me, me, unformed, undeveloped—hits off phases not common in my

by Henry Ulke and Brothers, 1871 Whitman spoke of people's reaction to this photo, "Some of them say my

O'Connor called it my sea-captain face.

labeled it "Walt Whitman in his 70th year," and claimed "the picture is in the nature of a surprise: my

Whitman inscribed this photograph: "My 71st year arrives: the fifteen past months nearly all illness

work—smoothing out the irregularities, wrinkles, and what they consider defects in a person's face—but, at my

stove—an edge suspicioning itself out—was one of the Fredricks (N.Y.) portraits of which—W. seeing it in my

Whitman went on to guess that the photograph “must be 12 or 15 years old—yes, taken after my sickness

, on one of my trips to New York.”

Whitman said this photo was "one of the best . . . my mother's favorite picture of me" (Horace Traubel

Indeed, all through those years—that period—I was at my best—physically at my best, mentally, every way

Looking at it another time, Whitman mused, "That was my prime—that was the period of my power—of endurance