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328 Mickle Street Camden New Jersey April 27 '85 My dear Dr Knortz What is now the status of the Rolleston

(I dont want the book, but just want to see how it is made up, paged & printed)—My health is about as

431 Stevens Street Camden New Jersey Feb: 6 '81 My dear J L G I send you the Carlyle piece as requested

forget to mention before (& perhaps is not strictly needed any how) I reserve the right to print any of my

early P M June 26 '91 Hot wave again—am keeping up pretty well—Suppose you rec'd Dr J's facsimile of my

will probably so appear (why so deferr'd doth not appear)—Enc'd y'r introductory to Tennyson —give him my

hour's drive:—quite a long letter from Wallace a couple of days ago (but I think I referred to it in my

Ingersoll (sent it to Horace, perhaps he will show it you) re my Montreal address.

bitterly— I am somewhat better, & late yesterday afternoon I was taken out & jaunted around for an hour—my

first experience of out door for most a year, & it was very refreshing—then when I came back & up to my

thing is quiet & secluded here—all winter too, the snow white & deep in every direction—as I look from my

window, river & mountains & trees & rocks—far & vast— I only write a hurried line to let you know my

I think, after all, that my former objections to giving the English of the L. of G. with the translation

We go for a month or so into the country soon, and from the time you get this till the end of June my

Camden Dec: 5 '90 My dear JMS I like y'r plan & feel greatly complimented by it & hope it will be carried

I send you herewith the MS of personal article (must not have my name signed) Of course if you print

abolished one of the third class clerkships in the office of the Solicitor of the Treasury, and upon my

It is, therefore, my duty to inform you that your services will not be required from and after the first

My general strength, however, from fair to middling.

Dont feel to leave my anchorage here, just now—but hope yet to take advantage of your affectionate &

Sunday , March 28 Dear Linton, My note of yesterday, (or day before,) asking for the bill was written

To-day, better, I have just taken up yours to read a second time, (as I generally do with my friends'

body to meet my lover the sea, I will not touch my flesh to the earth as to other flesh to renew me.

COURAGE yet, my brother or my sister!

Me ruthless and devilish as any, that my wrists are not chain'd with iron, or my ankles with iron?

WHO LEARNS MY LESSON COMPLETE? WHO learns my lesson complete?

MY PICTURE-GALLERY.

body to meet my lover the sea, I will not touch my flesh to the earth as to other flesh to renew me.

COURAGE yet, my brother or my sister!

Me ruthless and devilish as any, that my wrists are not chain'd with iron, or my ankles with iron?

WHO LEARNS MY LESSON COMPLETE? WHO learns my lesson complete?

MY PICTURE-GALLERY.

I remember that a doctor said to me once down in Virginia, when I shook my head: 'What?

I showed him my letter of the 16th, received today.

think of it: I have sent him my pieces, put my price on them, been paid that price: an important item

And I wish to put in my best greeting to Mrs.

He noticed my interest. "Do you like it? then take it along."

I was at that time studying law, the profession my father followed.

brother, and two other students who were in my father's office.

my fingers quiver yet as I write the word!) young Ninon, the daughter of the widow.

My brother was the only one who preserved his usual tenor of temper and conduct.

My sight seemed to waver, my head felt dizzy, and a feeling of deadly sickness came over me.

My own explanation was, that somebody or other plagued him for a piece—offered him 50 pounds, guineas

To my idea, "Arnold is not discriminate' W. returned, "I don't know—I should hardly say it that way:

of his demonstrations—his praises; perhaps the fact that I was so addressed tended to excuse him in my

My brother George was there, and they sat together and had quite a chat.

had many such espousers in Washington [some] time ago—perhaps have still—these fellows belonged among my

And John—though I should not call him a don, yet is my friend, seems unaltered towards me.

man as William O'Connor—so born critic he was—warned me in those early years in Washington, to put my

I wished to show this to my father.

"My friend John Reed, himself an Englishman, used to pass here daily, but now that I want to see him,

Thought I should take Schmidt's portrait also to show my father.

I had under my arm a big bundle of Saturday's Posts just got from Bonsall.

to send copies to Burroughs, Kennedy, and one or two others, asking me for four for his own use—"for my

However, I showed him my yesterday's letter from Baker, which he read, looked at, grew pathetic over.

For my own Saturday's notes W. could say, "I liked them—they were successfully joined.

My same complaint, my same reason!" This interested W. "Poor Baker, gone under by the same current.

I was glad you gave Emma Price my direction here, I should like to hear from Mrs Price & her girls first

got along better than I would have thought, but the last week I have felt it more, have felt it in my

head a little—I no more stir without my umbrella, in the day time, than I would without my boots.

I am afraid of the sun affecting my head, & move pretty cautious—Mother, I think every day, I wonder

I send you my love, dear mother, & to all, & wish Jeff & you to write as often as you can— Walt Whitman

Am Hof, Davos Platz, Switzerland August 3 1890 My dear Master I received your card of July 20 in due

But it was then too late to alter the reference in my own essay on "Democratic Art" w. had been printed

I hope to have a second edition of my "Essays Speculative & Suggestive" (for only 750 copies were printed

For my own part, after mature deliberation, I hold that the present laws of France & Italy are right

It has not infrequently occurred to me among my English friends to hear your "Calamus" objected to, as

"A monument to outlast bronze," comes from the first line of Horace's Ode 3.30: My Monuument.

My dear friend It is just dawn, but there is light enough to write by, and the birds in their old sweet

My first knowledge of you is all entangled with that little garden.

My chief reason for writing (so I put it to myself) is that I can't help wishing you should know that

Because you have, as it were, given me a ground for the love of men I thank you continually in my heart

And for my sake you must not mind reading what I have written.

them to give me the copy to make some little corrections—which I did effectually by going straight to my

And how goes it with you, my dear? I watched the N.

allow themselves to be squeezed into the stereotype mould, and wear straight collars and hats, and say "my

could go dead head if I was to apply—Jeff, I feel as if things had taken a turn with me, at last—Give my

love to Mat, and all my dear brothers, especially Georgie.

"I did not feel like ittilluntil nightfall—then when I got to work my head gave out.

I find my digestive apparatus still fitful—still unwilling to do its work smoothly.

I thought I was having my last little dance.

"Look on page 66—see if my picture is there—Herbert's." Yes, it was there.

Washington.I send herewith the copy of my American Institute Poem.

I described to W. my hunt most of my spare time to-daytoday for the steel plate.

He pushed the paper into my hand.

I must be on my guard: I must take care not to grow helpless before my time."

He placed his hand on mine and looked into my face affectionately.

I have given my oath to the Union.'

I had never had him break loose so about my work.

He wrote my name on it. "That dismisses it for good."

Often I would read my proofs at the hotel.

W. gave me my personal copy—the complete W. W.—to-nighttonight.

I left it at the house this morning on my way to Philadelphia.

And laughed heartily over my account of W.'s reception of her letter.

He looked very bad—very bad: it was a pull at my heart to look him in the face.

life, of my faith—and just as it stands—every word, every word.

Many things are now going on—I depend upon you: you are more than my right arm."

"It seems to answer all my notions—whims, you might call them.

spent most of the day arguing it over with myself: I needed you to bring me to a conclusion—to end my

We talked politics: Tom is hot about the election but I don't feel my pulse stirred a bit: even my hopes

one regard: it seems to give me a superior niceness which I have never thought of as an element in my

In the Spring Song and the Song of the Depths my orbit responded to the new attracting sun.

Imagine that I have expressed to you my sincere conviction of what I owe to you.The essay is my first

Was't charged against my chants they had forgotten art? . . .

son and my comrade, dropt at my side that day, One look I but gave, which your dear eyes return'd with

do I not see my love fluttering out among the breakers?

Loud I call to you, my love! High and clear I shoot my voice over the waves.

Hither, my love! Here I am! here!

Chamberlin's letter shows that DeLong got my letter of last Friday—though where this W.W. meeting was

Well, Horace, having pleased William and Nellie, I may rest on my oars."

I doubt if that does any good: I think my friends, some of my friends, quite understand that that is

He pointed his finger towards me: "Leave it to you in my will." Laughed.

My life now seems very pale and poor compared with those days.

O my body, that gives me identity! O my organs !

Underfoot, the divine soil— Overhead, the sun.— Afford foothold to my poems, you Nourish my poems, Earth

In Poem The earth, that is my model of poems model ?

The body of a man, is my model—I do not reject what I find in my body—I am not ashamed—Why should I be

My Darling (Now I am maternal— a child bearer— bea have from my womb borne a child, and observe it For

"That is wholly true: you give me my resolution back: I have something I want to say: I still expect

he is eminently present to me always here: no matter what happens, remains vitally with me, sharing my

"Ed, this is one of my friends—this is Horace Traubel." Ed scanned me.

I await it with interest.Please give my best regard to Mr.

W. said: "Tom—here is Ed Wilkins: Ed, this is my friend Tom Harned."

He told me he could not understand my extreme admiration for Walt Whitman.

But my shock was with Mrs. Costelloe.

It carries out my, our, idea, as we formed it from your letter.

O my! They are as hearty as any set I was ever led into!

And you, Bucke, did you get all my letters?"

Townsend Trowbridge left a deft and important portrait of their relationship in his autobiography, My

In My Own Story Trowbridge relates how he first came across excerpts of Leaves of Grass while staying

accepted me on general principles and has never so far as I know revised his original declaration in my

little scholarship exists which examines Whitman's influence on Trowbridge but surely poems such as "My

My Own Story. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1903. ———. The Poetical Works of John Townsend Trowbridge.

I took it in my hands.

he asked,and on my acquiescence—"So me, too. I think it one of the best—the very best.

he explained—Flynn came in the other evening and took it away in his arms.As we sat there talking, my

Adding: "My use of the word has been contested.

Yet I am sure of my correctness.

My heart rejoiced for him. Mrs. Keller getting ready to go. No mail whatever for W.

And to my "yes, last week," he replied, "I think of her often. She is a woman out of the few."

He pressed my hand, "Well, good night—good night, Horace."

s at six, but he had anticipated my card, arriving at two, and so missing me.Ingersoll telegraphs me

All I can say is give him my love & tell him that he will always have one friend no matter what happens

He took my hand and went across the room toilsomely.

Which is good, after my trouble." "Time for what? Have you suggestions to make? I hope so."

Then he leaned forward to the bed, handing me from it a copy of my August Lippincott's and Bucke's "Whitman

"I am quite ready in my own work when I find a good thing I want to say said by another, to use him—quote

Other poets have written and written with unmistakable power, grandeur, but my mark has been a distinct

On my return from Philadelphia in evening—6:30—I stopped in for a few minutes. The day uneventful.

Somehow, something in my throat—some obstreperation—it brings back that cork: a dozen times a day it

He held my hand all this time and pressed it again and again.

"If you write to Doctor, give him my love: and to Ingersoll, too—yes, and to Ned Stedman."

"Throw a cloth or quilt over my whole bed. It is getting chilly here." Mrs.

I don't want it to go forth that my feelings towards him are one whit less than they are.

My dear friend,My idea was, when you wrote me about the Club, that I might deliver some lecture in Philadelphia—maybe

path.If not thought best to do this under the auspices of the Club, why, I could do it independently, on my

I think we would have no trouble in filling the house, on some good subject.Give my best regards to Mr

Probably saying this last from something he saw in my face.

You know, Horace, at times my brain simply will not stand that.

Law, Esq.,2020 Broadway, Camden, N.J.,My dear friend:Much obliged to you for the copy of your excellent

My Whitman epistle is really about the best I ever did, and I am only sorry it is written in a language

I feel however that if I cannot go to Phila. it will be one of the great calamities of my life and I

If I am mistaken in him—if my experience of human nature leads me astray now, in a case of which I am

All my inclinations are to trust him. You fellows can get a shy: see how he measures up to you."

mock-despair: "I have had unwanted news today—bad news—almost startling news: the Century has rejected my

—"It comes with this note, which you might as well read"—handing to us a page and a half note—"My dear

All my poems require to be read again and again—three, four, five, six times,—before they enter into

And yet when I told him of Harned's sickness and my belief that much of it came from too much in-doorness

Then he amusedly asked me—"you have not seen my new mittens, have you?"

He advised me: "I have been thinking today about your mention of my birthday.

And then, have the girls there: it is not a little in my mind, how the girls are appealed to—it has,

—and to my assent—"It is important to know what such a man thinks,"—though very cautious as I could see

I said, "My description of the master is that his art is so close to nature for so long, it at last becomes

And now that you talk as you do, let me give you an idea of my own.

I put in, "My idea would be to admit all that the formalists claim for Lowell, then to ask whether there

W. at once, "I like that: that would be my idea—to say to them, yes that is true, every word of it—but

My notion had been to headline the article "James Russell Lowell, Walt Whitman," then to indicate the

No, no, no—give my love to them all—tell them I remember the old days. Oh!

Tell Nellie—tell Anne—tell all, my love is with them, though I am here!"

He laughed, "Are they my letters, Mary? I was just telling Horace how to get them downstairs."

I also had letter from Bucke.W. reported, "This has been one of my very worst days—a day full of discomfort

It is assessed at $800, and $25 is my tax yearly.

June 19, 1882 Dear Walt: I have yours of yesterday, and am happy in the thought that you find my second

That is what they will try to do, and my reply to Chadwick will make it harder than ever for them.

On the other hand, The Tribune invites my attention to Sigma's "assertion" about the "disgusting Priapism

," which is, of course, a disgusting lie, and I I have to make up my mind whether the point is worth

shows a desire to put in something as a makeweight, and to seem biased against me, while admitting my

Dearest Mother, I am late with my letter this week—my poor, poor boys occupy my time very much—I go every

Dear brother, I wish you to say to Probasco & all the other young men on the Works, I send them my love

again—I myself do not give up Hooker yet— Dear mother, I should like to hear from Han, poor Han—I send my

know one bit more on what they are writing about than Ed does— Mother, you say in your letter you got my

I hear from him, before sending them— I remain well as usual—the poor fellow I mentioned in one of my

I send my love to you & Jeff & all—we are having a very pleasant coolish day here—I am going down to

post office to leave this, & then up to my old friends O'Connors, to dinner, & then down to hospital—Well

by, dear Mother, for present— Walt Tuesday afternoon 3 o'clock—Mother, just as I was going to seal my

My Dearest Friend: You could not easily realize the strong emotion with which I read your last note and

I have my dear little grandson with me here—as engaging a little toddler as the sun ever shone upon—so

wish I could write to some of them, but what with needlework, an avalanche of letters, the care of my

dear little man—the re-editing of my husband's life of Blake, to which there will be a considerable

Per. & my nephew & the "Process" have made a great stride forward.

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

Dear Walter i write quite often d nt don't i you cant can't complain of my not writing i thought i would

wouldent wouldn't know what to doo do but i got the same old retort that it was me that was stingy with my

common thing to hear if i make any remark that i would like to have any thing why dont i get it with my

and think they expect too much from me i feel pretty well since the weather is cool but i am lame in my

write on a piece of paper loo se from the letter if you say any thing you nt want all to read you got my

Louisa Van Velsor Whitman struck through the phrase "money in the" after the word "my."

I am still about the same as when I last wrote—am no worse, & not much better—though I perceive my general

strength is at least as good as any time since I have been sick—My head still troubles me with pain

thinking that every thing with me might be a great deal worse—I can put up with all but the death of my

mother—that is my great sorrow that sticks—affects me just as much now, or more, than at the time.

cut out the piece below from a Philadelphia paper, thinking it might interest you—As is I sit here in my

all right it has allways always seemed to me since our Son came home that some of us should to you my

hard place indeed you have seen some of the hardship of it perhaps all you wish to see or even hear of my

and stay with me this winter they are with me this winter Joseph is in the lumberwoods this winter my

health is very good iwas I was not well for about one year after my husbands husband's death almost

to see you wemay we may see eachother each other yet sometime if you Canot Cannot read this send you my