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Content A REFERENCE GUIDE TO WALT WHITMAN
1855 - 1919
by
Scott Arthur Giantvalley
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(English)
June 1979
UMI Number: DP23066
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Pb.>.
This dissertation, written by
under the direction of h.*d±f... Dissertation Com
mittee, and approved by all its members, has
been presented to and accepted by The Graduate
School, in partial fulfillment of requirements of
the degree of
4
D O C T O R O F P H I L O S O P H Y
Dean
DISSER-TATipN'CQMMITTEE
iairm an
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
PREFACE . . . ........ . ........ ............... iii
INTRODUCTORY ESSAY; The Progress of Whitman Criticism ........... 1
REFERENCES CITED IN THE T E X T .......................................30
SYMBOLS ............... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32
LIST OF WORKS AND EDITIONS .............. 33
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS............................. 34
ii
Preface
The purpose of this reference guide is to provide in one source
not only the bibliographical information on items dealing with Whitman,
published in English between 1855 and 1919, but also descriptive
annotations so that readers may judge for themselves whether a particu
lar item is likely to be worth their further attention-.’. Hundreds of
items hitherto unincluded in published bibliographies are here .listed
and annotated; some items, previously identified incompletely, have
been located and provided with specific dates, volume numbers, and page
numbers; for other items, bibliographical information as presented in
previous bibliographies has been silently corrected, so where discre
pancies exist between an earlier bibliography and this entry,- it may be
assumed that this entry contains the corrected information.
A mammoth job like compiling a comprehensive bibliography of
material written about Whitman, and then finding each item in order to
read and annotate it for use in this reference guide, must have a
beginning, even if no conclusion is possible other than an open-ended
one, along the lines of Whitman's own poetry, allowing for the possible
discovery of additional items, and indeed encouraging an active search
for them, in an effort to make the list of known criticism of Whitman
as complete as possible.
Such a job began simply enough: consulting the standard biblio
graphies of Whitman for the period I am covering, 1855 to!1919. These
iii
major sources were the bibliographies of Oscar Lovell Triggs in the
Complete Writings of Whitman (1902), Emory Holloway and Henry Saunders
in the Cambridge History of American Literature (1918), Gay Wilson
Allen in Twenty-Five Years of Walt Whitman Bibliography (1918-1942)
(1918), and Index to Early American Periodical Literature, 1728-1870:
No. 3, Walt Whitman (1941). I also consulted major contemporary
biographies, those of Asselineau and Allen, and two book-length
examinations of Whitman’s reputation, Harold Blodgett's Walt Whitman in
England and Charles Willard's Whitman's American Fame. Willard's heavy
reliance on Henry Saunderses collection of Whitmaniana at Brown
University for many newspaper and obscure magazine discussions of
Whitman prompted me to plan a trip there. At Brown I pored through well
over a hundred scrapbooks of secondary materials relating to Whitman,
mostly articles clipped from newspapers and magazines from the late
1800's through the early 1940's, large numbers of them not included in
any bibliographies. Many of these items were from readily available
periodicals, but many came from newspapers and magazines hardly well-
known, including many from various countries in the British r o': o.
Commonwealth. These made a valuable addition to :this guide: I have
marked with a "+" the items whichllvsaw only in this collection, for
which the date was given only in Saunders's handwriting rather than as
part of thecclipping. But for the many items I have verified further
by seeking them elsewhere, after having learned of their existence in
his collection, I have found Saunders's accuracy to be excellent, so I
Eeel secure in listing the dates and periodical titles which he
provided.
iv
The Saunders collection further included a typescript
bibliography upon which the CHAL bibliography was based, but including
many items which had been deleted from the published version because of
limitations of space. From this I discovered many books containing
essays on Whitman, reminiscences, text-book introductions to him, as
well as many periodical articles unlisted elsewhere (many of these
appearing in his scrapbooks).
The process of tracking down items was often frustrating and
often frustrated, as my symbol * indicates. Items thus marked have not
been seen by me; some of them have proven impossible to locate through
standard reference sources. My search for items began naturally at the
University of Southern California library, proceeded to U.C.L.A., the
Los Angeles Public Library, and the Huntington Library in San Marino.
Farther afield, I consulted the New York Public Library (particularly
the Oscar Lion collection there), the Brooklyn Public Library, the San
Francisco Public Library, and the university libraries at Berkeley and
Stanford. Items not available in those libraries have had to be
requested through the inter-library loan system.
Omissions are inevitable, particularly when one is dealing with a
figure so frequently written about as Whitman. I have chosen to begin
my listings with 1855, omitting the earlier newspaper discussions of
his newspaper, political, and fiction-writing career as being of strong,
biographical and bibliographical, not critical, interest. Likewise I
have excluded the frequent biographical items from the pages of the New
York Times, the Critic, and other papers and magazines as contributing
v
nothing to the criticism. Moreover, the items in such publications as
these, the Literary World, Poet-Lore, and the New York Tribune may be
traced through their thorough indexes. Mere mentions of Whitman's
future literary plans are similarly excluded.
I have had to be more critically selective in dealing with the
obituary and centenary estimates, and reviews of Whitman books. There
are countless items in these categories--some such 1 have found merely
by looking in a particular newspaper of the appropriate dates; this
process might go on indefinitely. Included here are not all the ones I
have read, but at least the ones that bibliographies have listed, the
ones referred to in published books or articles, and some representative
geographical and critical sampling. The ones omitted from this listing
merely reiterate critical and biographical commonplaces, although they
are interesting in showing the range of Whitman's reputation and the
fact that so many newspapers considered him significant enough to
discuss for an audience of ordinary readers, as distinguished from the
better-educated and more literarily-inclined readership of the Critic,
the Nation, or the New York Times Saturday Review of Books and Art.
One last major source for further appearances of Whitman's name
in print during this period is the Conservator, the journal founded in
1890 by Horace Traubel as an organ of progressive political, social,
and religious thought and gradually (after Whitman's death) as a
vehicle for the promulgation of Whitman's ideas and spirit and the
advancement of his reputation. The listings of items from the
Conservator are numerous during the thirty years of its publication,
up to June 1919, when it ceased publication due to Traubel's sudden
' _____ vi
death, rather effectively symbolic of the end of an era— the
acceptance at last of Whitman as evident in the vast number of
centenary tributes, and his recognition as a founding father of the
Modernist movement. No longer were Traubel's tireless efforts needed.
The Conservator's pages are filled with Whitman's name,
incidentally mentioned as well as receiving extensive consideration in
articles and reviews. But even all the reviews of the many books
discussing Whitman or presenting his writings could not be included;
Traubel's reviews (generally brief) were impressionistic, in a
conversational, fragmentary style, and contribute nothing to one's
sense of Whitman's reputation or critical standing which one could not
get from many other articles elsewhere in the Conservator. The scholar
seeking a complete listing of comments on Whitman should consult the
files of the Conservator for him or herself.
The most noticeable omissions from this reference guide are items
in languages other than English. Those interested in exploring
Whitman's reputation in other countries— which was certainly
significant in the late nineteenth century and increasingly in the
early twentieth century— should consult Gay Wilson Allen's New Walt
Whitman Handbook, which devotes a long section to Whitman's critical
reception globally, with extensive notes for further references.
In this reference guide, items are listed by year of publication,
with two divisions per year, one for books, one for periodicals, the
former arranged alphabetically by author, the latter arranged
chronologically from January through January 1, etc., on to December
vii
31. Quarterly publications precede the month beginning that quarter
(spring before April, etc.). Items of a similar date are arranged
alphabetically by author, with anonymous articles being alphabetically
arranged according to the name of the publication, with the city of
publication for a newspaper being considered part of the title.
Information is also provided as to subsequent reprints of items,
using cross-reference numbers consisting of the year followed by the
number of the item within that year (e. g., 1855.7 is the seventh item
in 1855). Numbering begins with books and continues (not starting
over again) with periodicals. An occasional item will be listed as a
reprint of an item which is listed after it. Such is the case when a
book, listed naturally in the first section of the year, reprints an
article published in a periodical that same year and consequently listed,
in the second section. More confusing, perhaps, is the case when a
newspaper at the end of August, for example, reprints an article from
the September issue of a magazine; but since magazines generally appear
before the actual date of issue, an article might actually be "reprinted"
be fore the publication date appearing on the original item.
Annotations will not be evaluative but will simply provide
information as to the content of an item, using some quotations and
paraphrases to indicate the author's estimate of Whitman and his work.
To save space, I have abbreviated Whitman's name to W, except in direct
quotations and titles. Abbreviations are also used, according to the
lists on pages 30-31 and 34-35, for the titles of Whitman's works
referred to and for references cited in the text either as sources for
oibliographical items or as recent sources for reprinted items.
viii
I can only follow Whitman's advice, as it appears in his final
version of "Song of Myself" (Section 38), perhaps added because of his
increasing realization that his task and that of his "eleves
(including future bibliographers?) was endless: "Continue your
annotations.
The Progress of Whitman Criticism
The combination of appreciation and disapproval which greeted
Leaves of Grass in its first review on July 23, 1855, in the New York
Daily Tribune, sounded the. keynote for Whitman criticism throughout
much of the sixty-five years to follow. Some readers chose to express
only disapproval; others, as if to counter this, expressed -unqualified
approval and vociferous support for the poet whose personality and
poetic thought had inspired them. Yet from the beginning Whitman found
readers who were willing to recognize in him a poet of worth, even if
they could not accept uncritically everything he wrote, unlike some of
his apologists. This balanced view, always present in Whitman
criticism, increasingly became the prevailing one, eventually
incorporating the two injudiciously opposing sides of vituperation and
adulation. Whether Whitman's friends or enemies hindered his popular
acceptance more was already a question worth asking in the critical
estimates elicited by his death in 1892. If his position in American
Literature was considered fairly secure in 1919, Whitman ranking with
Poe and Emerson and occasionally Twain and Hawthorne as one of
America's greatest literary figures, ;the recognition was general that
it had been neither easily attained nor inevitable. The history of
Whitman's reputation may be regarded as the eventual emergence of
criticism, victorious like Odysseus, from the straits between the Scyllc
of denunciation and the Charybdis of hero-worship, for one may see from
the various items through the years that such judicious criticism is
the true savior ofWhitman Vs reputation, always present but constantly
struggling against too vehement proponents and opponents.
Whitman won true admiration early, beginning with Emerson, who
introduced Whitman's work to his friends. Emerson's praise, so well
publicized (to his own surprise), was the cause for much of the book's
early recognition and may have provoked the wrath which some critics
vented upon discovering that this book contained things which to them
were highlyiimmoral. Yet these reviews in turn helped to bring (and
later to keep) Whitman's name before the reading public, which became
increasingly familiar with his name and style, whether or not they had
ever read his book. His personality and life itself further c ' r . r : : : ' . ’ .
contributed to this recognition, for he was "one of America's most
picturesque figures," as literary historians were fond of saying
(perhaps out of fear of committing themselves)as to his literary
stature, lest they meet the wrath of either the "Whitmanglers" or the
"Whitmaniacs," as one commentator termed the opposing sides), and he
burst upon editorial pages and front pages several times during his
career.
A career with such flashy moments as Whitman's had would
naturally spark much discussion, often relating to the nature of his
reception itself. For perhaps no other literary figure had won both
such high praise from such literary sages and such categorialrrejection
from others, including a large part of the critical establishment of
the nineteenth century. Many authors have previously traced Whitman's
critical reception; this annotated bibliography offers a chance to
examine directly and in chronological order the published commentary on
Whitman .from English-speaking countries, here assembled in one place
from various sources and including material hitherto omitted from
published bibliographies. Here may be found not only the comments of
major figures like Emerson, Thoreau, Howells, James, aid Swinburne, not
only the periodical reviews that have been republished in Leaves of
Grass Imprints (1860), Bucke's biography (1883), and the recent
anthologies by E. H. Miller (1969) and Milton Hindus (1971), not only
the significant books, essaysy and magazine articles that Holloway and
Saunders listed in their bibliography for the Cambridge History of
American Literature (1918), but also many newspaper articles, neglected
contemporary reviews, personal memoirs, and magazine articles with
identical discussion of Whitman which more adequately fill out the
picture of how Whitman was actually regarded— during his lifetime, at
his death, and in the decades following, on up to his centenary
celebration, when his position inithe front rank of American letters
had been assured. It has been an effort to know where to draw the line
on what to include, for there are countless newspaper articles, known
and unknown, which have something to say about Whitman, his nc-.tro
controversies, his personality, his death, his centenary, and I have
read: many such items, mainly in the scrapbooks of Henry S. Saunders in
the John Hay Library at Brown University, which are left out to avoid
overwhelming an already packed manuscript. These omitted items offer
nothing of interest other than the fact of the extent of awareness of
and interest in Whitman: the comments of criticism and appreciation :.r
are merely commonplaces in discussions of Whitman. The items included,
however, represent all known commentary that has ever seemed ii_7.
significant as well as a representative sampling of minor items.
Through this vast amount of material, Whitman is seen to be not
so neglected by his own country as! he and his followers often indicated.
His first edition of Leaves of Grass received a fair amount of coverage,
considering that it was only self-published— more, indeed, than the
number of items printed in Leaves of Grass Imprints even*: suggests to
twentieth-century readers. We know that the 1855 edition somehow found
a readership, for later editions were frequently compared with this
first one. Moreover, whether through magazine and newspaper
publication of his poems, or the familiarity of his name because of the
reviews and advertisements, Whitman's work had gained sufficient
currency by the end of the 1860's that references could be made to him
and his work without the need to explain its^nature. That his name and
style were recognizable to ordinary readers in the 1860's is indicated
by the frequency of parodies of his work, not only in the expected
cultural centers of New York, Boston, and Philadelphia, but in the less
likely ones of San Francisco and New". Orleans, many being printed or
reprinted in the pages of the New York Saturday Press.
There were certainly considerable slumps in the newspaper and
magazine coverage, chiefly during the Civil War (although his name was
kept before the public through his war correspondence for the New York
4
Times) and the early 1870's, when his health was poor and no
controversy was raging over his work, such as he had been the center of
in 1865-66 when he was dismissed from public office by Secretary James
Harlan, ostensibly because he had written an immoral book. The
dismissal led to O'Connor's impassioned and somewhat excessive defense,
the soubriquet-providing The Good Gray Poet (1866).
Whitman's published volumes between 1865 and 1881 received little
or no attention, but he became the subject of heated and extensive
discussion in 1876, as shown by the large number of items that year.
The controversy was sparked by an article on January 26 in a presumably
unassuming little newspaper, the West Jersey Press of Camden, New
Jersey, probably written by Whitman himself, describing his poverty and
the rejection he had received from critics and magazine editors. When
the London Athenaeum reprinted this information (through the agency of
Whitman's London friend and correspondent, William Michael Rossetti,
who eight years before had published a selection of Whitman's poems to
reach English readers), Robert Buchanan responded promptly with
condemnation for America's literary establishment and a proposal to
raise money for Whitman by buying his books for distribution to the
more intellectual members of the working classes. The consequent battle
of mutual recrimination, mockery, and self-defense wages on both sides
of the Atlantic, while Whitman's poetry itself was generally ignored.
That very year he published the Author's Centennial Edition of Leaves of
Grass (actually a reissue of his 1871 edition) and his new miscellany
Two Rivulets, but these went largely unreviewed.
5
Perhaps this neglect exemplifies the adverse effect Whitman's
defenders had upon his reputation. As several commentators on his
later career noted, Americans, literary or otherwise, could hardly
relish being scolded by their discarded mother country. So Whitman
remained a stranger to the heights of the American Parnassus, although
his fame continued to grow, particularly through newspaper interviews
and other mentions, which indicated the interest that journalists (and
therefore their readers) found in the Good Gray Poet, the term that now
invariably identified him. Controversy always sells, and Whitman had
been a figure of controversy from the beginning of his career, due to
the nature of his form and content. Further adding to his interest
were his Civil War hospital service and his personality and appearance,
which were unusual for a literary man. Many held that he would be
better remembered for his life than for his writings.
His name headed newspaper columns again in May 1882, when the
Attorney-General of Massachusetts banned the selling of the 1881
edition of Leaves of Grass, raising the moral issue once more. While
the storm this time definitely helped the sale of Whitman's work
(according to newspaper reports), it is pleasing to note that at least
twelve newspapers or journals found the new edition worthy of review
before any rumor of suppression had been breathed. Neglect of any kind
was to be his no longer. It seems that critics and editors felt
compelled, by the attention and praise given Whitman by a significant
critic (Edmund C. Stedman) in a major magazine (Scribner's, November
1880), as well as by the publication of Leaves of Grass by such a major
6
house as James R. Osgood, to treat Whitman as a writer worthy at least
of discussion, whether or not they actually approved of his poetry.
Much of the commentary on the new, complete edition was certainly
negative, including an early version in the Nation of Thomas Wentworth
Higginson's oft-repeated slurs, but there was also much positive
comment, as there always had been.
A reading of the criticism reveals the extent of the favorable
commentary Whitman received. His reputation has long been recognized
as not entirely negative. But here we find many readers besides only
his familiar urgent and laudatory supporters appreciating his qualities:
his ear for natural rhythms, his gift for beautiful phrases, his
healthy attitudes toward nature, death, and the body (and even sex),
his broad sympathy and democratic beliefs, his love for America, his
independence and self-reliance, his freedom from restricting
conventions. Some of these qualities were ones that any lover of
poetry could appreciate: even Higginson (to take on of Whitman's most
outspoken denouncers) praises his beautiful phrases, especially his
titles (making one wonder how far he actually went beyond the table of
contents, "0 Captain! My Captain!" and a few poems which impressed him
with nothing but their animalistic and "nauseating" qualities). Other
qualities, such as his praise for America, democracy, and independence,
might be agreeable to any American, if perhaps less so to an English
reader (as English critics often noted). Still other qualities might
appeal to anyone, poetry reader or not: notably his appreciation for
nature and his sympathy for all humankind. But there were two, and they
were related, that prohibited not only a full acceptance of Whitman's
7
poetic works and program but any acceptance whatsoever on the parts of
some readers: his rejection of restrictions, which included matters of
form and content, and particularly his break with the unspoken laws of
poetry regarding the treatment of sex.
Many could not consider W a poet because he lacked any sense of
shaping his work, showing evidence of laziness and carelessness,
particularly in passages that seemed like nothing but an auctioneer's
catalogue. If this was poetry, that term could no longer be applied
to the great poets of the past. Furthermore, he included matter that
had no business in poetry, particularly sex. For the first time in
American poetry, it seemed, someone was acknowledging that a
relationship between a man and a woman could involve physical
interaction beyond a kiss. But according to many critics and ordinary
readers (expressing themselves in letters to the editor), Whitman had
suddenly thrown off centuries of civilization's moral refinements.
Abuse of Whitman's "indecency" was published in the compendium of
reviews published at the end of the 1856 edition under the title
"Leaves-Droppings," in the 1860 imprints, and in the publications of
Whitman's friends. Such vituperation as the suggestions that Whitman
deserved "the public executioner's whip" made more exciting reading
than mere reasoned criticism, and the almost comic extremes to which
such critics went in their rhetoric of abuse ("the author should be
kicked from all decent society as below the level of a brute"; "he must
be some escaped lunatic, raving in pitiable delirium": so wrote the
Boston Intelligencer in 1856) would help to gain supporters for Whitman
8
as readers pitted themselves against such obviously backward and
insensitive reviewers. Yet there was a balanced view, admitted in an
occasional item in Imprints, but apparent also in the omitted reviews
from the New York Daily Tribune and the Canadian Journal.
An examination of the criticism directed to Whitman during his
lifetime and thereafter reveals much about the critical standards of
America and England. By noting which aspects of Whitman's poetry were
praised, which deplored, and the degree to which response to one
aspect could color response to another, we can learn what readers,
critics, and poets themselves expected a poem to be. Yet within any
single period of Whitman's reputation, a wide range oe responses is
present, from Emerson's high praise in 1855 through the polite interest
of Charles Eliot Norton down to the disgust of Rufus Griswold.
To discern both the critical status of Whitman and the basic
critical assumptions behind these reviews and estimates, four sample
periods will here be examined: the response to the first edition; the
reviews of the 1881 edition, the first to be published by a major house
and the one which Whitman claimed was his completed statement and which
represented his final arrangement; the critical estimates included in
the obituary articles of 1892; and the estimates offered in 1919 upon
the occasion of the centenary of his birth. This examination may
indicate some of the use to which this reference guide may be put.
Opening a book of poetry that had no rhyme or recognizable metrics,
that used the language of the streets, that spoke frankly of the poet as
a particular man and of the human body in its less poetically
9
respectable functions, was highly startling for readers in 1855. Some
could not see beyond their initial shock and often disgust; this thin
volume flew in the face of poetic convention and public propriety and
some reviewers shrank from it without a second look. Yet others
recognized the need to make a conscious effort to get beyond their
expectations before attempting final judgments. Leaves of Grass "sets
all the ordinary rules of criticism at defiance," wrote the Brooklyn
Daily Eagle reviewer; he did not, however, reject it out of hand, but
let himself rather follow in the new path it set up and discovered on
his way what was of actual poetic value. For this new poet still had
familiar poetic qualities, as many reviewers perceived: "original
perception of nature," "effective description," "a large sense of the
beautiful," "a rare felicity of diction," "a lofty purpose," and "bold,
stirring thoughts." The leading and longest poem in the book, which
later became "Song of Myself," was already regarded as the most
significant, and had passages which reviewers could readily excerpt to
reveal Whitman's good or bad qualities. The hymn to night of the
twenty-first section, for example, was quite in the Romantic mode, in
language, thought, and rhythmic quality, and therefore received much
admiration, even from those disapproving of his poetry as a whole, and
was much reprinted, at this time and ever after, as evidence that
Whitman had the capacity for poetry. Some reviewers nevertheless
remained appalled that such beauty could be companioned by such
rubbish, hence such mixed reviews as those in the New York Daily Times
and the London Leader.
10
In addition to admiring his nature descriptions, reviewers praised
Whitman's evocation of common human sympathy, singling out the "salve
at auction" and "mashed fireman" episodes of "I Sing, the Body Electric"
and "Song of Myself," with praise for Whitman's power of imaginative
identification. His capacity for containing multitudes was apparent in
the range of material from which reviewers could quote. The London
Critic focused on passages showing Whitman's "slang and vulgarity,"
egotism, and "marvellous" transformation into air at the end of "Song
of Myself." This reviewer further quoted a long, unpictorial listing in
"A Song for Occupations," claiming that a single line quoted from
Shakespeare conveyed the same idea that Whitman "has tortured into
scores of pages." He missed, however, the quite different effect
rJhitman sought through such a listing. But at least he did not simply
iismiss the poet with a series of denunciations such as came from the
sritics of the Criterion (identified as Rufus Griswold in W. D.
O'Connor's copy of Leaves of Grass), the Boston intelligencer, and the
Christian Examiner, who expounded on Whitman's indecency without so much
as acknowledging other features. Thus, the unfavorable English critics
seem to have been more responsible to the full text than some of their
American counterparts.
But the fairness of other American critics is commendable. They
recognized at least some elements of poetry in this book and offered
axtensive extracts so that readers might judge for themselves. After
all, the primary task of the reviewer should be to give the reader some
sense of the book itself; not merely to judge the work but to invite
readers to make their•own estimates from the information provided in the
11
review. Encouraging reports, even if with demurrers, came from the
New York Daily Times and the Brooklyn Daily Times, which witnessed to
the improvement of the poems upon a second reading and to the appeal
they sustained in the mind. Edward Everett Hale in the North American
Review urged readers to go to the bookstore twice if necessary in order
to obtain the hard-to-get book: he himself had discovered it only some
time after its rather quiet publication.
Hale's particular praise went to. the Preface as an analysis of the
genius of the United States as being inherent in the common people.
Others, both at home and abroad, also recognized Whitman early as a
wholly national figure, distinctly an American product, although it was
Whitman himself who made this point most emphatically in his anonymous
reviews of his book; other early American critics may not have wished
to identify themselves too strongly with this blend of the "New England
transcendentalist and the New York rowdy," as Charles Eliot Norton
termed him in Putnam1s. Indeed, it is interesting to note the slightly
ironic tone that many reviewers took toward Transcendentalism itself
Ce.g., the New York Daily Times): Whitman was almost universally
perceived as following in the lines of Transcendentalist thought, thouglr
rendering it with more vigor and lustiness than the Concord school did;
at the same time, the fact that this uncouth, egotistic figure was the
logical and hardly respectable outcome of Transcendentalism occasionally
gave a critic a nod of satisfaction at the not particularly popular
philosophy1s comeuppance.
Yet some critics actually looked forward to Whitman's next work,
realizing that a spirit like his could have much to say about life as
12
well as a valid attitude toward it. Some of them, like D. W. in the
Canadian Journal, sought greater polish in his verse, to make it more
truly poetic. Some, like Hale, regretted his occasional indecencies
since these could make it unfit for open reading. Several, like the
New York Daily Times reviewer, thought the mixture of diction often
detracted from the expression of worthy thoughts— although Norton found
the blend worked amazingly well. Although twentieth-century (and many
nineteenth-century) critics and readers might disagree with any or all
of these strictures, the fact remains that these criticisms were
offered in a constructive spirit, for these reviewers were generally
open-minded and appreciated his best qualities.
Perhaps it is because these same putative flaws remained with him
through the years, despite repeated criticism of them, that the critics
of 1881 and 1882 seem so harsh in comparison. Whitman not only had set
"all the ordinary rules of criticism at defiance," but also seemed to
have simply ignored the suggestions of his critics over the past
quarter-century, however constructive they may have been, choosing to
continue stubbornly in his own way. Critics could not help but feel
somewhat useless and rejected by this discounting of their presumably
valuable advice.
For the most part, readers were better prepared for accepting
Whitman in 1881. Much had transpired since the private publishing of
that thin, unusual book twenty-six years before: four new editions;
the Civil War; Whitman's hospital work and Harlan's dismissal of him,
both of which became well-known through the books of O'Connor and
John Burroughs as well as various newspaper articles; British acclaim,
particularly in 1867 and 1868; the publication of new poems which' had
none of the elements of the early poems (most particularly the sex)
which had proved so objectionable in the early editions; commisions to
write poems for special occasions (the Tufts and Dartmouth
commencements, the opening of the American Institute); the
Transatlantic row over his neglect at home; and most recently, Stedman's
thorough and appreciative consideration in Scribner's in November, 1880.
Whitman had become quite a familiar public figure, almost a senior
statesman in American letters, if hardly of the inner circle. A new
edition, heralded as the author's completed statement, certainly
merited attention.
Because Whitman was not so shocking at this time as in .the 1850's,
having been around a quarter of a century, there was less emphasis in
the criticism on'the sexual aspects of his work (until suppression
efforts began in May 1882). If all critics did not actually accept
these aspects outright, at least they could not merely echo the disgust
voiced so often and so automatically before, for they had to deal with
the merit that so many, significant writers and critics, American and
English, had found in him since. Yet sex remained a stumbling block,
and reviewers expressed disapproval of Whitman's retention of those
early pieces despite his having achieved the purer quality of Drum-Taps
and "Passage to India." The earlier poems were only questionably moral,
according to the New York Times; the Atlantic Monthly reviewer, like
Stedman before him, deplored the breaking of what he considered
immutable natural laws; having deprived the body of its spiritual
14
attributes, Whitman could never be truly accepted. Moral standards
remained a significant element in critical standards.
But few of the reviewers concentrated on this aspect of his work:
they tended to fret more about Whitman's form, even though the Atlantic
reviewer noted that Stedman had given ample evidence that this form was
ho mere novelty and ought to be regarded as valid poetry. Yet the
Dial and the Literary World refused to grant such prose-like lines the
name of poetry. "0 Captain! My Captain!" and other regular or near-
metrical poems were praised and rejoiced in, as happily inconsistent
with Whitman's poetic theory. This reversal'of emphasis from the
question of decency to that of form may be due to this later period's
greater concern for form, evident in the careful polish the Genteel
poets gave their entirely traditional work. In the 1850's, on the
other hand, Ossian had still been familiar and Emerson and Longfellow
had published metrical experiments that strayed from the forms of the
eighteenth century and the Romantic period. Critics in 1881 may have
been irritated at Whitman's persistence in this form; a little freedom
to experiment might be acceptable, such as Emerson and Longfellow toyed
with, but to continue in this undisciplined form suggested obstinacy,
blatant rejection of the craft that some of .the reviewers themselves
(J. G. Holland for one) had so meticulously mastered. Whitman, in
essence, was a threat to them: if he persevered in his formless form,
what would become of the verse that poets like Holland, R. H. Stoddard,
T. B. Aldrich, and William Winter wrote? Richard Watson Gilder,
although Whitman could not appreciate his polished verse, was an
exception, like Stedman, to the general Genteel distaste for Whitman,
15
for he admired Whitman';s great spirit and recognized in him a form that
may have been unconsciously absorbed but was undoubtedly present in -
much of his work. He at least seems to have felt the power of the
future in Whitman's poetry, and it is tempting to speculate that other
poets and reviewers of the 1880's also sensed in Whitman the wave of
the future and the day (only a few decades away) when the poetry they
wrote and admired would be forgotten and Whitman's would be the great
challenge that all would-be American poets would have to face or face
down, as shall be seen later.
If one rejected his form, one was likely not to appreciate his
thought either. Critics who disapproved of his form often found his
Americanism too primitive. But the same vigor and freshness and
sympathy with man, nature, and the modem spirit that had struck those
reviewers who were the first to stand silent upon this peak in Darien
were still applauded by many reviewers. Whitman was praised for his
spirit of democracy and for his spiritual, aspiring qualities (although
some reviewers found him too strictly earth-bound, as some still did at
the turn of the century, such as George Santayana, and at his centenary,
as„shall be seen). G.,E. M., in his extensive review for the New York
Times, was one of the few nineteenth-century reviewers not an outright
admirer who expressed appreciation for "Song for Myself" as a whole, as
"a healthy expression of vigorous humanity and imaginative egotism,"
its contradictions existing by design. Whitman's true value for
G. E. M. was his evolutionary, progressive attitude, certainly one of
the qualities that Traubel later emphasized in the pages of the
Conservator, and one of the qualities that would most stand out several
16
decades hence at his centenary.
Even before that, at Whitman's death on March 27, 1892, a decade
after his completed edition of 1881-82, to which his later poems were
simply added as annexes, there was overwhelming recognition of his
greatness; although the acclaim commonly greeting the recently deceased
was not universal. Some publications, like the Californian, simple
praised his life as his greatest poem, suggesting that his poetry could
never rank with that of Lowell, Longfellow, and Whittier. Others
refused to obey the canon against speaking ill of the dead and :
delivered their parting shots: the Independent dug up its review of
the 1881 edition and slightly revised it to attack Whitman's lack of
music, imagination, and structure, and his coarse catalogues and
diction. Most notorious and controversial of all the obituary comments
was Higginson's unsigned article in the New York Evening Post, .
reprinted (though with some of the nastiest vituperation eliminated)
in the Nation, and excerpted in the Literary Digest. Higginson
attacked Whitman first as a man, deploring both his baleful influence
on young men and the decay of his body, putatively due to dissipation
in youth, and then as a poet, successful only in his phrases since with
few exceptions he willfully eschewed form. For Higginson, the thought
was of considerably less significance than the form that couched it.
His was not, however, the majority opinion. Whitman's themes and
ideas and spirit were- much more often praised highly, sometimes as
giving his work value in spite of. his form, sometimes in close
conjunction with his form. A. E. Watrous in Harper's Weekly praised
his closeness to nature and his portrayal of the war and the greatness
17
of America, but wondered whether "his contempt for the arts of poetry"
would keep many from heeding .his thought. Others, and not only his
faithful friend Burroughs in several commentaries on him throughout
the year, emphasized the value of Whitman's personality, not (as the
Californian had done) as exemplified in his life rather than in his
poetry, but as revealed through his poetry, a personality compounded of
vigor, spiritualitynationalism, and democratic breadth of sympathy.
Whitman's philosophy was accused of incoherence, but Burroughs .
expressed the thought of many (if not all) of the admirers of Whitman's
verse in predicting thatthis work, however much his ideas might
correspond to modem science or to favorite contemporary causes, would
only live because of his poetic emotion.
Whitman as poet was too often lost sight of by many avid
followers in the decades to come. His thought was expounded to;-apply
to Socialism, women's rights, and labor, his personality was : : a
recollected by those who had known him (even if for a short visit), and
pages of. such discussion filled the Conservator, founded and edited by
Horace Traubel, Whitman's friend and documenter. The large number of
entries per year during the 1890's and earlyil900's reflects the
variety arid number of new issues to whichhhis thought seemed pertinent.
Indeed, this annotated bibliography might be unwieldily expanded
if all Conservator items were included that mentioned Whitman or used
a Whitman quotation. Reviews of Whitman material publishediin books
or periodicals, compendia of criticism and commentary on him, sermons
preached to .the faithful using Whitman as a starting text appeared
throughout the''journal's thirty years (1890 to 1919). I have been,
18
therefore, somewhat selective regarding Conservator articles (although
a reader proceeding through the annotations might wish I had been more
so): besides obviously important articles of criticism and scholarship,
listed in the Cambridge History of American Literature bibliography,
I have included actual recollections of .Whitman, appreciations (in
order to provide a sense of what'these admirers actually admired him
for— including an apparently unnoticed but touching personal testimonial
as to Whitman's powerful influence in her life by Helen"..Keller) , and
the controversies over particular books or articles in which a Whitman
supporter would turn upon a critic of Whitman with the offended wrath
of a Grand Inquisitor searching out heresy. One such case, the assault
upon Bliss Perry's 1906 biography of Whitman, produced significant
results, a revised edition in 1908, the one now most commonly available
in libraries. But even the revisions .'failed to satisfy the ever-
vigilant Inquisitor, Isaac Hull Platt.
Occasionally among the entries for-.the Conservator may be .'found
an article discussing Whitman's poetry, explaining, for example, how a
poem developed from Whitman's manuscripts or comparing Whitman with
another poet, but the Conservator was interested less in literature ’ :a..
than in what it could be used to accomplish. Traubel was a man who
knew and loved Whitman intimately, but he .'also sought to change
American society in the .direction of justice and brotherhood; hence he
emphasized Whitman the: man and his personality, and Whitman's hopes for
the betterment of mankind, two of the main concerns as well of the Walt
Whitman Fellowship, which he 'founded in 1892 and which included as
members most of the: men and women whose articles appeared in the
19
Conservator. One the few Fellowship Papers not published also in the
Conservator.is one of the most valuable, Traubel's interview with
Charles Roe, who recalls Whitman as his teacher and friend over half a
century before.
After the personal and the social-economic-political, the third
major emphasis of the Fellowship was not literary but religious, owing
to the second most influential voice: Richard Maurice Bucke, the
Canadian physician who found in Whitman, man and poet, a new spirit
which astounded him and enlightened his own life. As a true disciple,
he gave testimonials to Whitman's influence upon him and tried to
spread the word, most notably in his authorized biography of Whitman
(which Whitman himself revised and contributed to) in 1883. Bucke
labeled the sense embodied in Whitman and his poetry "cosmic
consciousness"'.and proceeded to propound his ideas about it through
articles and eventually a major opus of that title (1901), presenting
this sense through various exemplars from the fields of religion and
literature, ending with some ordinary people to suggest its potential
achievement, to some degree, for anyone. Bucke had been preceded in
his perception by W. K. Clifford (.1878) , who noticed that Whitman's
poetry could produce the "cosmic emotion" in a reader, but Bucke
brought the idea and Whitman together in an extensive discussion,
providing further impetus for other writers of various progressive
faiths during the 1890's and early. 1900's: Spiritualists,
Theosophists, even Methodists, as Whitman became'quoted and expounded
from the pulpit, to the severe consternation of one Methodist :
minister, w. v. Kelley, who edited the Methodist Review and was
20
appalled in 1897 that right-thinking people, including ministers of the
Gospel, could favor such an atheistic, immoral, unpoetic charlatan.
To examine Whitman's poetry as poetry one usually had to proceed
to other sources. Notable early discussions of it were William Sloane
Kennedy's rather inadequately titled Personal Reminiscences of Walt
Whitman (1896) and Oscar Lovell Trigg's "The Growth of 'Leaves of
Grass,'" originally published in the Conservator in August, 1897, and
reprinted with additions in the 1902 Putnam edition of Whitman's
Complete Writings. Major explanations of his prosody eventually
followed in 1908 and 1914 with Fred Newton'Scott's article in Journal
of English and Germanic Philology and Basil De Selincourt's book-length
study of Whitman. Writers on poetics in general such as George
Saintsbury and Brander Matthews were also discussing Whitman's form at
the beginning of the century, sometimes favorably, sometimes not, but
at least acknowledging it as sincerely intended and not the mere
fumbling of an untalented crank. The first decade of the^twentieth
century was hardly too early to be accepting free verse as an entirely
valid vehicle for successful poetry, with the Imagists, Masters,
Oppenheim, and Sandburg only a few years away. Traubel himself,
whatever may have been thought of his own efforts at poetry, had
staunchly persisted in expressing his ideas in free verse, keeping the
form at least breathing until the early moderns (American as well as
French and German) gave it vibrant life in new, generally quite v
un-Whitmanesque ways and for frequently un-Whitmanesque purposes.
Robinson, Masters, Sandburg, and Lawrence, that quasi-American, early
demonstrated Whitman's impact on modern poetry, although frequently
21
they had to quarrel with him in a poetic rite of passage indicating a
break with the Great Gray Father in order to assert their own identity,
as Pound suggests in "A Pact" ("I have detested you long enough"),
before there could be a reconciliation through ...the acknowledgment that
father and child share "one sap and one root."
Prosody is one area with which biography fortunately has nothing
to do. It need have nothing to do, either, with’ -.the ideas and feelings
expressed in a poeti's work, but in Whitman's case, their divorce was
made well-nigh impossible due to Whitman's identification of himself
with his book ("Camerado, this is no book,/ Who touches this touches a
man."), and the frequent assertion of his friends and admirers (and
consequently by many newspaper writers and literary historians as well)
that he embodied the ideals expressed in his work. In interpreting the
sexual aspects of a literary work, especially, biography and criticism
almost inevitably (and often dangerously) merge, one being made to
reflect the other.
Early nineteenth-century critics often assumed that the author of
such poems as "A Woman Waits for Me" must have been unchaste in his
actions? defenders in retort testified to the "cleanness" of his life.
Perceptions of homosexuality in the "Calamus" section, however, were
rare; apparently the only early exceptions were those such as John
Addington Symonds and Edward Carpenter who found their own homosexual
feelings given expression in this poetry. Knowing nothing about the
author as a man they first'read his poetry.?* they respondedctck thee .a
words and images on the page, not to any biographical facts. It is to
Symonds, and his persistent desire to ascertain the meaning he had
22
found in these poems, that we owe a major crux in Whitman biography,
for to his repeated questioning Whitman at last responded, apparently
out of pique and desperation (as Havelock Ellis suggested), with the
claim that, though unmarried, he had father six children, an assertion
of heterosexual activity which would supposedly ward off any further
suspicions of perversion. Twentieth-century((but hardly "modern")
critics and biographers swallowed the bait and made the same
assumptions: if a heterosexual romance could be established, the
charge of homosexuality would obviously be groundless.
But although homosexuality itself was hardly a matter of public
discussion during the nineteenth century, a few critics had indicated
some discomfort at Whitman's overly-physical expression of friendship
between men. Standish O'Grady in December 1875 noted the similarity of
Whitman's notion of friendship to the Greek ideal (which had later,
unfortunately, been corrupted); the ideal is worthy, but the physical
expression of it in "Calamus" "appears simply disgusting." The critic
of the New York Sun (November 19, 1881) might approve of Whitman's
"abstract idea of universal brotherhood," except for the fact that "the
kiss between man and man is his not agreeable poetic type" of this
idea.
These readers were responding, ds Symonds and Carpenter had done,
to the poems themselves. But the more facts that became known about
Whitman's life the more opportunity there was for reading the poetry
according to those facts. Several writers combined facts of his life
with their impressions of the poetry to discuss explicitly
homosexuality in relation to Whitman. The first was..Symonds,
23
tentatively in Whitman; A Study (1893), more fully (and posthumously)
in A Problem in Modern Ethics (1896), a privately published book
discussing homosexuality. He suggested not that Whitman was advocating
homosexuality but that he was actually providing a means for
expressing homosexual feelings in a way acceptable to both the
individual and society, because sublimated beyond actual sexual
expression. Ellis discussed Whitman as homosexual in his Studies in
the Psychology of Sex; Sexual Inversion, first published in English
in 1901. Eduard Bertz in Germany, Carpenter and W. C. Rivers in
England (with differing emphases) more extensively discussed the
homosexual aspects of Whitman's work and personality, drawing upon both
textual and biographical evidence. Admirers like Henry S. Saunders
(in a privately circulated typescript) and Whitman's French biographer
Leon Bazalgette and the American-French poet Stuart Merrill (in the
pages of the Mercure de France, 1913-14) vehemently denied that the
particular pieces of evidence put forward constituted definitive
proof. The homosexuality of a significant American writer was hardly
something to be readily assented to, so literary historians and
centenary estimates ignored it, although Holloway had already shown
that "Once I Pass'd through a Populous City," commonly used as evidence
of a romance with a New Orleans woman which Henry Bryan Binns had
conjectured for Whitman in his 1905 biography and which other
romantically inclined writers took as nearly established fact (as Ellen
O'Connor, the widow of Whitman's early defender, proclaimed in the
Conservator as her fear of what would happen), had actually been
originally written about a man.
24
Whitman's centenary, meanwhile, was being well prepared for.
Columnists in Los Angeles, Toronto, and London, Ontario, were among
those who gave Whitman attention and praise and helped ordinary readers
to appreciate a writer who offered valuable insights and personal,
spiritual qualities. "Song of the Open Road" was one of his most
favored poems in the early twentieth century, giving the feeling of the
open air, the sense of a purpose and a goal in life. Whitman's war anc
patriotic verse was revived during the teens, particularly by French
and English soldiers even before the Americans began to help make the
world safe for democracy. Whitman's Americanism was now stressed, witi
the importance of his democratic ideals for his country and for the
world.
With the coming of his centenary, Whitman was hailed as "our
first American poet" in an article by Louis Untermeyer for the New
Republic; "in the centenary of Whitman, American letters celebrates
its own birthday," for Whitman had provided the impetus for the
significant contemporary American writers. Untermeyer termed him
elsewhere that year the "father of the American language." Joining
Untermeyer in this recognition of Whitman's major impact on
contemporary poetry was another figure central to the service of modern
American poetry, Harriet Monroe, who twenty-seven years before had
praised the recently deceased Whitman for his depiction of his country
in its full range of aspects, even if he lacked the art which "chooses
and combines." Now the editor of Poetry examined him in her May issue
for his enormous contributions, despite "limitations of perspective
and range'.!: his insistence on freedom of form, his rejection of
25
traditional poetic diction, and "his reassertion of the ancient
conception of the poet as prophet, and of poetry as religion, as an
ecstatic expression of faith." The strength and extent of Whitman's
impact continued to be discussed throughout the month and the year, for
no other poet or writer had broken with tradition to a greater extent
than Whitman had, and all subsequent writers who were similarly eager
to express themselves without being restricted in thought or form were
in his debt for his enabling original work to be accepted as more than
the ravings of a lunatic.
Centenary estimates appeared not only in the more intellectual
and literary publications, but in scores of ordinary newspapers in
America and throughout the British Commonwealth, many of them available
in the Saunders collection at Brown University. The ones included in
this reference guide provide a representative geographical and critical
sampling; few besides those in the major magazines and newspapers are
of critical interest.
The estimates tended to be reasoned and admiring, without the
highly derogatory remarks some of his obituary writers had uttered.
The Whitman cult came under fire, however, as it had frequently done
since Whitman's death, for his extremism in the pursuit of Whitman's
recognition and its perpetual appropriation of Whitman to various
causes. When Whitman's own defects were mentioned, however, the tone
was generally different from that of the fault-finding obituaries.
Unlike such writers as Higginson who would make a few allowances for
Whitman's good qualities and then concentrate on his deplorable
shortcomings, noting how unlikely his work would be to survive, the
26
centenary writers realized that a quarter-century of Whitman's growing
acceptance and influence lay behind them, so could hardly turn
completely in the face of all that opinion. Faults might be admitted,
but Whitman's strengths and valuable qualities received the chief
emphasis: his sympathy, vitality, optimism, naturalness, originality;
the worth of his poetic theory and artistry; his patriotic, mystic,
epic, and contemporary qualities. Whitman's oft-criticized egotism
and catalogues were accounted for, defended, and explained. Stuart P.
Sherman in the New York Evening Post was typical in finding Whitman's
work of permanent value because it raises man to an awareness of
himself as a moral being and of his destiny as great.
But amid the great concert of voices praising the poet-prophet of
democracy and the self were heard a few discordant notes. For the
Times Literary Supplement, Whitman's method was evidence of laziness,
and his ideas were inadequately demonstrated. The disapproval of a
sarcastic article in the New York Sun outweighed its favorable
comments, its judgment upon Whitman being summed up in its singling
out of "0 Captain! My Captain!" as the only poem the man in the street
knows and "the one that is most likely to live forever," a familiar
judgment throughout Whitman's lifetime and thereafter, but not so
common among true critics as the more discerning appreciation for "Out
of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking" and "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard
Bloom'd" as the pinnacles of his poetic achievement, recognized as such
by many during his lifetime, at his death, and in the decades up to his
centenary. Some critics, however, might acknowledge the success of
those poems and yet disapprove of Whitman as a whole. J. C. Squire,
27
for example, criticized him in Land and Water for generally poor
artistry and frequent reliance on "mere exhortations." 0. W. Firkins
in The Review found him heavily flawed, with an undeveloped poetic
sensibility and a gospel emphasizing the present actuality of the self
rather than its aspiration.
The Whitman controversies had still not been resolved: some
critics would condemn in Whitman the very qualities that others
praised, or would offer completely opposite interpretations, as Firkins
and Sherman did: did Whitman advocate aspiration beyond the present
or not? Such variety of interpretation had been the case with Whitman
from the beginning, most strikingly perhaps in regard to the sex poems.
Women like Fanny Fern in 1856 and Anne Gilchrist in 1870 found them
healthy and pure-minded, while men seemed generally more squeamish, no
doubt out of a desire to protect women from what they presumably should
not know about. There was still commentary on the sex poems in 1919,
though not nearly as extensive as during his lifetime. A more
sophisticated criticism, through a more open attitude toward sex, had
appeared: William B. Gairns in the Yale Review could now explain the
reasons why Whitman's treatment of sex did not quite work without
calling upon the gods of morality to purify the mind after the reading
of such filth. And yet the Brooklyn Daily Eagle revived the old
nineteenth-century and text-book notion that Leaves of Grass might be
better expurgated, for the sake of the rest of the book, which did not
really need those objectionable passages.
In the Open Court, O. E. Lessing, as Triggs and Burroughs had
done in the 1890's, called for a less academic criticism that would
28
respond more fully to Whitman and to other significant American
writers, to perceive Whitman's ideals and his depiction of actual life
rather than only his "'impossible' verse form." If the German Lessing
had been almost anywhere in America in May 1919, or even throughout the
preceding decade, he might have read some of the commentary on Whitman
and seen that that new criticism was in operation already. Critics
and readers were responding directly, and had been doing so for years
now, to the thought and spirit of Whitman, letting his poetry speak to
them and to contemporary America. Van Wyck Brooks's essay in America1s
Coming of Age (1915) and John Macy's in The Spirit of American
Literature (1913) gave significant proof of this appreciation.
Whitman's flaws remained a bitter pill to many, who still found him
troublesome except in small and perfectly formed doses, but for the
most part his poetic form gave little real trouble, for readers, even
admirers, were willing to admit that Whitman's poetry was not
consistently magnificent, but sometimes actually emulated the little
girl who had a little curl right in the middle of her forehead.
Whitman's worth was not diminished because of his flaws, however,
horrid they might be at times. Whitman had much to offer to the
individual, to America, to the world, and to literature, and there were
few readers of poetry in 1919 who did not recognize in him at least
some of the merit that his earliest enthusiastic admirers, from
Emerson on, had perceived.
29
References Cited in the Text
Allen, Gay Wilson. Twenty-Five Years of Walt Whitman Bibliography
(1918-1942). Boston: F. W. Faxon Co., 1943.
Asse1ineau, Roger. The Evolution of Walt Whitman: The Creation of a
Personality. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, Belknap
Press, 1960.
Blodgett, Harold. Walt Whitman in England. Ithaca: Cornell
University Press; London: Humphrey Milford, Oxfore University
Press, 1934. Bibliography, pp. 223-34.
CHAL. Abbreviation for Holloway and Saunders (see below).
Hindus, Milton, ed. Walt Whitman: The Critical Heritage. London:
Routledge & Kegan Paul, 1971.
Holloway, Emory and Vernolian Schwarz, eds. I'Sit and Look Out. New
York: Columbia University Pre-s, 1932.
Holloway, Emory and Ralph Adimari, eds. New York Dissected. New York:
Rufus Rockwell Wilson, 1936.
Holloway, Emory and Henry S. Saunders. Whitman Bibliography in
Cambridge History of American Literature, Vol. 2. New York: G.
P. Putnam's Sons, 1918, pp. 551-81. Abbreviated CHAL.
Index to Early American Periodical Literature, 1728-1870: No. 3, Walt
Whitman, 1819-1892. New York: Pamphlet Distributing Co., 1941.
Kennedy, William Sloane. The Fight of a Book for the World. West
Yarmouth, Mass.: The Stonecroft Press, 1926.
Mabbott, Thomas Ollive and Rollo G. Silver. A Child's Reminiscence by
Walt Whitman. Seattle: University of Washington Book Store,
1930.
McLeod, A. L. Walt Whitman in Australia and New Zealand. Sydney:
Wentworth Press, 1964.
Miller, Edwin H., ed. A Century of Whitman Criticism. Bloomington:
University of Indiana Press, 1969.
Saunders, Henry S., ed. Parodies on Walt Whitman. New York: American
Library Service, 1923.
Saunders Supplement. Abbreviation for the typescript bibliography,
extending the CHAL bibliography, in the Henry S. Saunders
Collection of Whitmaniana at Brown University.
31
Symbols
* This item has not been seen. If annotated, it has been read only
in a reprint (which will be listed among the reprint information).
+ This item has been seen only in the Saunders Collection of
Whitmaniana at Brown University, with page numbers not given, and
dates and title of publication being taken on faith (although
Saunder's accuracy is generally good).
# This item has been seen only in the Oscar Lion Collection at the
New York Public Library.
Note: Occasionally page numbers of newspaper articles do not appear,
because the copy that I have seen has been a photocopy obtained
through the inter-library loan service at the University of Southern
California, and the whole page, in the case of newspaper articles, is
seldom copied in full.
Walt Whitman (1819-1892): List of Works and Editions
1855 Leaves of Grass (First Edition)
1856 Leaves of Grass (Second Edition)
1860 Leaves of Grass (Third Edition)
1865 Drum-Taps and Sequel to Drum-Taps
1867 Poems by Walt Whitman (W. M. Rossetti's English Selection)
1871 After All, Not to Create Only; Democratic Vistas; Leaves of
Grass (Fifth Edition)
1875 Memoranda During the War
1876 Leaves of Grass (Author's Centennial Edition); Two Rivulets
1881 Leaves of Grass (Sixth Edition)
1882 Specimen Days and Collect
1888 November Boughs; Complete Poems and Prose of Walt Whitman
1891 Good-Bye My Fancy
1891-■92 Leaves of Grass (Reprint of Sixth Edition, with Annexes)
1892 Complete Prose Works
1897 Leaves of Grass (Reprint of 1891-92 Edition, with "Old Age
Echoes") Calamus (Letters)
1898 The Wound-Dresser (Letters)
1899 Notes and Fragments
1902 The Complete Writings of Walt Whitman (Putnam's Sons)
33
List of Abbreviations
Titles of poems used throughout are those of the 1891-92 edition,
whatever the title used in the item. If reference is made to a
particular passage from a longer poem, e. g. "Song of Myself," the
annotation will use the form "Myself" 21 to indicate the twenty-first
numbered section of that poem.
"Adam" ("Children of Adam")
"Answerer" ("Song of the Answerer")
"As I Ebb'd" ("As I Ebb'd with the Ocean of Life")
"As I Lay" ("As I Lay with My Head in Your Lap Camerado")
"Astronomer" ("When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer")
"Banner" ("Song of the Banner at' Daybreak")
"Bivouac" ("By the Bivouac's Fitful Flame")
"Broad-Axe" ("Song of the Broad-Axe")
"Brooklyn Ferry" ("Crossing Brooklyn Ferry")
"Captain" ("0 Captain! My Captain!")
"Cradle" ("Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking")
"Dalliance" ("The Dalliance of the Eagles")
"Dirge" ("Dirge for Two Veterans")
"Ethiopia" ("Ethiopia Saluting the Colors")
"Exposition" ("Song of the Exposition")
Good-Bye (Good-Bye My Fancy)
Leaves (Leaves of Grass)
"Lilacs" ("When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd")
"Locomotive" ("To a Locomotive in Winter")
34
"Man-of-War-Bird" ("To the Man-of-War-Bird")
"Myself" ("Song of Myself")
November (November Boughs)
"Occupations" ("A Song for Occupations")
"Once I Pass’d" ("Once I Pass'd through a Populous City")
"Ontario" ("By Blue Ontario's Shore")
"Open Road" ("Song of the Open Road")
"Passage" ("Passage to India")
"Pioneers" ("Pioneers! 0 Pioneers!")
"Prayer" ("Prayer of Columbus")
"Redwood" ("Song of the Redwood-Tree")
"Rolling Earth" ("A Song the Rolling Earth")
"Salut" ("Salut au Monde!")
Specimen (Specimen Days)
"Spider" ("A Noiseless Patient Spider")
"Square Deific" ("Chanting the Square Deific")
"Terrible Doubt" ("Of the Terrible Doubt of Appearances")
"There was a Child" ("There was a Child Went Forth")
"Thou Mother" ("Thou Mother with Thy Equal Brood")
"Trumpeter" ("The Mystic Trumpeter")
"Universal" ("Song of the Universal")
Vistas (Democratic Vistas)
"Whispers" ("Whispers of Heavenly Death")
"Woman Waits" ("A Woman Waits for Me")
35
1855
BOOKS — None
PERIODICALS
»1. [Dana, Charles A.] Review of Leaves. New York Daily Tribune (23
July), 3.
Reprinted: 1883.2; Holloway (1936); Hindus (without extracts).
In the "extraordinary prose" of the Preface (quoted), this
"nameless bard" presents his poetic theory, anticipated by Emerson.
His poems follow no model but his own brain. His indecent language
comes "from a naive unconsciousness rather than from an impure mind."
His work is "full of bold, stirring thoughts," "effective description,"
often "a rare felicity of diction" though marred by "eccentric fancies.'
Prints extracts with invented titles. Beneath its "uncouth and
grotesque embodiment" is "much of the essential spirit of poetry."
2. [whitman, WaltJ "Walt Whitman and His Poems." New York Evening
Post (24 August), 1.
»3. [Norton, Charles Eliot] "Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass." New York
Putnam's Monthly, 6 (September), 321-23.
Reprinted: 1856.1; 1860.1; Miller; Hindus.
This "curious and lawless collection of poems"'is written "in a
sort of excited prose." The writer's vocabulary strays from polite
standards. But his Preface (quoted) reveals new principles, applied in
poems that are "a compound of the New England transcendentalist and
New York rowdy," fused "with the most perfect harmony." He reveals "an
36
original perception of nature, a manly brawn, and an epic directness
like no other Transcendentalist. Two-and-a-half columns of extracts
are quoted. W's labeling himself "an American" is certainly to be
believed.
»4. [Whitman, Walt] "Walt Whitman and His Poems." United States
Review, 5 (September), 205-212.
Reprinted: 1855.2; 1860.1; 1893.4; Hindus.
"An American bard at last." W represents the start of a truly
American, "athletic and defiant literature." He recognizes no literary
precedents, for the new poets must declare their independence from
traditional poetry. His verses have "the sweeping movement of great
currents of living people," such as the reviewer presents in long prose
listings. Nature and sensations provide W's true poetic inspiration.
He proclaims the beauty of sex. Perfection for him is no dream. He
has interest in all aspects of life, poetry being only part of the
whole. "He is the largest lover and sympathizer" in literature. He
announces poets to succeed him.
5. Anon. "Book Notices. 'Leaves of Grass' — An Extraordinary Book."
Brooklyn Daily Eagle (15 September), 2.
Reprinted with deletions and change of "Walter" to "Walt": 1860.1;
Hindus.
This book "sets all the ordinary rules of criticism at defiance,"
as a staggering compound of "transcendentalism, bombast, philosophy,
folly, wisdom, wit, and dullness," a reproduction of the inner being of
its author, "Walter Whitman." Extensive extracts from the Preface
reveal the ideas behind his poetry, "the free utterance of an
untrammelled spirit": rejection of the artificial and the established,
37
appreciation of all. "Song of Myself" 6 (quoted) is unsurpassed in
interpreting nature. He justly celebrates the unsung heroes who meet
defeat. Some grossness bars the poem from being read aloud in mixed
company. "It is an extraordinary book, full of beauties and blemishes,
such as Nature is to. those who have only a half-formed acquaintance
with her mysteries."
♦6. [whitman, Walt] Review of Leaves. Brooklyn Daily Times (29
September).
Reprinted: 1856.1; 1860.1; 1883.2; 1893.4; Hindus.
The poet will appear "very devilish to some,” "very divine" to
others, in his rude and vital American qualities. He "celebrates
natural propensities in himself," and thus "celebrates all," seeking to
present a new type of character as an example "for the present and
future of American letters and American young men." Description of W's
appearance, personality, habits; his phrenological chart: "there yog
have Walt Whitman, the begetter of a new offspring out of literature,
taking with easy nonchalance the chances of its present reception, and,
through all misunderstandings and distrusts, the chances of its future
reception — preferring always to speak for himself rather than have
others speak for him."
7. Emerson, Ralph Waldo. Letter to Walt Whitman. New York Daily
Tribune (10 October).
Reprinted: 1856.1; 1860.1; Hindus; frequently reprinted.
Leaves is "the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom that
America has yet contributed," meeting Emerson's demands for "courage of
treatment" and "large perception," with "incomparable things said
38
incomparably well." "I greet you at the beginning of a great career,
which yet must have had a long foreground somewhere for such a start."
•8. [Griswold, Rufus W.] Review of Leaves. Criterion, 1 (10 November),
24.
Reprinted: 1860.1; 1883.2; Hindus.
Questions Emerson's endorsement, although the book does have "a
certain transcendental kind of thinking." "This poet (?) without wit,
but with a certain vagrant wildness, just serves to show the energy
which natural imbecility is occasionally capable of under strong
excitement." This book is a sympton of lack of respect for delicacy,
virtue and modesty. The laws "must have power to suppress such
obscenity." Its disagreeable contents should be exposed, but what
newspaper would be so vile as to print them?
1856
BOOKS
1. Whitman, Walt. Leaves of Grass. Brooklyn. "Leaves-Droppings,"
pp. 345-84.
At the end of this second edition are printed Emerson's letter
(1855.7) and the following reviews, most undated: 1856.12; 1855.6;
1856.2; 1855.3; 1856.4; 1856.9; 1856.8; 1856.16; 1856.13. Those I have
not located are annotated preceding the chronological listing.
PERIODICALS
2. *Anon. Review of 1855 Leaves. Christian Spiritualist.
Reprinted: 1856.1; 1860.1; Hindus.
This new author has "a wild strength, a Spartan simplicity," but
shows more promise than performance. His genius accepts the whole
nature of man and all men as his brothers. "Conservatives regard him
as a social revolution." "His style is everywhere graphic and strong,"
in a new idiom which "serves his purposes well," as extracts show.
Proceeding through the volume, the poet becomes "more serenely
elevated." His sympathy is with man, not convention. His work demands
study "as a sign of the times," evidence of "a new era."
*3. *Anon. Review of Leaves. Monthly Trade Gazette.
Reprinted: 1860.1 (p.51).
Leaves displays "a far-reaching grasp of Titanic thought, boldly,
manfully, and appositely expressed." The rejection of metrical rules
40
seems valid. It is America's "most considerable poem" to date.
( *4. *[Whitman, Walt] "An English and an American Poet." American
Phrenological Journal.
Reprinted: 1856.1; 1860.1; 1893.A; Hindus.
Deplores current state of poetry, the inapplicability of British
feudal themes to American. Tennyson is the best of the current poets.
W, however, startles with his strangeness, shunning old models. "Every
sentence and every passage tells of an interior not always seen." The
greatest poet's aim should be to touch the reader with the actual
spirit of life. W will prove "either the most lamentable of failures
or the most glorious of triumphs, in the known history of literature."
*5. Anon. "Studies Among the Leaves." New York Crayon, 3 (January),
30-32.
Reprinted: 1860.1; Hindus.
Compares Tennyson's Maud with Leaves, one representing art at its
most refined, the other being "rude and rough, and heedless in its
forms — nonchalant in everything but its essential ideas." Both are
irreligious and somewhat morbid; "a higher seeing of nature would have
shown W that all things in nature are not alike beautiful, or to be
loved and honored by song." Both could use more "grace and symmetry of
construction."
6. [Hale, Edward Everett] Review of 1855 Leaves. North American
Review, 82 (January), 275-77.
Reprinted: Miller; Hindus.
Whitman, in a sort of poetry, succeeds in his attempt to speak with
the insouciance of animals. The best thing in the volume may be the
41
preface, with "freshness, simplicity, and reality," as an extract
shows. This "collection of observations, speculations, memories, and
prophecies, clad in the simplest, truest, and often the most nervous
English," recreates the extent of Whitman's experience in real scenes
from many aspects o.f life. But some of his lines are not fit for women,
although the book is not meant to "attract readers by its grossness."
It is worth going to the bookstore to buy.
• 7. Anon. "Leaves of Grass." Saturday Review, 1 (15 March), 393-94.
Review of 1855 Leaves. Quotes Emerson's letter (1855.7) and
extracts from the favorable reviews (W's own) sent with the volume.
Quotes from "Myself" to explain W's subject, title, theory of humanity,
theological creed. But the book cannot be recommended, for after such
matter, W "suddenly becomes exceedingly intelligible, but exceedingly
obscene. If the Leaves of Grass should come into anybody's possession,
our advice is to throw them instantly behind the fire."
'8. Anon. Review of 1855 Leaves. London Literary Examiner, No. 2512
(22 March), 180-81.
Reprinted: 1856.1; 1860.1; Hindus. Parody reprinted: Saunders.
W writes like "a wild Tupper of the West," maddened by reading
Emerson and Carlyle. His purpose, "to assert the pleasure that a man
has in himself" and "the harmony in which he should stand, body and
soul, with fellow-men and the whole universe," might have been
achieved without so much obscenity. Most of the book reads like
auctioneer's catalogues, says the reviewer, who then puts an actual
auctioneer's catalogue into W-^-like lines as a parody.
42
>9. Anon. Review of 1855 Leaves. London Critic, 15 (1 April), 170-71.
Reprinted: 1856.1; 1883.2; Hindus.
The man and the book are "rough, uncouth, vulgar," as extracts
show. He deserves "the public executioner's whip" for indecencies like
"I Sing the Body Electric" 5. His inartistic "copy-book" lists merely
reveal the old theme of "universal sympathy." Such "free language" and
"audacious' egotism" can hardly be real poetry.
10. *Anon. "Walt Whitman's Article." New York Life Illustrated (12
April).
Reprinted: Holloway (1936).
Headnote to W's article, "America's Mightiest Inheritance,"
introduces him. "He expresses the very soul of democracy." He has
ideas, knowledge, experience, and "more than considerable talent."
11. *Fern, Fanny [Mrs. Sara Payson Willis Parton] "Peeps from Under
a Parasol — No. 3." New York Ledger (19 April).
Reprinted: Holloway (1936).
Describes with admiration W's apperance and voice.
12. *Howitt, William. Review of 1855 Leaves. New York Life
Illustrated (19 April).
Reprinted: 1856.1; 1860.1; Holloway (1936); Hindus.
Reprinted from London Weekly Dispatch (unlocated). This strange,
audacious book lacks the usual conditions of poetry, but its pieces
achieve "a singular harmony and flow" in "their strength of expression,
their fervor, hearty wholesomeness, their originality, mannerism, and
freshness." W has a "large sense of the beautiful" and a clear
conception of true "manly modesty." His poems "will become a pregnant
43
text-book" full of quotations for every aspect of life.
•13. *Anon. Review of 1855 Leaves. Boston Intelligencer (3 May).
Reprinted: 1856.1; Hindus.
The author of "this heterogeneous mass of bombast, egotism,
vulgarity and nonsense" must be a lunatic, and deserves "the lash for
such a violation of decency."
*14. *Fern, Fanny [Mrs. Sara Payson Willis Parton] "Leaves of Grass."
New York Ledger (10 May).
Reprinted: 1856.16; Holloway (1936).
Leaves is fresh and delicious. "The effeminate world" needed such
"a 'Native American' of thorough out-and-out breed," who would dare to
"speak out his strong, honest thoughts.” Charges of coarseness and
sensuality should be applied to more insidiously sensual works.
Critics are repenting their failure to see beauty, strength and grace
in Leaves. Quotes with praise various short extracts, including some
showing Whitman's commendable attitude toward women as equals.
15. *Fern, Fanny* "Leaves of Grass." New York Life Illustrated (17
May) .
Reprint of 1856.15.
*16. *[Lewes, George H.] Review of 1855 Leaves. New York Life
Illustrated (19 July).
Reprinted: 1856.1; 1860.1; Holloway (1936); Hindus.
W is one the most amazing creations of the modern American mind,
but "is no fool, though abundantly eccentric, nor is his book mere food
for laughter." His form is "startling and by no means seductive to
English ears." Also staggering is his dominant "all-attracting
44
egotism," his soul being present in all things and typifying all human
souls. His aberrations, especially his needless plain-speaking, are
regrettable in view of the "many evidences of a noble soul" in these
pages. Reprinted from London Leader (unlocated), with editorial
introductory note calling this "the nearest approach to fair treatment"
that W has received in England.
17. *[Whitman, Walt] "New York Dissected. Street Yarn." New York
Life Illustrated (16 August).
Reprinted: Holloway (1936).
Paragraph describes the appearance of W, "the sturdy,
self-conscious microcosmic, prose-poetical author of that incongruous
hash of mud and gold," Leaves.
18. Anon. Review of 1856 Leaves. Boston Christian Examiner, 61
(November), 471-73.
Reprinted: 1860.1; Hindus.
Leaves is "an impertinence towards the English language" and "an
affront upon the recognized morality of respectable people." "To its
pantheism and libidinousness it adds the most ridiculous swell of
self-applause." Although some discern "a vein of benevolence," W's
philanthropy actually "cares as little for social rights as for the
laws of God." Criticizes the use of Emerson's commendation to support
a new edition. This volume is being noticed here only because "a
sister Review" has praised it.
*19. W., D. Review of 1855 Leaves and W. E. Aytoun1s Bothwell.
Toronto Canadian Journal, NS 1 (November, 541-51.
45
Leaves is a startling volume, breaking the laws of poetry which
Bothwell follows so strictly. Though much of it might be quoted to
look ridiculous and deletions are necessary before reprinting any
passages, much is suggestive and poetic, if needing the artist's
polishing. Quotes extracts, and part of a review (W's, 1856.4)
included with it.
20. *Anon. "New Publications." Brooklyn Daily Times (17 December).
Reprinted: 1860.1; Holloway (1932).
This work is "an assertion of a two-fold individuality for the
author: of himself personally, and of himself nationally." Describes
W's style, his "frequent instances of all-important and majestic
thought" rather than sentiment, revealing "lessons of the highest
importance." "The poems improve upon a second reading." The work is
slightly "Emersonian," but more "unbridled."
46
1859
BOOKS
1. *Anon. Fourteen Thousand Miles Afoot.
Reprinted: 1860.1 (pp. 51-52); Hindus.
O
The "tabooing" of Leaves reveals the "innate vulgarity" and
"unchastity of heart" of the American people, for "there is not an
indecent word, an immodest expression, in the entire volume." Its
"fragrance of nature" and Eden-like innocence make it "the healthiest
book, morally, this century has produced."
PERIODICALS
2. *Anon. New York Tribune.
Reprinted: 1860.1 (p. 64).
Quotes Boston Courier (unlocated) regarding its opinion that W now
drives an omnibus: "it seems that his natural indolence has conquered
his poetic inspirations."
3. *Anon. New York Constellation.
Reprinted: 1860.1 (p. 64).
Responds to 1859.2: W can be an omnibus driver if he wants.
4. [Whitman, Walt] Brief note. New York Saturday Press (24 December),
2.
Reprinted: Mabbott.
Comment on W's new poem, "A Child's Reminiscence" ["Cradle"],
47
printed on page 1. This "wild and plaintive song," with an effect like
that of music, "will bear reading many times."
5. Anon. "Walt Whitman." Brooklyn City News (24 December).
Reprinted: 1860.1; Hindus.
Notes the appearance of "A Child’s Reminiscence." This "curious
ballad" follows W's "same rude and mystical type of versification."
Provides a straightforward reading of the poem, with extracts. It
"needs to be read in its entirety — and several times at that."
6. Anon. "Walt Whitman." Brooklyn Daily Times (24 December).
Reprinted: Holloway (1932).
Notes the appearance of "A Child's Reminiscence," "a new and
characteristic poem" by W, "who shot up so suddenly into the literary
heavens three years ago, and sent 'his barbaric yawp over the roofs of
the world.'"
*7. Anon. "Walt. Whitman's New Poem." Cincinnati Daily Commercial
(28 December), 2.
Reprinted: 1860.1; 1860.3; Mabbott; Hindus.
"The author of 'Leaves of Grass' has perpetrated another 'poem,'"
which the Saturday Press praised more highly than such drivel deserved.
The poem is nothing but chaos and meaninglessness, although not as
gross as his previous work, which displayed "far worse sins of morality
than of taste" in dragging love "down to the brutal plane of animal
passion." This "unclean cub of the wilderness" lacks any "spark of the
poetic faculty" and has not learned "the first principle of art."
48
1860
BOOKS
1• Anon. Leaves of Grass Imprints; American and European Criticisms
on "Leaves of Grass.” Boston: Thayer and Eldridge, 64 pp.
Reprints reviews and other journalistic extracts concerning W, as
advertisement for the 1860 Leaves. Dating is usually only by year,
and often in error. Contents: 1856.7; 1856.19; 1855.4; 1856.5;
1856.20; 1860.2; 1856.12; 1855.6; 1856.2; 1856.4; 1856.9; 1856.8;
1856.16; 1856.21; 1856.3; 1859.1; 1855.5; 1855.8; 1859.7; 1859.5;
1860.6; 1859.2; 1859.3. The inside covers print Emerson's letter
(1855.7) and current advance notices (1860.11; 1860.12) as further
advertising.
2. *Searle, January. "A Letter Impromptu."
Reprinted: 1860.1 (pp. 27-29).
Poem in hexameters discussing W and his work with praise.
PERIODICALS
3. Anon. "Walt Whitman's New Poem." New York Saturday Press (7
January), 1.
Reprint of 1859.7. Reprinted: Mabbott.
4. [Whitman, Walt]. "All about a Mocking-Bird." New York Saturday
Press (7 January), 3.
Reprinted: Mabbott.
This mocking-bird will sing much in the future; a fuller Leaves
49
will soon appear. Readers must respond with the soul rather than with
the intellect. W's method of construction "is strictly the method of
the Italian Opera," which is also strange to many, but to which one
must also yield oneself. America needs a stronger poet, more suitable
than foreign bards, a voice for today. Perhaps W is he.
%5. Clare, Ada. "Thoughts and Things." New York Saturday Press (14
January), 2.
In contrast to Winter's much-praised poem in last week's Saturday
Press, W's "Child's Reminiscence" "could only have been written by a
poet, and versifying would not help it. I love the poem."
6. Umos. "Waifs from Washington.— VI. . . .Walt Whitman's Yawps."
New York Saturday Press (14 January), 2.
Reprinted: Mabbott.
Describes his impressions of "Child's Reminiscence": W seemed to
be "on his musical skates for the first time." It seems like a lot of
jumbled type set up in lines of unequal length. But this writer's wife
confessed "she didn't think it trumpery — she thought there was
something in it."
7. Saerasmid. "Yourn and Mine, and Any-Day (A Yawp, after Walt
Whitman.)." New York Saturday Press (21 January), p. 1. Parody.
Reprinted: 1860.1; Saunders.
8. Saerasmid. "'Poemet.'— (After Walt Whitman.) With Parentheses,
Analytical, Aesthetical, Philosophical, and Explanatory," New
York Saturday Press (11 February), 1.
Parody of "Of Him I Love Day and Night" (in the Saturday Press, 28
January).
50
9. Anon. "Counter-Jumps. A Poemettina.— After Walt Whitman." New
York Vanity Fair, 1 (17 March), 183. Parody with Caricature.
Reprinted: Saunders.
10. Saerasmid. "Autopatheia." New York Saturday Press (17 March),1.
Parody.
11. Anon. "Walt Whitman in Boston." Boston Saturday Evening Gazette
(21 April),2.
Reprinted: 1860.1; Hindus.
Brief note on W, now in Boston overseeing "a much larger and
superior collection of his tantalizing 'Leaves,* which, after running
the gauntlet of the United States and Great Britain, and receiving
divers specimens of about the tallest kind of indignant as well as
favorable criticism, seem to have arrived at a position where they can
read their title clear to be considered something." Once the volume is
received its quality may be determined.
&12. [Phillips, George S.?] "Literary Gossip on Books." New York
Illustrated News, 1 (5 May), 394.
Reprinted: 1860.1; Hindus.
Announces new edition. Although W's speech seems at first "wild,
rude and barbaric," "his sentences resound with the primordial music of
nature." He reveals "marvelous insights and truths," and is "the first
true voice which has been spoken in America." W can ignore the
critical snobs and look forward to his words becoming part of the
common speech of America.
»13. Anon. "New Publications— The New Poets— Leaves of Grass." New
York Illustrated News, 1 (19 May), Supplement, 1.
51
"More reckless and vulgar" than before, without the genius or
grace of Rabelais, the new edition displays "evidences of remarkable
power," in W's human sympathy, intensity, use of epithet, earnest
purpose, love of nature, recognition of "Deity in everything." Points
out some of the finer and the grosser passages.
,14. [Clapp, Henry?] "Walt Whitman— Leaves of Grass." New York
Saturday Press (19 May), 1.
Reprinted: Mabbott.
The leading idea of Leaves is the supremacy of the human soul and
its divine harmony with the body. Contemporary poets who rhyme ignore
the real life of the present, whereas the form in W's poem is
determined by the thought or passion of the poet, which may produce
"sweet and thrilling music," although W has prosy elements, as well as
defects in his philosophy, art, taste, and style. Quotes long extracts
appreciatively, and 1856.7 in part.
^15. *Anon. "Leaves of Grass." New York Momus (24 May).
Reprinted: Holloway (1936).
Eight-line poem attacking W's "obscene productions."
*16. Anon. "New Books." Boston Saturday Evening Gazette (26 May), 2.
Parody review in free verse of 1860 Leaves, which is "full of good
thoughts, naughty thoughts, noble thoughts," "incomprehensible, insane,
inexpressive, impure, invigorating, infuscatable, and infoliate."
17. Anon. Parody. New York Albion, 38 (26 May), 249.
Reprinted: 1860.20.
52
Following the parody, an editorial remark admits that some of W's
poetry reveals "sympathy with and close observance of external nature."
Although nine-tenths of the book is incoherent and sometimes indecent,
"a confused mass of folly, feculence, and falsehood," the remaining
tenth makes the book worth keeping and reading.
*18. [Phillips, George S.] "Literature. Leaves of Grass— by Walt
Whitman." New York Illustrated News, 2 (26 May), 43.
Reprinted: 1860.27; Mabbott.
Review of 1860 Leaves. W's message comes not from books but is
"alive with God," meant for the "brave, truthful reader." He is
America's first native poet. His oriental perception of the miracle of
all existence is the book's great charm. His phallic passages mar an
admirable book. It is a genuine piece of autobiography, but his
personal pronouns must not be misinterpreted, being often intended as
speaking for the race. This book has more true poetry than most modern
volumes.
*19. Anon. "Walt Whitman." New York Illustrated News, 2 (2 June), 60.
Reprinted: Holloway (1936).
Describes the new portrait of W (printed on the cover). His new
edition is bringing him forward "as one of the most remarkable men of
this day." Biographical information; publication history of Leaves.
Quotes 1855.7. W "has risen from the case to become one of the great
lights and leaders of literature — a poet whose broad and vigorous
power and uncommon felicity of illustration is acknowledged wherever
the English language is spoken." The success of the 1860 edition "has
53
already been great, and must be enormous." W has "a great career in
store."
20. Anon. Parody. New York Saturday Press (2 June), 4.
•21. Beach, Juliette H. [actually by Mr. Beach]. "Leaves of Grass."
New York Saturday Press (2 June), 2.
The "Enfans d'Adam" section is disgusting in its presentation £
man's brutal aspects in sexual relations. W has elements which might
make a great poet — ■ strength and beauty — but "he has no soul."
22. Chilton, Mary A. "Leaves of Grass." New York Saturday Press
(9 June), 3.
W is an "apostle of purity," the teacher of Divine Truth. He
reveals simplicity and "child-like innocence"in refusing to recognize
"such distinctions as 'decency and indecency' in the human structure,"
believing that the body and its functions are to be admired.
23. Thabab, Babbaga. "The Song of Dandelions. (After Walt Whitman.)"
New York Saturday Press (9 June), 1.
Parody reprinted from Philadelphia City Item (unlocated).
24. Anon. "Book Notices." New York Illustrated News (16 June), 91.
Leaves has sold well "because it is^ a queer book." "It is
superbly printed," as permanent literature (which it will prove to be)
should be.
•25. Anon. "'Leaves of Grass'— Smut in Them." Springfield Daily
Republican (16 June).
54
"A more scandalous volume we never saw," with pages that could not
be read aloud to a decent assembly. Its danger lies in its claims to
respectability and purity (as in Chilton's letter (1860.22 quoted)).
W regards nothing as unclean, no passions as degrading, although they
should only be hallowed in the context of marriage.
26. Leland, Henry P. "Walt Whitman." New York Saturday Press (16
June), 1.
Reprinted: 1860.25.
From the Philadelphia City Item (unlocated). W gives our poetry a
refreshing infusion, even if shocking. "He is Consuelo for the poor
man, the friendless, the outcast," being "the people's Poet," direct
and frank. Urges people to discover what W is getting at. He is
lacking chiefly in the all-important attribute of making money.
*27. P., C. C. "Walt Whitman's New Volume." New York Saturday Press
(23 June), 1.
This woman opposes the attacks on Leaves, having found in it no
poem to make her blush, "no sentiment which might not be expressed by a
pure man." W's measure fits "the first distinctive American bard who
speaks for our large-scaled nature, for the red men who are gone, for
our vigorous young population." He reveals proper openness about the
body, "the greatness of my destiny," the balance of the universe, "the
boundless love brooding over mankind." Praises episodes in "Myself."
28. Anon. "Walt Whitman and His Critics." London Leader (30 June).
Reprinted: 1860.37.
55
Early critics attributed roughness and sensuality "to the
individual writer, and not to the subjective-hero supposed to be
writing," ignoring the learning which is evident throughout,
particularly of "Kant's transcendental method" and perhaps others of
the German school, at least through Emerson and French interpreters.
These Leaves are not a marvel, but "the most natural product of the
American soil," asserting "the fullest American freedom." Certain
passages are "not meant for obscenity, but for scientific examples."
The style is rhythmical but disjointed. The volume should succeed
because there are many fools in the world, who may be drawn by
prurient interest but may be made wise by the book.
29. Anon. Advertisement for Leaves. New York Saturday Press (30
June), 3.
Reprinted: Mabbott.
Reprints reviews 1860.18 and 1860.26. This volume, "full of
humanity's life-blood and magnetism," is assured of "a quick sale for
every copy." Reprinted in Saturday Press (7 July) and (14 July), with
shorter ads appearing through 15 September; still shorter
advertisements in the fall.
30. Anon. "Walt Whitman and American Art." New York Saturday Press
(30 June), 2.
In contrast to so much art, mere "effect, ornament, and sentiment,"
W provides "the first extended picture of our life as we live it in
America." "His red-flannel shirt" is a pretension of his own, and he
sometimes descends into nonsense and vagueness, but such an antidote is
needed against current dogmatism. He does not preach or ornament, and
56
"is never prosaic, for one who has breadth through all his catalogue of
particulars to keep the thread of his thought."
(31. Anon. "Leaves of Grass." London Literary Gazette, NS 4 (7 July),
798-99.
Reprinted: 1883.2; Hindus.
This work should be titled "Stenches from the Sewer" or "Squeals
from the Sty." W writes like a fool or madman. He teaches "a
peculiarly coarse materialism," emphasizing worship of his own body,
with "a tone of consistent impurity." Of all writers, W is "the most
silly, the most blasphemous, and the most disgusting."
«32. Anon. "Leaves of Grass." London Saturday Review, 10 (7 July),
19-21.
Reprinted: 1860.40.
It is odd that W should be so indecent in a country which stresses
decency and euphemism. He illustrates "the effect of the secondary
Carlylism of Emerson on a thorough American rowdy." Describes his
Pantheism, occasionally rhythmical versification which shows Tupper as
his model, use of slang, similarity to "the commonplaces of public
speaking." Much in W reveals "very vivid imagination," with "Song of
Myself" 21 (quoted) being more like true poetry than anything else in
the volume.
33. [Winter, William] "The Torch-Bearers— A Paean for the Fourth of
July. (After Walt Whitman.)" New York Saturday Press (7 July), 4.
Reprint of 1860.34.
34. [winter, William] "The Torch-Bearer. A Paean for the Fourth of
of July. (After Walt Whitman.)" New York Vanity Fair, 2 (7 July),
23. Parody. 57
Reprinted: 1860.33.
35. Anon. "Walt Whitman." New York Saturday Press.(14 July) , 1.
From New Orleans Delta (unlocated). Parody.
36. *Howells, W. D, "New Publications." Ashtabula (Ohio) Sentinel,
29 (18 July)> 4.
Reprinted: 1860-41.
W is full of contrasts, being sublime and beastly, with "a
wonderful brain and an unwashed body." But "he has told too much" for
one to want to know him. The secrets of the soul, but not of the body,
may be revealed, but W is shameless.
37. Anon. "Walt Whitman and His Critics." New York Saturday Press
(28 July), 2.
Reprint of 1860.28.
38. Conway, Moncure D. Review of Leaves. Cincinnati Dial, 1 (August)
517-19.
"Whitman has set the pulses of America to music," as may be seen
when one reads him out in nature or surrounded by human activity.
Quotes extracts to reveal "that quintessence of things which we call
Poetry," although "in some of these pages one must hold his nose whilst
he reads." But one should not lose these great utterances. W "is
never frivolous, his profanity is reverently meant, and he speaks what
is unspeakable with the simple unreserve of a child."
39. *Anon. Review of Leaves. Boston Cosmopolite (4 August).
Extract reprinted: 1883.2; Hindus.
"In no other modern poems do we find such a lavish outpouring of
wealth," although its "rude state" may shock us. In treating Nature
58
"without fig-leaves" W displays sincere, not immoral, motives,
resembling the Hebrew Scriptures. "The style is wonderfully idiomatic
and graphic." He displays sympathy, wonder, freedom in treating "the
commonest daily objects and the most exalted truths of the soul." The
spirit of music and poetry is in his verse, which fuses "elements
hitherto considered antagonistic in poetry."
40. Anon. "Leaves of Grass." New York Saturday Press (4 August), 4.
Reprint of 1860.32.
41. Anon. "A Hoosier's Opinion of Walt Whitman." New York Saturday
Press (11 August), 1.
Reprint of 1860.36.
42. Anon. ?~San Francisco. After Walt Whitman." New York Saturday
Press (18 August), 4.
Parody reprinted from San Francisco Golden Era (unlocated).
43. [Curtis, George W.] "Editor's Easy Chair." New York Harper's
New Monthly Magazine, 21 (September), 555.
Quotes and comments upon "A Broadway Pageant," which reveals W's
descriptive power and skill of observation, and which "says fine and
striking things, often with cadence, never with the essential melody of
song."
s-
«14. Anon. Review of 1860 Leaves. London Westminster and Foreign
Quarterly Review, 74, NS 18 (1 October), 590.
This book, full of "obscenity and profanity," would be unworthy of
notice if it were not published so respectably. W's "Hegelian morality"
59
(although he probably has no "direct acquaintance" with the German
philosophers) regards man as his own god. His shameless defense of
"the emancipation of the flesh" indicates "a moral disorganization" in
America. His versification is like Tupper's "English Humdrum," with an
occasional "poetical expression" such as a savage might hit upon by
chance. "These 'Leaves of Grass' are the symptoms of a moral
fermentation in America, which no doubt will result in a broader and
clearer life — but the progress is painful and the yeast nauseous."
*45. [Whitman, Walt?] "A Ballad of Long Island." Brooklyn City News
(10 October).
Reprinted: 1883.1.
The poem, as the "compact unity" of Leaves certainly is, is "the
Song of the sovereignty of One's self — and the Song of entire faith
in all that Nature is, universal and particular — and in all that
belongs to a man, body and soul." W's egotism speaks for every reader
as "the gospel of Democracy." Leaves is to be "absorbed by the soul,"
"returned to again and again." Perceiving the sexual relations as "the
most beautiful and pure and divine of any," he has only the indecency
of Biblical writers and "innocent youth."
46. Winter, William. "Before Him. A Picture. (After Walt Whitman.)"
New York Saturday Press (20 October), 2. Parody.
Reprinted: Mabbott and Silver, "William Winter's Serious Parody
of Walt Whitman," American Literature, 5 (March, 1933).
47. Anon. "French Appreciation of 'Leaves of Grass.'" New York
Saturday Press (17 November), 2.
Quotes several passages from the translation due in January as
60
Brins d'herbe, to show "how thoroughly the poems of W may take root in
the French language" because "poetry is not a matter of words, it is
all in its ideas." A change in language cannot detract from W's power
of sweetness.
48. *[Del Vecchio, James] Editorial. Brooklyn Standard (24 November).
Reprinted: Holloway (1936).
W is de facto Brooklyn's poet laureate. His genius gives him "a
sublime way of saying queer things, and a queer way of saying sublime
things." His intentions are good. Leaves is to be liked, not
criticized. Describes W's usual activities around town.
49. Anon. "The City. Not by Walt Whitman." New York Saturday Press
(24 November), 4.
Parody reprinted from New Orleans Sunday Delta (not located).
61
1865
BOOKS
1. Thoreau, Henry D. Letters to Various Persons, ed. R. W. Emerson.
Boston: Ticknor and Fields, pp. 141-42, 146-48.
Reprinted: 1894.4; Miller; Hindus.
Discusses W in letters to Mr. B. of November 19 and December 7,
1856, describing his visit to W, his responses to the second edition.
"He is apparently the greatest democrat the world has seen." A few
pieces are "simply sensual," but people should be so pure as not to
understand them. Leaves, unequalled for preaching, is primitive,
Oriental, exhilarating, encouraging. "He occasionally suggests
something a little more than human."
PERIODICALS
2. #Anon. Watson's Weekly Art Journal (4 November).
Anon. "Drum-Taps— Walt Whitman." Watson's Weekly Art Journal (4
November), 34-35.
W in literature, like Ward in art, expresses our "New-World
self-assertion," presenting facts, springing from our American life.
W's artistic looseness is consistent with his mood. Drum-Taps reveals
greater regard for beauty of form than Leaves. Reprints with praise
"Pioneers."
3. Hfowells], W. D. "Drum-Taps." New York Round Table, 2 (11
November), 147-48.
Reprinted: Miller.
Unlike Leaves, Drum-Taps contains no indecency, although the
artistic method remains mistaken. The American people seek not an
62
expression "more rude and formless than that of the savagest tribes"
but rather "the highest, least dubious, most articulate speech," as W's
unpopularity proves. These poems derive from his noble part in the
war, and in many the pathos brings tears to the eyes. "But they do not
satisfy," because W is content with suggestion, rather than expression
of true poetic thoughts. His "rich possibilities" and thorough
absorption of "the idea of our American life" suggest that he may yet
write without demanding the.reader to form the poem himself.
4. [James, Henry] "Mr. Walt Whitman." New York Nation, 1 (16
November), 625-26.
Reprinted: 1908.6; Miller; Hindus.
These poems "of an essentially prosaic mind" lack the "visible
goal" of rhyme, much like Tupper, but differ from prose because of the
strange vocabulary. W believes wrongly that his substance is more
important than style, for "this volume is an offense against art,"
although it pretends to touch the feelings. He talks too much about
himself, for art requires subordination of the self. He has only
"flashy imitations of ideas." His own personal qualities, however
worthy, are irrelevant for singing truly the nation's battles and
glories.
5. Anon. "Walt Whitman's Drum Taps." New York Times (22 November),
4.
W compares poorly with Praed. His "poverty of thought" and lack
of standard versification prove him no poet. His wartime service will
be remembered long after Leaves and Drum-Taps are gone.
63
6. [Curtis, G. W.] "Editor's Easy Chair." New York Harper's New
Monthly Magazine, 32 (December), 123-24.
Those who question the placement of Drum-Taps next to Tennyson and
other poets here reviewed should consider whether there is no poetry in
"Captain" and "Beat, Beat, Drums!" (here reprinted with comment).
64
1866
BOOKS
1. Gurowski, Adam. Diary; 1863-164-165. Washington: W. H. & 0. H.
Morrison, p. 128. No index.
Entry of March 5, 1864, praises W, "the incarnation of a genuine
American original genius," who "alone in his heart and in his mind has
a shine for the nameless, for the heroic people."
2. O'Connor, William Douglas. The Good Gray Poet. A Vindication.
New York: Bunce and Huntington, 46 pp.
Reprinted: 1883.2; in 1927 by Henry S. Saunders. Abridged:
Miller; Hindus.
Physical description of W, with comments of Alcott, Thoreau
(1865.1), Lincoln. Describes the Harlan dismissal. To the questioning
of an eminent government of official, Harlan said that his reason was
that W had written a book "'full of indecent passages'" and was "'a
very bad man,' a 'Free-Lover.'" Quotes testimonials to W's good
character, philanthropy, patriotism, which could not produce a bad book.
W loves music and art; is indebted to the Bible; is a "laborious
student of life." Only eighty lines out of nine thousand are in
question and have been misread. Cites examples from classic literature
which deal with sex more blatantly. Leaves is "a work purely and
entirely American" but transcends mere nationalism, emphasizing the
wholeness of the human being, the sacredness of the body, the divinity
of all things. His book is'.a masterpiece, even with its faults,
65
commendable for its metre ("flexible, melodious, corresponsive to the
thought," similar to Nature's, incomparable to Tennyson's) and its use
of the English language (in its full range of expression, borrowing
other tongues for its own purposes). Praises various poems as
"examples of great structural harmony as well as of the highest poetry.'
"Lilacs," "unique and solitary in literature," will remain "the chosen
and immortal hymn of Death forever." His contemporaries "are but
singers; he is a bard," ranking with Shakespeare, Dante, others. He
seeks to remedy contemporary morbid attitudes toward sex. Time will
memorialize him and his war-time service (described). The wrong done
him demands redress, affecting all literature.
PERIODICALS
3. [Whipple, E. P.] "'The Good Gray Poet;'" Boston Evening
Transcript (17 January),2.
Review of 1866.2, full of "mental bombast." The "mere loss of an
office is not a fit occasion for such an apotheosis of the victim."
Indeed, since a clerkship is so small a place for a "'Kosmos'" like
Walt, "his removal from it might be taken as a tribute to his genius."
4. [Stoddard, R. H.] Review of 1866.2. New York Round Table, 3 (20
January), 37.
Though justice has not been done W, O'Connor's praise of him is
extravagant. W is "a man of unquestioned talent, not to say genius,"
but has written passages with "a very rank odor" and "will be a Great
Name" who has truly written literature only when the great writers to
whom O'Connor compares him are forgotten.
5. Anon.. Review of O'Connor (1866.2) . Nation, 2 (25 January), 118-19
O'Connor's cause is trivial in this exaggerated "'vindication,'"
with its "fulsome laudation" of W. Harlan may dismiss whom he chooses.
O'Connor is damaging his own reputation as a writer.
6 . F. "' Drum-Taps. " New York Saturday Press (27 January), 3.
W's two great ideas— "the omnipresence of the soul, and the
sacredness of the individual— lie at the roots of poetry and
civilization." His claim to be a great poet lies rather in "a
picturesqueness of phrase unsurpassed in literature, and a powerful
rhythm, whose long musical roll is like that of the waves of the sea."
His "passion for individuals is so strong that it continually wrestles
with and overthrows his belief in the universal." "If he clung closer
to realities and less tenaciously, to appearances, he would be the
greatest poet of our day."
•7. Lanman, Charles. "The 'Good Gray Poet.'" Round Table, 3
(27 January), 61.
Reprinted: 1883.2.
This letter from "a friend of Secretary Harlan" corrects
implications in review of O'Connor (1866.4). W was discharged not for
religious opinions but for "two satisfactory reasons: he was wholly
unfit to perform the duties which were assigned to his desk; and a
volume which he published and caused to be circulated through the
public offices was so coarse, indecent, and corrupting in its thought
and language as to jeopardize the reputation of the department."
67
8. Anon. "Secretary Harlan Playing Cato the Censor." Boston
Commonwealth (3 February), 2.
Describes O'Connor's defense (1866.2), supporting him against
Harlan, questioning Washington morality, citing literary examples. W
"is a person of too much genius to be treated otherwise than with
respect."
9. O'Connor, Wm. D. "Walt Whitman and Mr. Harlan." New York Round
Table, 3 (3 February), 76.
Reprinted: 1883.2.
Denies Lanman's assertions (1866.7). Thanks reviewer (1866.4) for
agreeing that the dismissal is an "insult to literature."
10. H.[inton], R.[ichard] J. "Why Walt Whitman Left the Interior
Department," Milwaukee Sentinel (9 February), 2.
Lanman is editor of the Congressional Biographical Dictionary.
Corrects misconceptions arising from his letter (1866.7) being
reprinted in the Sentinel. Quotes O'Connor's statements (1866.2),
vouched for by the writer's own "long acquaintance" with W.
11. [Piatt, J. J.] "From Washington. Literature in Political
Harness." Columbus Morning Journal (12 February), 1.
Describes W's appearance. Notes various praises of him. Recalls
seeing W going to the White House, where he met with Lincoln. Deplores
W's dismissal, but criticizes O'Connor’s strong language (1866.2).
12. [Strangford, Viscount]' "Walt Whitman." London Pall Mall Gazette
(16 February), 10.
Reprinted: 1869.1. Abridged: 1866.15.
68
While it is foolish that Whitman should be fired for poems written
in 1860 and before, he is indeed outrageously and defiantly obscene and
opposed to conformity. His ideas resemble Eastern thought, following
the Pantheistic strain in American Transcendentalism. Although he
could hardly have known Persian poetry, he comes close to its accent.
Careful study and translation of the Persians might rescue him and his
"very good ear" from his dreary platitudes, his occasional bathos, and
his "epicurean autolatry."
13. [Morse, Sidney?] "Walt Whitman's Drum-Taps." Boston Radical, 1
(March), 311-12.
W has more of the essence of poetry than many of his .
contemporaries, for all the world to him glows with poetic beauty. He
teaches our soul and can make his own rules. Drum-Taps reveals no new
characteristics, but omits the sexual aspects. Describes the mystery
associated with him in his war work. Notes his vivid word-painting.
14. *Anon. Review of Drum-Taps. London Times. (8 March).
Reported in Blodgettbut not found on this date.
15. C.[onway], M. D. "Correspondence. London." New York Round Table,
3 (17 March), 171.
Notes W ’s fame in Europe. He "has excited something far other
than ridicule — namely, a genuine belief that he has genius, and a
curiosity to know something about him." Notes concern over his
dismissal. Quotes extracts from 1866.10.
69
16. Benson, Eugene. "About the Literary Spirit." New York Galaxy, 1
(15 July), 491.
Criticizes contemporary men of letters, in looking for a vital
contemporary American literature: "If they have reacted against
formality and hypocrisy like W, like him, also, they are devoid of the
literary spirit."
17. [Lowell, James Russell] Review of Howell's Venetian Life. North
American Review, 103 (October), 611-12.
Howells "was a natural product, as perfectly natural as the
deliberate attempt of 'Walt Whitman' to answer the demand of native and
foreign misconception was perfectly artificial. Our institutions do
not, then, irretrievably doom us to coarseness and to impatience of
that restraining precedent which alone makes true culture possible and
true art attainable."
18. Conway, Moncure D. "Walt Whitman." London Fortnightly Review, 6
(15 October), 538-48.
W offers "the most interesting illustration" of the current
Oriental tendency in American letters. Explains Emerson's response to
W. Much of Leaves may repulse the ordinary mind, but from such matter
American thought must be built. Quotes extracts. Recalls first
meeting with W with physical description; anecdotes, biographical
sketch, his war work, serving over 100,000 men. Prints "Captain," a
touching dirge for "his warm friend and admirer," Lincoln.
19. Anon. Short paragraph note. New York Round Table, 4 (27 October),
212.
70
"Mr. Walter Whitman is said to be preparing something for the
press." His verse has "the same relation to poetry that an auctioneer's
catalogue does to a bit of genuine description."
20. Burroughs, John. "Walt Whitman and His 'Drum Taps.'" New York
Galaxy, 2 (1 December), 606-15.
W remains serene despite persecution. Describes W's life, career,
reception, planned religious section. His "most enthusiastic
champions" are "young men, and students and lovers of nature," with
many women also accepting him. His book expresses fully "a perfectly
healthy, unconventional man," as model of the American of the future.
He is cultivated, but a student of men and things rather than of books,
making acquaintance with Emerson's writings only after publishing his
first edition. Describes his personality, recent hospital work. His
"entire sympathy with nature" differentiates him from the rest of
modern literature, his gravity and primitivism contrasting with "our
profuse sentimentalism" and melancholy. The solemnity of Drum-Taps
contrasts strongly with the exultation of Leaves. W regards peace
rather than war as the permanent condition of modern society. He shows
appropriate democratic concern for the individual, not the army. Quotes
and comments upon long extracts. "Lilacs" uses the indirect "method of
nature." Material from this article is used in 1867.1; 1877.1; 1896.1.
21. O'C.[onnor], W. D. "Current Literature. Walt Whitman." New York
Times (2 December), 2.
Editor [Henry J. Raymond] prefaces the article with denial of
responsibility for these opinions: some of W's post-war poetry has
71
value, but he also contains "indecency and filth." O'Connor explains
his acquaintance with both poem and poet. The new edition presents W's
plan to greater advantage. Leaves is the "only book in our literature
which aims at a distinctively national character." Centering his book
on himself like Dante and Montaigne, W makes himself "a representative
embodiment" of the complete human being. Quotes extracts to show W's
belief in women's equality. His verse is not "unpoetical," but
corresponds to nature, music, Biblical writers, and American life. His
war poems abstain "from any vindictiveness during the struggle:?-any
note of exultation over the vanquished,” emphasizing rather war's
tragic aspects, comradeship, and national unity.
1867
BOOKS
1. Burroughs, John. Notes on Walt. Whitman, as Poet and Person. New
York: American News Co., 108 pp. No index.
Describes his first acquaintance with Leaves (1861) and with W
(1863); various editions, their reception. Concentrates on 1867
edition, which completes W's work, although he may want to express
further "the religious aspirational elements." Explicates the major
poems and sections, which combine to form one poem, such as Nature is.
More than Wordsworth, W accepts Nature completely, with its force. He
is not ignorant of the resources of literary composition, for his lines
have poise and grace and he avoids abstractions in favor of "flesh-and-
blood reality." He has some satiric talent. He will lead to a nobler
school of criticism, but he shows no concern for immediate approval.
While he rightly emph-asizes the worth of the Body, his spirituality
cannot be denied. Presents sketch of W's life, character, hospital
work Cas described in W's letters). Drum-Taps will come to be accepted
as "the vital and distinguishing memento through literature of the late
war," commemorating not battles but human pain. Discusses the varied
merits of individual poems and poem types in Drum-Taps, particularly
"Lilacs" for its dramatic interplay between images, needing no plot
development. The discussion of Drum-Taps is largely drawn from 1866.20.
73
PERIODICALS
2. [Hill, A. S.] Review of Drum-Taps and Sequel. Boston North
American Review, 104 (January), 301-303.
Drum-Taps, since it lacks the improprieties of Leaves, "can be
judged on its intrinsic merits," although it too lacks the formal
restraints a true artist requires. Along with "the extravagance,
coarseness, and general 'loudness' of Bowery boys," W possesses "their
better traits" as well: acceptance of his body, candor, sensitivity to
the beauty of nature and of man without sentimentality, a "braggart
patriotism" which proved genuine during the war. The merit of these
poems depends not on W's hospital work but on their "almost
photographic accuracy of observation," "masculine directness of
expression," and "tenderness of feeling," with frequent original
epithets. Quotes extracts, especially from the "remarkable" "Lilacs."
3. C. "The Aldrich-Swinburne Controversy." New York Round Table, 5
(19 January),41.
This letter uses W as an illustration in its discussion of
frequent charges of plagiarism against poets. It would be easy to
prove that, even though "Whitman had perhaps never read a line of
Catullus," "the address To a Common Prostitute owes the inspiration of
its subdued indecency to the more blushing obscenity of Catullus's
atrocious Clarmen [sic] 32 Ad Ipsithillam." But pointing that out
would be pointless "except for the possible event of Mr. Whitman's or
his prochain amie's probably able reply."
4. W. '"C.' on Walt Whitman." New York Round Table, 5 (16 February),
104. 74
Long letter arguing against the charge in 1867.3 that W might not
know Catullus, and the comparison to a poem of "gross lust." For W's
poem expresses tolerance, human love and faith, the spirit of the
modern age and of Christianity. Describes the prostitute's
significance in modern literature. Quotes W's uplifting lines, which
make with her a "direct appointment for the superior life."
5. C. "Catullus and Whitman." New York Round Table, 5 (23 February)
121.
Short letter in response to 1867.4. Explains that he reads the
poem "fresh from the chaste rhapsodies of the Enfans d'Adam, which
possibly colored my construction." Reiterates his belief in W's
originality, and says that "W." misconstrued his meaning.
6 . Benson, Eugene. "Literature and the People." New York Galaxy, 3
(15 April), 875-76.
It is uncertain whether W's is the direction in which America can
find a national expression, although we can honor him for his poetry
and its liberating qualities, such as we find in Emerson, Godwin, and
Beecher. W's work "cannot be truly estimated yet."
7. Anon. "Walt Whitman." New York Daily Tribune (20 June), 6 .
Review of 1867.1. Because of his "earnest conviction," Burroughs
demands a hearing for his attitude towards W, who "must possess some
elements of manliness which the public at large has not recognized."
He presents many suggestions to help "in forming an impartial estimate
of the writings in question." W corrects the false attitudes towards
75
Nature prevailing in most merely beautiful modern verse. But does he
realy merit comparison with Tennyson and Browning? Extensive extracts
from the book.
8. O'C.[onnor] W. D. "Walt Whitman." New York Times (30 June), 3.
Review of Burroughs (1867.1), the "first adequate, intelligent and
truthful presentation" of W, as either person or writer, with great
value "as a key to the works and personal character of a misunderstood
and slandered poet," and also as commentary on the true aims of art and
criticism. Extensive extracts from the book.
9. R.[ossetti] W. M. "Walt Whitman's Poems." London Chronicle (6
July).
Reprinted: 1867.11; 1867.12; 1868.2.
W's poems, mixing prose with poetry, have "a very powerful and
majestic rhythmical sense." He is "an initiator in the scheme and form
of his works." His flaws include crude or absurd words, obscurity,
detached lists, boundless self-assertion. Leaves must be read as a
whole. Combining Personality and Democracy, it is "par excellence the
modern poem," also echoing the old Hebrew poetry. W is a realist and
an optimist, but not a materialist. Leaves is entirely original, and
suggestive for future poetry.
10. Anon. "Notes: Literary." New York Nation, 5 (25 July), 64.
Paragraph summarizing and quoting from 1867.9. Its impact is
stronger because it is more temperate than the criticisms of W's other
admirers. Rossetti's description of W's style suggests why Emerson
76
felt such an affinity for him.
11. [Rossetti, W. M.] "Walt Whitman." New York Times (28 July), 2.
Reprint in part of 1867.9.
12. *Rossetti, W. M. Reprint of 1867.5. New York Citizen (10 August).
13. Anon. "Some American Verse." London Saturday Review, 24 (21
September), 383.
Review of John W. Montclair's Themes and Translations, which is
typical of American verse in resembling English verse and ignoring the
vastness of America and the energy of her people. W is the notable
exception to this generalization.
14. Anon. Review of Leaves. Newark Northern Monthly Magazine.
(October).
Mocks W's "verse(?)" and neglect of grammar; cites his moral
questionableness. He "has recently had greatness thrust upon him, by
way of a joke, we fear, through several laudatory reviews in the
English magazines." Quotes "his last published what-d'-you-call-it,"
"A Carol for Harvest," which probably was "originally intended for an
agricultural catalogue." Compares W to Ossian.
15. Anon. Paragraph. New York Round Table, 6 (12 October), 248.
Notice of 1867.13. W receives from the English a regard higher
than he has "received from any equal literary authority at home." Such
praise may yet make Americans take notice of him, but posterity will
"settle his true rank."
77
16. Benton, M. B. Review of Burroughs (1867.1). Boston Radical, 3
(November), 189-91.
Burroughs is suited to this task. Compares W to Homer, singing
the divine impulses of our day. The future will determine whether he
has written the epic memorial of today.
17. Buchanan, Robert. "Walt Whitman." London Broadway Magazine, 1
(November), 188-95.
Reprinted: 1867.19; 1868.1.
Review of Leaves and Drum-Taps, 1867. Much abused over the years,
W has become a "sacer vates" with a message for the future of personal
liberty, universal equality, "the divine functions of the body." His
verse shows Biblical influence. In "Walt Whitman," he uses himself as
"the cosmical Man." "Children of Adam" may be coarse but its message
is important. His language is "strong, vehement, instantaneously
chosen," "sometimes even rhythmical," although "he sometimes talks rank
nonsense," He lacks "artistic sympathies" and taste. Some of his
lines are monotonous and prose-like, although there is "absolute music"
in Drum-Taps and "Lilacs," "in proportion to the absence of
self-consciousness, and the presence of vivid emotion." W is "the
clear forerunner of the great American poet."
18. Anon. Paragraph. New York Round Table, 6 (2 November), 296.
Notice of 1867.17. "In common with almost every late English
writer on W's poems, Mr. Buchanan praises them warmly for qualities
which have hitherto, by the majority of American critics, been
considered the reverse of commendable."
78
19. Buchanan, Robert. "Walt Whitman." Washington Sunday Morning
Chronicle (10 November).
Reprint of 1867.17.
20. Anon. "Walt Whitman's Utopia." Round Table, 6 (7 December),
370-71.
W's "Democracy" in this month's Galaxy presents a fitting answer
to Carlyle's blast against Democracy, "Shooting Niagara" (reprinted
from Macmillan's in the New York Tribune), although lacking Carlyle's
"grim humor." W's "views have a larger scope," although he is "the
more incomprehensible." W's ideas on democracy are analyzed, with
criticism.
21. Anon. "Notes: Literary." Nation, 5 (12 December), 472.
Review of new Putnam's, particularly 1868.4. O'Connor's story
glorifies W "as the grand incarnation of friendliness and
brotherliness," which he may well be. But the displays of physical
affection between men in the story are disgusting. Yet the story is
powerful and true, and worth the price of the magazine.
22. Wayne. "Democracy, Carlyle, and Whitman." Round Table, 6
(21 December), 413-14.
Reprinted: 1868.7.
Long letter in response to the W and Carlyle articles. Neither
writer is "intelligible to a majority of his admirers." Wayne
criticizes W's condemnation of American literature, his "servile and
not altogether successful" imitation of Carlyle's style, his
"undigested" thoughts. Though sentimental, W's ideas on democracy are
superior to Carlyle's, but he "is too certain of its permanence." In
prophesying and not reasoning, he typifies the national folly.
1868
BOOKS
1. Buchanan, Robert. David Gray, and Other Essays, Chiefly on Poetry
London: Sampson Low, Son, and Marston. "Walt Whitman," pp. 203-
20.
Reprint of 1867.17.
2. Rossetti, William Michael, ed. Poems by Walt Whitman. London:
John Camden Hotten. Prefatory Notice, pp. 1-27; Postscript, pp.
402-403.
Reprinted: 1886.5.
Prints October 1867 letter to William Bell Scott in gratitude for
introducing him to Leaves. Incorporates 1867.9. W tries too hard to
be the poet of democracy. He displays width of subject-matter,
intensity of self-absorption. He is a master of words and sounds. His
image of man matches Swedenborg's. Traces W's life and personality
(from 1867..1. and 1866..12.) . Each edition's revisions reveal him a
careful poet. Explains selection process for this volume: most recent-
versions are used; offensive poems eliminated, though not immoral but
only aesthetically unpleasant, for W deserves being judged "on poetic
grounds alone." New titles are provided. Readers should ask not if
W is like other poets, but: "Is he powerful? Is he American? Is he
new? Is he rousing? Does he feel and make me feel?" He is a huge
force of today and for the future, with his "fresh, athletic, and
American poetry." Postscript emphasizes that W had no part in the
selection; notes his plan for new pieces on Death and Immortality; o . . . .
80
calls for a complete English edition.
3. Swinburne, Algernon Charles. William Blake. London: J. C.
Hotten, pp. 300-304.
Reprinted: Hindus.
Blake and Whitman share a passion for sexual and political freedom,
similarity to "the Pantheistic poetry of the East," a selfless love
which has made them both martyrs and prophets, and some of the same
shortcomings. W is less profound but "more frank and fresh." Blake
has no sustained work to equal "Cradle" or Lilacs" ("the most sweet
and sonorous nocturn ever chanted in the church of the world"), but
their "breadth of outline and charm of colour" recall Blake.
PERIODICALS
4. O'Connor, W. D. "The Carpenter. A Christmas Story." New York
Putnam1s Magazine, 1 (January), 55-90.
The title character in this story is a Whitman-like figure who
visits a troubled rural family during the war. Christ-like, he
understands their problems and encourages them to solve them through
love, such as he has shown in his hospital service, through which he
came to know the family's two sons, serving in opposing armies.
5. Anon. "Literature Truly American." New York Nation, 6 (2 January),
7-8.
W may be indecent in speech and deficient in art, but his heartily-
expressed conviction of "the greatness of mere manhood" and of human
equality reveal him as "a preacher of democracy," though the poet of
democracy is still to come.
81_
6. Wayne. "Democracy, Carlyle, and Whitman." New York Round Table, 7
(11 January), 22-23.
Continues 1867.22. Criticizes W's ideas of democracy by
counterposing his own. Prophecy is not needed when the people should
be concerned about rescuing "imperilled liberty."
7. [Wayne] "Democracy, Carlyle; and Whitman." Baltimore New Eclectic
1 (February), 190-94.
Reprint of 1867.22.
8. H.[inton], R. J. "The Poet Walt Whitman— His Fame and Fortunes in
England and America— His Present Position." Rochester Evening
Express (7 March).
An overview of W's life, career, critical reception. Describes
from personal acquaintance W the man. The forthcoming edition "has
attained far more perfect proportions, even than the edition of 1867,"
with "the new part devoted to the poetical expression of worship, and
of the religious faculty in man," about supplied, to complete the
volume and W's plan. His work is "beginning to be understood" as
"founded on ethic intentions, and animated by a devout and religious
spirit."
9. Anon. "Walt Whitman." London Review (21 March), 288-89.
Review of Rossetti (1868.2). Though mystical and sometimes
incoherent, W is a man of power, "the Turner of poets." Much is subject
to ridicule, but only because he is so far from commonplace. Though
realistic W insists on "the mystic transmutation of spirit," perceiving
himself as representative. Rossetti provides an excellent means of
knowing a writer who cannot be overlooked.
______ 3-2—1
10. Burroughs, John. "Before Genius." New York Galaxy, 5 (April),
423-24.
Mentions W and Emerson as the only advance in American literature
"beyond the merely conventional and scholastic."
11. Anon. Review of Rossetti (1868.2). London Athenaeum, No. 2113
(25 April), 585-86.
Although some poems rely on mere lists, some entire poems and
occasional passages triumphantly reveal the essentials of poetry —
emotion and imagination most outstandingly "Cradle," described as
an example of W's fine "unconscious power of symbolization." W's
beliefs are worthy, except "that he cannot recognize the possibility
of goodness" in an aristocrat, and reveal him "a wide, sincere, and
passionate thinker," with no new ideas but "a new combination of
separate views."
12. Anon. Review of April Galaxy. New York Round Table, 7 (25 April)
268.
"The paper which will probably attract most notice is the second
of Walt Whitman's remarkable yawps," entitled "Personalism." It
surpasses his former article about democracy "in incoherence and
bombastic unreason." Summarizes "the gist" of the article.
13. Hotten, John Camden. Extract from review of 1868.2. New York
Round Table, 7 (25 April), 269.
From The Academia (unlocated). W's "music is bigger and louder,"
requiring judgment by means other than scanning. "His pages teem with
_________________83
thought," at a level seldom reached and "never so long maintained.
Divinely human in his sentiments, Hebraic and heroic in the assertion
of his personality, intensely fervid in his patriotism, and yet
encircling the world with his love, and claiming all the dwellers
therein for his brothers and sisters, W is by far the most original
product of his time, the sum and expression of the great Democracy of
the West." The Round Table writer adds the suggestion that English
critics may be favoring W's celebration of "lusty nature" out of
disgust at "the very artificiality of their native poets."
14. Anon. "Walt Whitman's Poems." London Saturday Review, 25 (2
May), 589-90.
Reprinted: 1868.1; Hindus .
Review of 1868.2. Rossetti's regret at eliminating so many poems
is appropriate, for he suppresses significant evidence, such as "Walt
Whitman," a key to understanding W. W may attract some by his novelty,
unconventionality, and obscurity. Perhaps Rossetti regards him as an
antidote to the feebleness and sentimentality of much modern poetry.
If a poem like "Visages" (quoted) is poetry, we need another word for
what Shakespeare wrote. Answers the questions of Rossetti's Preface:
he is American, like "certain forms of rowdyism and vulgarity"; he has
no new thought; his unconventionality is cheap. He will have no
influence on American or English poetry.
15. Anon. Paragraph. New York Round Table, 7 (16 May), 316.
Comments on W's political opposition to Carlyle, who "likens him
84
to a buffalo, useful in fertilizing the soil, but mistaken in
supposing that his contributions of that sort are matters which the
world desires to contemplate closely." Association with his
intellectual inferiors has led W to use his "natural powers" only to
produce "such inconceivable drivel as his pseudo-political articles"
- * - n Galaxy. His notion of democracy is hardly to be admired.
16. Freiligrath, Ferdinand. "Walt Whitman." New Eclectic Magazine,
2 (July), 325-29.
Reprinted: 1868.18; Miller.
Translated from the Augsburg Allgemeinen Zeitung (24 April).
For his admirers, W is the only American poet, derived from the soil,
expressing his age. Adverse criticism does not trouble him. His
verses seem rugged and formless but are "not devoid of euphony." His
language is "homely, hearty, straightforward," the tone is
"rhapsodical, like that of a seer." He is quite uneven. His "I" is
part of America, the earth, mankind, the All. Everything for him is
symbolic of a spiritual fact. He makes ordinary verse-making seem
childish. Is this the poetry of the age to come? "Is Walt Whitman a
greater than Richard Wagner?" Biographical sketch (from 1868.2);
extract from 1866.18; list of works.
17. Anon. Review of 1868.2. New Eclectic Magazine, 2 (July), 371-75.
Reprint of 1868.14.
18. Freiligrath, Ferdinand. "Walt Whitman." Boston Commonwealth
(4 July), 4.
Reprint of 1868.16.
85
19. Anon. "Walt Whitman." London Chamber's Journal of Popular
Literature, Science, and Art, 45 (4 July), 420-25.
Review of 1868.2. Despite the extravagant praise, W is noteworthy,
as "the first characteristic poetical writer that the United States
have produced." His very faults are national. He is "Yankee to the
backbone" in his independence and originality. The present edition,
"'Bowdlerised1" for "the squeamish tastes of the Old Country," is
suitable for ladies. His prose is akin to Emerson's, his poetry to no
one's.. Quotes an extract from the 1855 Preface as "a fine lay-sermon."
W's titles are "almost always affected or unmeaning." Quotes long
extracts from the poems, especially "his most characteristic," "Burial"
(i.e. "To Think of Time"). His influence will be great and may produce
pupils surpassing him. His "picturings" are often "too prolonged,"
though vivid and "expressed with power." His poems have humor, though
perhaps unintentional. Quotes from 1868.2 and 1866.18.
20. [Lowell, James Russel] Review of John James Piatt's poems.
North American Review, 107 (October), 661.
Reprinted: Lowell, Function of the Poet, 1920.
Discusses the projected American poet, who requires universal, not
merely provincial traits. "Of the sham-shaggy, who have tried the
trick of Jacob upon us, we have had quite enough, and may safely doubt
whether this satyr of masquerade is to be our representative singer."
21. Benson, Eugene. "Democratic Deities." New York Galaxy, 6
(November), 663.
W represents not an average man but "a superb illustration" of the
better and higher man that democracy can produce. W "may tenderly and
86
gravely celebrate his humanity and comprehensive solicitude," but we
need specific individual men to provide us with positive examples of
merit as our writers and preachers.
22. Anon. "Table Talk." London Once a Week, NS 2 (12 December), 496.
Reprinted: Saunders.
Parody: "I am W*lt Wh*tm*n."
1869
BOOKS
1. Strangford, Viscountess, ed. A Selection from the Writings of
Viscount Strangford. London: Richard Bentley, Vol. 2. "Walt
Whitman," pp. 297-300.
Reprint of 1866.12.
PERIODICALS
2. [Austin, Alfred] "The Poetry of the Period: The Poetry of the
Future." London Temple Bar, 27 (October), 314-27.
Reprinted: 1870.1.
W's four themes, appropriate to the present age, of which he
claims to be the bard, are America, Democracy, Personality, and
Materialism. But he recognizes no distinctions between persons as to
degree or virtue, or between the body and the soul. His poems,
resembling "the improvising of savages," contain much nastiness.
Contrary to the opinion of his admirers, his "grotesque, ungrammatical,
and repulsive rhapsodies" have nothing in common with the Bible or any
other honored literature. W's "revolt with a vengeance" was necessary
considering contemporary poetry, dependent on feudalism and gentility
and "deficient in all masculine and lofty qualities."
88
1870
Books
1. Austin, Alfred. The Poetry of the Period. London: Richard
Bentley. "The Poetry of the Future," pp. 192-223.
Reprint of 1869.2.
PERIODICALS
2. H.[owitt], Wtilliam]. "The Poems of Walt Whitman." London
Spiritual Magazine (January), 34-40.
Along with much verbiage and Yankee brag, W has bright new
thoughts and tender sentiments. His thought is true Spiritualism,
emphasizing joy and sympathy and "the eternal springs and streams of
eternal being," such as no mere poet of the world (like Browning or
Swinburne) has. Quotes extensively to support these assertions.
3. [Gilchrist, Anne] "A Woman's Estimate of Walt Whitman (From Late
Letters by an English Lady to W. M. Rossetti)." Boston Radical, 7
(May), 345-59,
Reprinted: 1887.3; 1893.4; 1918.9. Abridged: 1883.1; 1884.1;
Miller; Hindus.
Rossetti introduces the essay as "about the fullest, farthest-
reaching, and most eloquent appreciation of W yet put into, writing,"
and "the most valuable" because from a woman's point of view. The
essay consists of three letters (June 22 and 23, July 11, 1869), with
additions.
W's poems were like "electric streams," uniquely rewarding, fresh
like nature. Poetry must accept W "as equal with her highest," or else
89
"stand aside, and admit there is something come into the world nobler,
diviner than herself." W fearlessly deals with reality and the present
W conveys his brotherhood and love in "Calamus," "Drum-Taps," his
hospital work, and his admission of the darkness within himself. His
enumerations are "necessary parts of the great whole." He rejects
poetic diction in favor of words taken "from the varied experiences of
life." He cannot, even in the complete poems, corrupt women readers,
for he reveals that shame in the act leading to parenthood is not in
accord with God's will, soul and body being one. His poetry follows
the path that science has already laid out. He is an appropriate poet
for the greatness of the American land.
4. Anon. "New Publications." New York Times (11 November), 2.
Paragraph review of Leaves, Democratic Vistas, Passage. W cannot
be recommended to the general reader; "his books are only fit for those
who make researches in literature not suited to family reading."
Knowledge of the man is needed to know his work.
90
1871
BOOKS
1. Burroughs, John. Notes on Walt Whitman, as Poet and Person. New
York: J. S. Redfield, 126 pp. No index.
Reprint of 1867.1, with "Supplementary Notes," pp. 109-26.
Brings the discussion up to the 1871-72 Leaves, according to W the
final edition. Explicates the new poems, showing that the new volume
is a clearer expression than before "of that combination in_which Death
and the Unknown are as essential and important to the author's plan of
a complete human Personality as Life and the Known." W, following the
German idealist philosophers, uses the material as a door to the
spiritual realm. Leaves depicts the nineteenth century. W is a sane
model for his readers, though not without faults. He balances his
"enormous sense of objective nature" with an "equally enormous egoism."
Quotes recent commentary on W.
2. Forman, H. Buxton. Our Living Poets: An Essay in Criticism.
London: Tinsley Brothers, p. 11, 302-03, 370.
W reveals "the true artist's unlimited sympathy with, all animate
and inanimate nature" in "the intensest form it has ever yet taken."
Compares him to poems by Swinburne and W. B. Scott.
3. Swinburne, Algernon Charles. Songs Before Sunrise. London: F. S.
Ellis. "To Walt Whitman in America," pp. 143-49.
Poem in rhymed stanzas urging W, as representative of the American
91
spirit, to bring new life to Europe. Direct references only- in title
and stanzas 1 and 3'.
PERIODICALS
4. [Dowden, Edward] Review of Leaves, Democratic Vistas, and Passage.
London Westminster Review, 96 (July), 33-68.
Reprinted: 1878.2. Abridged: Miller; Hindus.
W is unlike his American precedessors, who are closer to the
European than the American mentality. His literature of democracy
differs from the exclusive and stylistically rigid literature of
aristocracy. He seeks "the recognition of new forces in literature,"
"creation of a new manner of speech," and music*without syllable
counting. Inclusive in his sympathies, he makes "the people itself,
in its undiminished totality," appear in his poems; hence his
democratic catalogues. Rather than an individual hero, he celebrates
himself "as a man and an American," his epic hero being the American
nation as leader of the human race. He recognizes the flaws of
America, but without despair. His portrayal of sex, though offensive
to some, is "in a spirit as remote from base curiosity as from insolent
licence." His presentation of comradeship, an equal love between men,
makes us love the man for this "power capable of counterbalancing the
materialism, the selfishness, the vulgarity of American democracy."
His grass is an appropriate democratic symbol. He uses the pathetic
fallacy not out of egotism, but to share with the world his emotions.
His faith in the future leads him occasionally to deny evil, but his
concern with personal qualities requires the preference of the virtuous
over the vicious. W's purpose is to stimulate the reader to "go upon
his own way." go
5. Fountain, Lucy. "An Evening with Swinburne." New York Galaxy, 12
(August), 233-34.
Records conversation with Swinburne regarding W, whom he reads
"'a great deal,'" ranking him second to Hugo among living poets. He
praised "Cradle" and "Lilacs," but criticized the catalogues, despite
this writer's defense of them. He read his ode dedicated to W.
6. R.[ichard], H.[inton], J.[sic]. "Washington Letter. Walt Whitman
Personally, Poetically and Prospective." Cincinnati Commercial
(26 August), 1-2.
Describes W's relation to his job, his ability to put all his
efforts into his writing, his dress, appearance, and personality.
Traces W's reputation, urging recognition for him because of the favor
shown by Emerson, Dowden, and Tennyson. Recalls lying in a hospital,
recovering from wounds, and having W minister to him.
7. Anon. "Walt Whitman Recognized." Springfield Daily Republican (4
September), 2.
Traces history and reception of Leaves, largely negative although
the classics contain the equivalent of W's "ithyphallic passages."
Quotes from Emerson's eulogy of Thoreau a passage not printed in
Thoreau's Excursions, citing W as the person "'not known to this
audience'" of the three men who significantly influenced him. Notes
his war experiences, use of some old Greek meters in his last book.
8. Anon. Headnote to "After All, Not to Create Only." New York
Times (8 September), 2.
"Decidedly a characteristic production, and happy in its fitness
93
to the occasion." Describes W's reading of it and his appearance "for
the first time before an audience."
9. Noel, Hon. Roden. "A Study of Walt Whitman, the Poet of Modern
Democracy, I." London Dark Blue, 2 (October), 241-53.
Reprinted: 1886.2
W is "American democracy incarnate." He is appropriately more
prophet than artist, that he may convey the intense sense of
personality. His expression is often but not always deficient. He
brings poetry back to an emphasis on content. He reveals a stronger
Oriental than Biblical influence. He is sometimes coarse, but never
prurient. "Lilacs" reveals his ability to create "a simple, beautiful
whole," matching language to idea, in contrast to the frequent
fragmentariness in the exuberant catalogues. Praises Drum-Taps.
10. Noel, Hon. Roden. "A Study of Walt Whitman, the Poet of Modern
Democracy, London Dark Blue, 2 (November), 336-4.
Revised: 1886.2. Concludes 1871.9.
Discusses "Calamus." W's ideal of manly friendship is well
opposed to modern .isolation. His doctrine of equality is flawed, for
the average man should not be the measure of the whole universe.
94
T
1872
books" _
1. Allibone, S. Austin. A Critical Dictionary of English Literature
and British and American Authors. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott
& Co. Vol. 3, p. 2700.
Brief•listing of biographical data, works, and reviews. O'Connor
places W on a level with the great masters, while Public Opinion, an
English journal, terms W "senseless trash" (unlocated). They may be
just displaying a national jealousy for the fame of Shakespeare,
Milton and Spenser, "and there is a good deal in Whitman that will be
found in neither of these."
2. Buchanan, Robert. The Fleshly School of Poetry and Other
Phenomena of the Day. London: Strahan & Co. "Walt Whitman," in
Notes, pp. 96-97; also reference, p. 89.
Reprinted: Hindus.
Although often condemned like the "fleshly" Rossetti and Swinburne,
W is not an imitative Singer like them, but "a Bard, outrageously
original and creative," a "spiritual person" and "colossal mystic."
His fifty lines of indecency, unnecessary and silly like some of
Shakespeare or others, are forgivable because surrounded by "spotless
love and chastity." He could hardly have been "a man of strong animal
passions" because "an epicure in lust would have avoided" the
"frightful violence in his expressions." Disclaims sympathy with W's
95
pantheism; admires W for his wealth of knowledge, vast conceptions,
noble practical teaching. His style relates prose cadence and metrical
verse, coming close to "perfect speech," and is "his greatest
contribution to knowledge."
3. Drake, Francis S. Dictionary of American Biography. Boston:
James R. Osgood and Co., p. 978.
Brief paragraph of biography and editions, citing Allibone
(1872.1) as authority.
4. Hart, John S. A Manual of American Literature: A Text-Book for
Schools and Colleges. Philadelphia: Eldredge and Brother, pp.
376-78.
W "is the most singular instance on record of a successful
poetical iconoclast." His verse may not scan, but the lines are
rhythmical; out of vulgar and prosaic subjects he creates "forms of
delicacy, grace, and beauty." Sketches his life and character. W
rejects the past, and applies American freedom to art, with democratic
sympathies. "His diction is extremely terse and idiomatic," his
thought "unimpeded." Whether a true poet or only "a poetic nature,"
he will endure for having "aroused the public from dull conventionality
and imitation, and set us upon independent thinking."
5. Rossetti, William Michael, ed. American Poems. London: E. Moxon,
Son & Co. Preface, pp. xxiv, xxvi-vii.
W is the greatest American poet. He is not insensible to grace
or art but works on a massive scale of intuitions, sympathies and
observations. Prints over ninety pages of W's poems.
96
6. Swinburne, Algernon Charles. Under the Microscope. London: D.
White, pp. 45-56.
The poet in W, as apparent in several poems, often yields to the
formalist too rigid in his poetic and democratic doctrines. Criticizes
his catalogues, doctrinaire rejection of rhythm. He is best when
arousing the reader. He is original but will found no school of poetry.
7. Underwood, Francis H. A Hand-Book of English Literature.
Intended for the Use of High Schools. Boston: Lee and Shepard,
pp. 461.
Headnote to two poems, "Come Up from the Fields, Father" and
"Dirge for Two Veterans," pp. 462-64. Inaccurate biographical sketch.
Leaves "contains pictures of marked originality and unquestionable
power," as well as some indefensible passages. His form appears
strange, but reading aloud reveals "that the author is a poet, and
possesses the poet's incommunicable power to touch the heart." But
"his lines are diamonds in the rough," lacking appropriate form. Still,
"he has set down some of the most striking thoughts and sketched some
of the most vivid scenes to be found in modern literature," and "he is
less indebted to others for his ideas and for his power of illustration
than almost any American writer."
PERIODICALS
8. Anon. "Recent Literature." Boston Atlantic Monthly, 29 (January),
108-109.
Criticizes the inclusion of a laudatory introduction in the volume
publishing W's After all Not to Create Only, "one of his curious
catalogues of the American emotions, inventions, and geographical
subdivisions."
97
9. Anon. "Walt Whitman." London Once a Week, 26 (June 1), 501-505.
W is "peculiarly an American production," his poems "filled with
an American spirit." He will shock the oridinary reader of poetry,
but those who regard "true poetry as something more than fine words"
will appreciate him. Quotes extracts to reveal W as "the true prophet."
Praises the "intensely human" picture of "Old Ireland." Prints
"Captain." Quotes 1866.2; biographical information. His hospital
service entitles him "to the love and respect of every humane and
right-thinking person."
10. Strahan, Alexander. "Norman Macleod." Contemporary Review, 20
(July), 30 3.
For application to Macleod, quotes the refrain of "For You, O
Democracy," "by one of the truest poets of our time."
98
1873
BOOKS — None
PERIODICALS
1. Dent, John C. "America and her Literature." London Temple Bar,
37 (February), 396-406, passim.
Most of American literature "might have been written by
Englishmen," but "a purely American literature" is taking shape with W,
Twain, Miller, and Harte, W being "incomparably the most original."
W shares with Wordsworth contemporary abuse, "passionate susceptibility
of feeling," "depth of philosophic meditation," "homeless of
expression," and "disregard for, and contempt of, classic precedents."
W will not achieve popularity in his lifetime, but merits his country's
favor for his deeds. "He is the very incarnation of American
democracy: fresh, hopeful," and self-reliant. Urges reading W for
oneself (although Rossetti's edition omits "Myself," "the author's
masterpiece").
2. R. [ichard], H. [inton] , J. [sic] . "New York Letter. ..'.Walt Whitman."
Cincinnati Commercial (25 February), 2.
Describes W's praiseworthy devotion to the wounded soldiers;
recalls accompanying him on his rounds, the..soldiers' love for him.
"Walt had little to give, but "he gave more than any other man I
knew."
99
3. Kerr, Orpheus C. "The Poets' Airing; or, The Rejected Balloon
Ballads." New York Daily Graphic (2 August).
Reprinted: Saunders.
Among the parody poems memorializing the transatlantic balloon
trip is "W-lt Wh-tm-n"'s contribution, "Aeriform America." Comments
that it has "too much of the practical character" and "is unsingable,
save to Wagner's music."
4. Burroughs, John. "The Birds of the Poets." New York Scribner1s
Monthly. 6 (September), 567-68, 574.
Reprinted: 1877.1.
W's treatment of the bird in "Cradle" (quoted extensively) is
"entirely ideal," "eminently characteristic," "altogether poetical,"
its free translation of a bird-song "unmatched in our literature."
Praises use of the bird in "Lilacs."
5. Le Baron, Marie. "Walt Whitman at Home. Visit of a Lady to the
Poet— His Personal Appearance— His Illness and Convalescence."
New York Daily Graphic (3 September), 434 (should be numbered 442).
Pleasant personal account of W's physical condition, surroundings.
"He works slowly, and his poetical sentences are altered and rewritten
many times.
6. Anon. "Walt Whitman." New York Daily Graphic (25 November), 162.
Describes W, close to death but prevailing through "his herculean
constitution." Reports his appearance, activities, personal history.
7. Matador. "A Real American Poet. All about Walt Whitman and His
Poetical Labors— The Meaning[ ,] the Strength, the Beauty, and the
Melody of His Poetry." New York Daily Graphic (25 November), 165.
Abridged: 1883.2.; Hindus.
100
Describes from personal experience the seven-year process of
coming to appreciate W's poetry after initial ridicule. Quotes
extracts "to show that W's poetry is original, strong, beautiful, and
melodious." His descriptive powers give "a vague mystery of hinted
color" in the method of tone poets and musicians. His treatment of
love is "that of a strong, passionate man." Analyzes his prosody.
101
1874
BOOKS — None
PERIODICALS
1. B. V. [James Thomson] "Walt Whitman. I." London National
Reformer (26 July), 50-51.
Reprinted: 1892.11; 1960.7.
Lists his primary and secondary sources, including Burroughs
(1871.1), O'Connor (1866.2), Gilchrist (1870.3), Rossetti (1868.2), and
Conway (1866.18). Traces life to 1856, the opprobrium Leaves received,
especially for the "Adam" poems. Continued 1874.2; reprinted 1892.7,
1910.6.
2. B. V. [James Thomson] "Walt Whitman. II." London National
Reformer (2 August), 67-68. Continues 1874.1.
Describes W from Conway's account (1866.18); his praiseworthy
hospital work, which demanded more courage than fighting did, besides
compassion. Continued 1874.3; reprinted 1892.7, 1910.6.
3. B. V. [James Thomson] "Walt Whitman. III." London National
Reformer (9 August), 82-83. Continues 1874.2.
Describes W after the war; dismissal. Continued 1874.4; reprinted
1892.7, 1910.6.
4. B. V. [James Thomson] "Walt Whitman. IV." London National
102
Reformer (16 August), 100-101. Continues 1874.3.
W's magnificent body deserves celebration, though many would deny
it. But he also has a potent brain, heart, and personality. Quotes
comments from Burroughs (1871.1). Continued 1874.5; reprinted 1892.7,
1910.6.
5. B. V. [James Thomson] "Walt Whitman. V." London National
Reformer (23 August), 124-25.
Continues 1874.4.
Quotes Emerson (1855.7 and a lecture in January 1871), disagreeing
with his statement that W has not fulfilled his promise, for most of
his later pieces are quite worthy of his first ones. Quotes 1855
Preface to explain W's quest for ah American literature; presents
extracts from "Myself." Continued 1874.6; reprinted 1892.7, 1910.6.
6. B. V. [James Thomson] "Walt Whitman. VI." London National
Reformer (30 August), 136-37.
Continues 1874.5.
W's verse has audacity, "a roaring exultation," Biblical cadences
and natural rhythms. Swinburne (1868.3) errs in comparing W and Blake,
for W embraces the common world of reality as Blake never does. Traces
with approval W's themes; draws comparisons with Burns, Spinoza, Heine,
Melville. Concluded 1874.7; reprinted 1892.7, 1910.6.
7. B. V. [James Thomson] "Walt Whitman. VII." London National
Reformer (6 September), 148-49.
Concludes 1874.6. Reprinted 1892.8, 1910.6.
Shows W's projection of himself into all realms of nature and
humanity, his belief in Union, Democracy, and Liberty. His wonderful
103
chants "seem less works of art than immediate outgrowths of nature."
"Lilacs" may be set beside Shelley's "Adonais." W is interesting for
his character, not his opinions. Commends W to all readers, especially
the young, still susceptible to such influences. Even his faults may
be "sanative" because of his greatness. Postscript notes his present
condition, recent work. Reprinted 1892.8, 1910.6.
8. Saintsbury, George. "Leaves of Grass." London Academy, 6 (10
October), 398-400.
The section headings in the new Leaves provide little idea of
their content; sections are unclearly related. The incorporation of
"Drum-Taps" and changes in individual poems are improvements. Leaves
has unity and must be studied as a whole. Summarizes W's gospel of
brotherhood. His treatment of sex lacks pruriency, but he regards
even more highly a Socrates-like comradeship. Praises his universality
(the point of his catalogues), descriptive faculty, Biblical form,
political fairness. He exalts the Yankee but his language is "not
offensively American." Leaves is America's most original production,
"if not the most unquestioned in excellence."
104
1875
BOOKS
1. N[ichol], J[ohn]. "American Literature." Encyclopaedia
Britannica, 9th Edition, Vol. 1, p. 733.
W displays "an uncouth power." Some good descriptive passages
redeem Leaves from absolute barbarism. Drum-Taps is less objectionable,
with vigorous pictures of the war; "Lilacs" has the qualities of a noble
elegy, with some of his usual flaws.
PERIODICALS
2. s[covel], J[ames] M. "Walt Whitman. His Life, His Poetry,
Himself. 'The Good Gray Poet' Self-Estimated." Springfield Daily
Republican (23 July), 3.
Reprinted: 1875.3.
Describes W from personal acquaintance; his condition, lineage,
publication history, friendship with Tennyson, Emerson's changing
opinions (reprints 1855.7)„ upcoming work, conversation (quoted)
concerning his purpose. Quotes a local paper's account of recent
meeting of Camden's Walt Whitman Club, at which W read "Mystic
Trumpeter." Though much praised abroad, W is neglected and rejected by
publishers, and his works cannot be procured, "though the demand is
steady and not inconsiderable."
3. [S., J. M.] "Walt Whitman. His Health and His New Book— What He
Thinks of His Own Poems— His Relations with Tennyson." New York
Daily Tribune (24 July), 7.
Reprint of 1875.2.
_____________________________ 1 .( 15-
4. Harper, Olive. "Walt Whitman in Private Life. A Visit to His
Quiet Country Home— Personal Review of His Works." New York
Daily Graphic (6 November), 53.
W is the "glorious representative of America, worthy poet of a new
and rugged yet grand theme." Leaves powerfully presents life in an
appropriately unclothed state, revealing his personal respect for the
body. He is an "indefatigable" reviser. His egotism is justifiable
because of the worth of his works. W impressed this interviewer with
his personality, warmth and greatness.
5. *[Whitman, Walt?]. "Walt Whitman at the Poe Funeral." Washington
Evening Star (18 November), 2.
Reprinted in "Edgar Poe's Significance," Complete Prose Works,
with minor changes; also Silver, American Literature (January,
1935).
Describes W's presence at the unveiling of the Poe monument in
Baltimore; reports brief interview with him on his attitude toward Poe.
6. Conway, Moncure D. "A Visit to Walt Whitman." London Academy, 8
(27 November), 554.
W is neglected by book publishers, magazines; and anthologies.
His upcoming Two Rivulets reveals a greater personal interest than any
of his previous work, with "graphic outlines of the scenery" and
"sympathetic appreciation of the spirit of old Virginia" in Memoranda.
Describes W, "a man cast in the large mould, both as to heart and
brain," in every sense "the greatest democrat that lives."
7. Anon. "Walt Whitman." Liverpool Cope's Tobacco Plant, 1
(December), 834.
Quotes Joaquin Miller's tribute to W from the New York Tribune
106
(unlocated): the colossal mind that has written great books, is "dying
desolate" though still looking "like a Titan god!"
8. [Bayne, Peter]- "Walt Whitman's Poems." London Contemporary
Review, 27 (December), 49-69.
Reprinted: 1876.3; Hindus.
The praise of W's "atrociously bad" poetry by reputable English
critics must be a hoax. His "newness" is superficial, his pompous
truisms borrowed. His high regard for the animals is "a wild
caricature of Darwin's teaching." His immoral egotism passes beyond
admiration for man's divinity to become "crude self-worship." He has
"mental vision and descriptive grasp," but generally produces mere
"auctioneer catalogues." Mere orginality, for which Dowden and
Rossetti praise him, is not art. Even his best passages merely "deal
with sensational subjects and fierce excitements," like inferior
writing, although occasionally W approaches "the perspicuity,
compression, vividness and force of good writing." Discrimination from
W's critics would have obviated the need for such a piece as this. W's
method is "a literary trick," his political philosophy is chaotic.
9. Clive, Arthur [Standish O'Grady]. "Walt Whitman, the Poet of Joy."
London Gentleman's Magazine, NS 15 (December), 704-16.
Reprinted: 1918.9; Miller (abridged); 1919.3; extracts 1883.2,
1884.3, 1893.4.
Modern Literature is melancholy, but W is "gay, and fresh, and
racy," suggesting "something enormous," sensing the supernatural world
all around him. Against modern literature's "intellectualism," W sets
the physical and the common as subjects. Despite his supposed
107
condemnation of education and culture, it is the cultivated classes
who recognize him. W is like Shakespeare in exalting passionate
friendship, but his depiction of the physical aspects of this
friendship "appears simply disgusting," for "the emotion does not
exist in us." Unmatched since Shakespeare, W's breadth of vocabulary
is exactly right for the melody of his verse. Thoroughly enjoying the
worlds W has what Wordsworth lost. "He is the noblest literary product
of modern times, and his influence is invigorating and refining beyond
expression."
108
1876
BOOKS
1. Ripley, George, and Charles A. Dana, Eds. The American
Cyclopaedia; A Popular Dictionary of General Knowledge. New York:
D. Appleton and Co., Vol. 16, p. 610.
Brief biographical sketch, noting 1855 Leaves and Two Rivulets.
2. Taylor, Bayard. The Echo Club, And Other Literary Diversions.
Boston: James R. Osgood and Co., pp. 154-55, 157-58, 168-70.
Parodies reprinted; Saunders.
As part of an ongoing literary discussion, several imaginary
characters discuss W's form, language, sympathies, occasional regular
rhythms, "modern, half-Bowery-boy, half-Emersonian apprehension of the
old Greek idea of physical life." One offers the parody "Camerados."
The next section, "The Battle of the Bards," describes the publishing
of "Exposition" in the Tribune and includes parodies on the theme,
including one of W.
PERIODICALS
3. [Bayne, Peter]. "Whitman and Swinburne; or, Democracy and
Freethought in England and America." London Secularist, (8
January), 29-30.
Reports a well-received lecture of that title by Mr. Foote,
discussing W as the poet of American Democracy, through the tracing of
his life. His mother was influential in his reverence for Woman.
Foote also explained W as spokesman "not only of the soul, but also of
109
body; not only of the good and happy, but also the bad and miserable,"
championing the oppressed and being brother to all.
5. [Whitman, Walt?]. "Walt Whitman's Actual American Position."
Camden West Jersey Press (26 January).
Reprinted in part: 1876.9; 1876.27.
The rejection of W's work in this country has wrecked his life.
Describes his life immediately before Leaves; his war work, trouble
with publishing houses and magazines. But he perseveres, with new
volumes to come. His "artist feeling for deep shadows, streaked with
just enough light to relieve them, might find no greater study than his
own life."
6. Barlow, George. "Walt Whitman; or, The Religion of Art." Human
Nature, 10 (February), 49-76.
"This startling American singer" has been deplored by some, but
regarded by others as "the very incarnation of the poetic religion of
the future." Proceeds to imagine W as having been born in London and
explaining, for the bulk of the article, the Religion of Art for which
the world is not yet ready, based on' love, wholeness, human liberty,
and the movement toward perfection. Rhapsodical proclamations in the
person of "Whitman."
7. Burroughs, John. "A Word or Two on Emerson." New York Galaxy, 21
(February), 258-59.
Reprinted: 1877.1.
8. Anon. "John Burrough's 'Winter Sunshine.'" New York Scribner* s
Monthly, 11 (March), 750.
110
This review of Burroughs notes a positive influence from W in the
way of looking at things, a negative influence regarding some
inaccurate grammar and almost coarse expressions.
9. Anon. "Walt Whitman." London Athenaeum, No. 2524 (11 March), 361.
To clarify the controversy over W's "literary and worldly
well-being" there comes a news item verifying W's poverty (1876.5.
reprinted in part) "authenticated by Whitman's own words" (quoted).
10. Anon. "New York by Walt Whitman." London Daily News (11 March),
5-6.
In America, W enjoys respect and affection for his genuineness and
"rough honesty," and for the "wild sort of sweetness in the strange
man's, character," yet "the estimate of his poetical powers," recently
favorable due to his British acclaim, has been declining. Fortunately
he is not suffering from extreme poverty as reported recently, but he
has fallen into a mood of sorrow, as reflected in the forthcoming Two
Rivultes, from which extracts are printed with brief comments.
11. Anon. "Editor's Table." New York Appleton's Journal, 15 (11
March), 343.
W's theory of poetry involves breaking down the barrier with
prose; he should cease posing as a poet and "hereafter print his prose
as prose."
12. Buchanan, Robert. "The Position of Walt Whitman." London Daily
News (13 March), 2.
Ill
Deplores W's rejection by the orthodox literary figures of
America, to whom he is far superior. Calls attention to 1876.9 and
proposes a subscription to help W in his poverty by distributing his
little-read works "to many a poor and struggling thinker." W's poetry
will prove "a living scripture to the world."
13. "An Obscure American." "Mr. Walt Whitman's Poems." London Daily
Hews (14 March),6.
Satirically views Buchanan's opinion of American literary figures
(1876.12). The English public will judge W on his own merits, despite
Buchanan's "efforts to raise a new idol on the ruins of old -
reputations."
14. Rossetti, Wm. Michael. Letter. London Daily News (14 March), 6.
Confirms poverty. Urges admirers of "this powerful and moving
poet" to support the subscription in hopes that his countrymen will be
"encouraged or shamed" into helping him.
15. Anon. Editorial. London Daily News (16 March), 5.
Extract reprinted: 1876.22.
W merits support for his "honesty, truth, and purity," but
Americans should not be criticized for ingratitude or
unappreciativeness, never having asked that the experiment be made. It
was to be expected that he claim to be what had long been called for,
America's national poet. Some of his work reveals the power and
feeling of a true poet, not a merely "accomplished maker of verses,"
but much of his potential remains unfulfilled. He brings no particular
_ .112.
revelation to the world. His rebellion against convention derives from
Rousseau and Diogenes. His idea that poetry should be free from the
bonds of rhythm is like asking a painter to abandon colors and
outlines.
16. Buchanan, Robert. "Mr. Walt Whitman." London Daily News (16
March)-, 6.
Letter responding to 1876.13. Admires Lowell and Longfellow for
their works, but not for their neglect of W. Defends the subscription,
noting the support of businessmen who appreciate the value of work as
W does.
17. Austin, Alfred. Letter. London Daily News (16 March), 6.
Buchanan has "clouded a question of benevolence with untimely
literary fervour." W deserves support, whatever the quality of his
efforts, because anyone devoting himself to being a poet is worthy of
praise. Besides, his fine service in war is worth "more than to have
composed all the poetry that was ever written."
18. Buchanan, Robert. "Walt Whitman." London Daily News (17 March),
3.
The scheme is not of "benevolence" but of "homage," a means for
W's admirers to testify to his talent. 1876.15 is "a single reader's
opinion." He is criticizing not America in general but her literary
class, specifically.
19. Anon. "Walt Whitman." London Saturday Review, 41 (18 March),
360-61.
113
Reprinted: 1876.24. Extract reprinted: 1876.27.
W's American repudiation for his "shameless obscenity" indicates
the strong "moral sense of the American public." Although currently
interest is aroused in him, his work has been around for twenty years
with no gain in popularity. "His name would be a taint to any
respectable periodical," for "apart from his scandalous eccentricities,
his writings are poor stuff, and the affectation of deep philosophy is
easily seen through." Such work does not demand the implicit approval
of support.
20. [Dana, Charles A.]. "A Shot from the Other Side." New York Sun
(19 March), 4.
Editorial in response to 1876.12. W is a humane man with a
democratic spirit, but not the "rude man" his English admirers believe,
for he began his career like many literary young men, with sentimental
tales, taking up his "rude measures" as an afterthought, though
successful. Buchanan does a service, as does W, to take literature out
of the hands of the emasculating literary coteries, for we need a
literature more virile than that produced by poets like "Tupper [i.e.,
J. G.] Holland."
21. S.[malley], G. W. "Angle-American Topics." New York Tribune
(28 March), 1.
Reports the Daily News controversy; criticizes Buchanan for his
accusations against American writers.
22. [Taylor, Bayard]. "In Re Walt Whitman." New York. Tribune (.28
March), 4.
114
Editorial in response to Buchanan (1876.18); agrees with Daily
News editorial (1876.15' quoted). Quotes 1876.13, 1876.14. Notes. Lord
Houghton's claims that W lived simply but not in discomfort. Emerson
regretted his letter's use to support something inappropriate for
women or youth. W was certainly respected in Washington, especially
for his war services, whatever people thought of his poetry.
23. [Taylor, Bayard]. One-paragraph editorial. New York Tribune (30
March), 4.
Comment on Buchanan (1876.18) and Saturday Review (1876.19).
American authors, notably Stedman, helped W to a new position after his
dismissal.
24. Anon. Reprint of 1876.19. New York Tribune (30 March), 8.
25. Stedman, E. C. "Walt Whitman's Clerkship." New York Tribune (.31
March), 5.
Corrects misconception of 1876.23, giving the credit to O'Connor.
W's fellow American writers would support him without a "transatlantic
sentimentalist" to remind them, for they "have a sincere regard for the
man," even when they do not agree with the extreme claims of W's
disciples.
26. Anon. "Walt Whitman." Brooklyn Evening Times (1 April), 6.
Corrects Buchanan's impressions of the attitude of "the literary
class," for W "is simply not mentioned," like other indecent things.
He forces such response, even from many "who half believe that he is
115
possessed of poetic insight and power." He should not fly in the face
of the inherited sensibilities of civilization. Quotes 1876.5 as more
accurate than Buchanan's account.
27. Anon. "Editor's Table." New York Appleton's Journal, 15 (1
April), 437-38.
Commentary on Buchanan's appeal, with quotation of negative
comments (1876.19).
28. Swinton, John. "Walt Whitman." New York Herald (1 April), 8.
Extracts reprinted: 1883.2; 1887.7.
W is "not in danger of starvation" but merits Buchanan's projected
assistance because of his "long and grievous illness." W's life and
works are commendable, especially his war work (described), whatever
one thinks of his poetry.
29. Anon’ . "Walt Whitman's Want — A Public." New York Herald (2
April), 8.
"Blatant, coarse and sensual as his song is," W cannot approve of
Buchanan's "drumhead" efforts. "There is a certain quality in W's
writings which is not overlooked or underestimated in this country —
namely, his bold belief in the great destiny of the United States," but
his "uncouthness" and "catalogue tediousness" remove from interest even
his least objectionable work. He outdoes Swinburne in "unfiltered
filth and naked nastiness." For the English, his "incoherent exulting
yells" may sound like the new voice of democratic aspirations, but not
for Americans.
116
30. [Taylor, Bayard]. "American vs. English Criticism." New York
Tribune (12 April), 4.
The usually restrained English appreciated the change W's
"barbaric yawp" provided, but Americans seek harmony for their
"unresolved elements," and need not bow to the English verdict. One
can acknowledge W's "rudimentary genius," yet miss "the developed
poetic intelligence," for his work is "a chaos, pierced here and there
by splendid phrases," being mixed of "the old Greek reverence for the
human body," "Emerson's democratic philosophy," and "the slang,
coarseness and aggressive insouciance of the New York Bowery boy."
31. Burroughs, John. "Walt Whitman's Poetry. An Estimate of Its
Value. Poems Reflecting Nature and Not Books— Power But Not
Elegance— Literary Consciousness Absent— The Favorable Opinion of
a New School of English and American Critics." New York Tribune
(13 April), 6.
Disagrees with Tribune (1876.22) in regarding Daily News (1876.15)
as representative. W gives something better than mere literature,
something "bracing and masculine" which speaks to a man and to the
nation. If W does not fit the current concepts of poet and artist,
perhaps new terms are necessary. His form is that of nature. Though
indeed poor and ill, he is a philosopher and accepts his condition
cheerfully.
32. [Sanborn, Frank]. "Walt Whitman. A Visit to the Good Gray Poet.
His Philosophy and Way of Life— His Home in New Jersey— His New
Volumes." Springfield Daily Republican (19 April), 4-5.
Reprinted: 1876.33.
Criticizes Bayne (1875.8) because W's portrayal of "the fleshly
and generative forces" is more ideal than Swinburne's or Martial's.
117
W has broader range then Burns but can never be a popular writer,
though popular in his instincts and topics, because he lacks poetic
form and melody. But no charge can be brought against him as a
moralist. Recalls his first acquaintance with W, at his (Sanborn's)
trial in 1860. Describes W's life in Camden. His best poems were
inspired by the war, as seen through quoted extracts; praises his
"lament for Lincoln." His mission is to celebrate comradeship and
idealize democracy.
33. [Sanborn, Frank]. "Walt Whitman. A Visit to the Good Gray Poet."
Sprinfield Republican (21 April).
Reprint of 1876.32.
34. Perry, Nora. "A Few Words About Walt Whitman." New York
Appleton's Journal, 15 (22 April), 531-33.
Explains the controversy, citing W's American and British
defenders and favorable reviews. If he is not to every critic's taste,
"his purpose is noble." Cites some opposing views.
35. O'Connor, W. D. "Walt Whitman. Is He Persecuted?" New York
Tribune (22 April), 8.
Affirms W's poverty; objects to recent negative remarks. Leaves
contains no "impure thought or indecent word." Living Age (1876.3)
chooses only to reprint a negative review. Cites W's American
admirers. Describes his first reading of Leaves, "the vast charm of
their sea-like lines and superb imagination," the "apt and agreeing
rhythms." W deserves respect during his lifetime, that he may enjoy
the reputation which the future is sure to accord him.
118
36. [Taylor, Bayard]. "Intellectual Convexity." New York Tribune
C22 April), 6.
Mocks Burroughs (1876.31) and O'Connor (1876.35) for advancing W
as a voice of nature and exalting Chaos into a literary ideal. W
wisely holds himself aloof from the "aggressive championship" of
Burroughs and O'Connor.
37. [Dana, Charles A.]. Paragraph. New York Sun (28 April), 2.
Criticizes Holland (1876.38). That W lacks the regularity of
"Tupper Holland" is no reason to say his work is not poetry, for Ossian
and the Bible have similar rhythms. But disclaims any "great
admiration" for W's work, unlike his English admirers.
38. [Holland, J. G.]. "Is it Poetry?" New York Scribner's Monthly,
12 (May), 123-25.
W is neglected because editors regard his form of expression as
illegitimate, unpoetic but "too involved and spasmodic and strained to
be respectable prose." Prints passages from Emerson and Carlyle in W-
like lines to show his similarity to them; quotes actual W extracts
which are "possibly inferior to them in quality," although W "has a
strong individuality, and is more robust than Emerson." "Locomotive"
shows W "capable of poetry" with its strong, rhythmical conclusion.
Wishes W well, ignoring his earlier grossness. But he is wrong, "a
literary eccentric," in his theories and performances, and will have
no following.
119
39. Anon. "Pauper Poets." New York Independent, 28 (4 May), 14.
Criticizes Buchanan's charges (1876.12). W "is perfectly well
understood and appreciated at his full value" in America. He assumed
his pose and indecencies when he found his ordinary essays and poems
would not bring him notoriety. He has been well rewarded for his
labors and is free to work, like other American poets.
40. S., J. F. "Walt Whitman. The Athletic Bard Paralyzed and in a
Rocking Chair. His Explanation of His Verse and His Condition."
New York World (21 May), 1.
Records visit to Camden. W's persisting cheerfulness explains
"the affectionate interest" most people take in him. Though tired of
speaking of it, W responds to query about his poetic plan. He would
have liked to stop the publication of Buchanan's letter. He pays his
own way at his brother’s." Describes his health; his new collection,
for which $5 is "not too big a price."
41. [Whitman, Walt?]. "Walt Whitman." Camden West Jersey Press (24
May) .
Describes the controversy. Contradicts the denials of the
American press that W has been mistreated by the press and public, by
quotations from adverse criticism and reference to other abuse. Yet W
has continued to live up to "his own ideal," "in deed and print."
Though sick, he is not in such a sad estate as supposed, although he
gives to the needy more than he spends on himself. "His life and book
are the most signal example on record of perseverance" and resolution.
"Captain" (reprinted) might be applied to him now.
120
42. [Curtis, G. W.J . "Editor's Easy Chair." New York Harper's New
Monthly Magazine, 53 (June), 141-42.
Contradicts Buchanan regarding the neglect of W, a literary
conspiracy, and the jealousy of American writers. Publishers are not
interested in his works because people will not buy them. America
cannot be scolded into admiration. Acknowledges W's fine character.
Appreciation may not come in a poet's lifetime, but that is not the
public's fault. Americans would respond to an appeal for help if W or
his friends made it.
43. Gosse, Edmund W. "Wait Whitman's New Book." London Academy, 9
(24 June), 602-603. Review of Two Rivulets.
This book throws much light on W's character as "brave and
self-sacrificing." He demands a different criticism, to recognize his
excellent intentions and primitive truths which are expressed, at the
best, in "a kind of inarticulate poetry," possibly due to his purpose
of portraying the normal man's daily life. Praises "Lilacs," "Myself,"
"Ox-Tamer," "Locomotive," "Redwood," "Prayer" (close to blank verse);
criticizes "Eidolons," the Centennial songs for their catalogues,
inferior to those of the human body. His prose style is "heavy and
disjointed," but transcended by the intrinsic interest of the content.
His principle of the love of comrades, carried out in the deeds
described in Memoranda, will last the longest of his themes.
44. Richardson, Charles F. "Walt Whitman." New York Independent, 28
(29 June),1.
Responds to Independent (1876.39). W's change in character is not
121
discreditable. His form is legitimate and "likely to be a boon" for
his successors. "Lilacs" and "Captain," W at his best, may please the
most exacting ear. Few other poems sustain the power of individual
expressions, hence he is of the second rank, below the New England
poets. He is gross and cannot be compared with writers of other ears
with different standards.
45. Anon. "Robert Buchanan and Walt Whitman in Court." New York
Tribune (13 July), 2.
Quotes Buchanan1s remarks during the trial of a libel charge he
filed against the Examiner. He admitted after hearing some of W's
poems read that they "were exceedingly unclean and animal," dealing with
things which "ought not to be written about at all," although the main
tone of W's writings is "healthy and pure, and not sensual."
46. Perry, Thomas Sergeant. "George Sand." Boston Atlantic Monthly,
38 (October), 447.
"At times George Sand seems to have drunk at the same spring with
Walt Whitman when he is wildest in his rapturous cries; for time, space,
and elementary truths all roll in confusion throughout these pages."
47. [McCarthy, J. H.]. "Songs Oversea." London Examiner, No. 3586
(21 October), 1191-93.
Review of Two Rivulets. Notes the reactions W has aroused. His
new work reveals a still vigorous power ("Locomotive"), evidence of his
love for the sea and Nature, "virtues and strength sufficient for
claiming laureateship of the great American nation." The "splendidly
122
dramatic and grandly descriptive" account of the assassination (quoted)
suggest that W could become "America's first historian.
123
1877
BOOKS
1. Burroughs, John. Birds and Poets with Other Papers. New York:
Hurd & Houghton. "The Flight of the Eagle," pp. 211-63; also
reprints of 1873.4; 1876.7.
Whitman's sympathy with Nature frees art by his "very abnegation
of art," with an "interior, spontaneous rhythm" based on an operatic
outpouring, achieving its own form. Americans, spoiled by sweets, need
an infusion of his "heroic stamina." His method is "to show rather
than to tell." His catalogues are full of action and historic value
for the future. He views sex with "a scientific coldness and purity"
and an "alive and sympathetic" quality as well. He reconciles the
modern sciences to Poetry, Religion and Life, placing man back at the
center of things but fully including the earth. His prose is like
Carlyle's, but "much more vascular and human." His poems are solidly
"clothed with rank materiality," yet "he never fails to ascend into
spiritual meanings."
2. Leigh, Arran. "To Walt Whitman." Poem printed in 1877.1.
Reprinted; 1916.5.
PERIODICALS
3. Benton, Joel. "John Burroughs," New York Scribner's Monthly, 13
(January), 337 340-41.
Praises Burroughs (1867.1), without sharing the enthusiasm. For
124
Burroughs, W proved a stimulating force that helped him.
4. Miller, Joaquin. "Walt Whitman." New York Galaxy, 23 (January),
29.
Printed in part: 1883.1.
Poem in five quasi-Spenserian stanzas.
5. June, Jennie. "Our New York Letter. Jennie June's Weekly
Jottings." Baltimore American and Commercial Advertiser (10
March), 2.
Personal description of W; Mr. Waters' plan to paint him.
6. June, Jennie. "Our New York Letter. Jennie June's Weekly
Jottings...A Dinner to Remember— 'Walt' Whitman on the 'Woman
Question.'" Baltimore American and Commercial Advertiser (17
March),2.
Reports a dinner for four with W present, with her genial
impressions of him, his current activities, his ideas on the roles of
men and women in civilization.
7. Anon. "John Burrough's 'Birds and Poets.'" New York Scribner's
Monthly, 14 (July), 407-408.
Burroughs derives enthusiasm but not inspiration from W. He
quotes beautiful passages and W has "written in his peculiar impassioned
prose some fine things, and in real versified poetry some of the best
war lyrics we possess; but we cannot bring ourselves to admire him as
a whole in the generous way of Mr. Burroughs." W is far from being the
scientific poet Burroughs, claims.
125
8. Marvin, Joseph B. "Walt Whitman." New Bedford Radical Review, 1
(August), 224-50.
Abridged: 1883.1.
Emerson's idea of the American bard was fulfilled by W.
Biographical information (including New York, war, composition of
Leaves). W is a universal, not merely national, poet, the first to
regard the average man as interesting to the imagination. Praises his
emphasis on more than political freedom, democratic depiction of all
aspects of life and America, treatments of sex and manly friendship,
"long-drawn cadence."
9. Clifford, W. K. "Cosmic Emotion." London Nineteenth Century, 2
(October), 420-428.
Reprinted: 1879.1.
Quotes passages from W to exemplify aspects of the cosmic emotion,
showing the recognition that our experience is only "part of something
larger."
10. [Lathrop, George?]. "The Contributors' Club.” Boston Atlantic
Monthly, 40 (December), 749-51.
Contrasts W's later work with his earlier, by which most people
judge him, although stressing its nastiness over its fine lines.
Several passages, whose sound and metrics are analyzed as contributing
to meaning, show him as "one of our very first masters of verbal melody
and harmony." Praises his treatment of human topics, modern machinery.
126
1878
1. Adams, W. Davenport. Dictionary of English Literature. London,
Paris and New York: Cassell Peter and Galpin, n. d., p. 687.
"Whitman, Walt, American poet (b. 1819), has published numerous
volumes of 'poems.'" Quotes Buchanan (1867.17).
2. Dowden, Edward. Studies in Literature. London: C. Kegan Paul
& Co. "Walt Whitman," pp. 468-523.
Reprint of 1871.4.
There are a few minor deletions and additions in footnotes
providing•,more recent quotations from W and information on his health .
3. Richardson, Charles F. A Primer Of American Literature. Boston:
Houghton, Osgood and Co., pp. 90-91.
Revised: 1884.8.
W's work is rhapsody rather than poetry, "pervaded with a love of
liberty," blemished by catalogues and affectations, but with "many
strong and fine lines." Praises "Captain" and "Lilacs."
4. Rossetti, William Michael. Lives of Famous Poets. London: E.
Moxon, Son, & Co., p. 406.
Last sentence in book, at end of essay on Longfellow: "The real
American poet is Walt Whitman — a man enormously greater than
Longfellow or any other of his poetic compatriots."
5. Wager-Fisher, Mrs. Mary E. "Poets' Homes. No. XVI. Walt Whitman.'
Boston Wide Awake, 6 tFebruary), 109-115.
_________________________________________________________________________ 127
Reprinted: 1879-3. Abridged: 1881.12.
Illustrated by three portraits. Introduction for young readers.
Records W at his nephew's funeral in 1876. Biographical sketch; his
wide range of experience, interest in lower classes, vicissitudes of
his writing career. He has made "the most thrilling and powerfully
descriptive record" of the war's events; describes his war service,
illness, publishing attempts. The quality, if not the quantity, of
W's praises implies an unparalleled popularity. Describes appearance,
personality, personal and literary habits. "It is understood that he
is leisurely engaged on a third volume to be called 'Far and Near at
'59.'" One should judge his work for oneself, for there is always more
in it than may first appear. Extracts.
6. Anon. "Swinburne's New Volume." Nation, 27 (July 18), 45-46).
The recent English preference for form over matter has led to
praise for W, "the chief characteristics of whose verse was an indecency
which should long ago have brought him under the eye of the Society for
the Suppression of Vice." He wrote "prose without knowing it." This
poetry was not moral, had no purpose.
7. [Holland, J. G.J. "Our Garnered Names." Scribner's Monthly, 16
(October), 895-96.
This discussion of the worthy stature of American literature,
occasioned by Bryant's death, concludes by predicting the eventual
forgetting of Poe, Thoreau, and Whitman. It is a mystery "how an age
that possesses a Longfellow and an appreciative ear for his melody can
128
tolerate in the slightest degree the abominable dissonances" of W.
America has. too much "morbid love of the eccentric."
8. Stevenson, Robert Louis. "The Gospel According to Whitman."
London New Quarterly Magazine, 10 (October), 461-81.
Reprinted: 1882.6; Abridged: Miller.
No one can deny the value of W's matter and spirit. He rejects
the literature of the past in favor of a contemporary democratic ideal,
seeking to portray the average American and himself as faithfully as
possible. Against the more fashionable melancholy, W counterpoises "a
certain high joy in living" and an "outdoor atmosphere" which parents
should offer as a cure "for the distressing malady of being seventeen
years old." W's wonder at life allowed him to embrace all of it. He
emphasized the equal importance of self-assertion and sympathy, a
spirit of "ultra-Christianity." His morality stresses the positive
rather than negative virtues, while not ignoring "the existence of
temporal evil." His life exemplifies his theory. His seemingly
"formless jottings" of war-time memoranda are perhaps "the best and the
most human and convincing passages" in his work. His style is "a most
surprising compound of plain grandeur, sentimental affectation, and
downright nonsense," sometimes recalling the Old Testament. A fine
critic, he must have known better. He was not the man to treat that
"most indelicate of subjects," fatherhood. He attracts attention like
"a Bull in a China Shop." His philosophy, sometimes contradictory, is
often "startlingly Christian." No one can "get evil from so healthy a
book," which is "simply comical" when falling short of nobility.
129
1879
BOOKS
1. Clifford, William Kingdon. Lectures and Essays, Vol. 2. Ed.
Leslie Stephen and Frederick Pollock. London: Macmillan and Co.
"Cosmic Emotion," pp. 269, 282-83.
Reprint of 1877.9.
2. de Salamanca, Felix. The Philosophy of Handwriting. London:
Chatto and Windus, pp. 149-50.
Analysis of W's handwriting, not pleasing, but having more vigor,
originality, and "masculine beauty" than conventional manuscript like
Bryant's or Whittier's.
3. Wager-Fisher, Mrs. Mary E. "Walt Whitman." In Poets1 Homes. Pen
and Pencil Sketches of American Poets and Their Homes, by Arthur
Gilman and others. Boston: D. Lothrop and Co., pp. 35-59.
Reprint of 1878.5.
PERIODICALS
4. James, Wm. "The Sentiment of Rationality." Mind, 4 (July), 317,
345.
Reprinted: 1897.7.
Quotes extracts from W as words that are valid for us regarding
the sufficiency of the present moment, mystical perceptions.
5. Bathgate, Herbert J. "Walt Whitman." London Papers for the Times,
2 (1 September), 155-64.
Explains W's value: his faith in man, large scale, almost painful
intensity due to his sympathy, joyous intoxication with life, almost
Christ-like teachings. His style derives from the Bible and Homer. He
occasionally "degenerates into a mere maker of catalogues," but his
lyrical poems probe his possession of delicacy, distinction, and the
"sweet strangeness which poets alone possess." He is "America's first
_____________ 130
Great Bard." Extensive quotations from W's poetry reveal his
significant themes.
6. Anon. "Two Visitors. Each Widely Known, Stopping Briefly in the
City. Col. Forney, the Journalist, and Walt Whitman, the Poet."
St. Louis Missouri Republican (13 September), 3.
Reprinted: Hubach, American Literature (May 1942), 143-44.
Describes their arrival, to take part in Kansas quarter centennial;
W's appearance and future travel plans, briefly.
7. Anon. "Walt Whitman. His Ideas About the Future of American
Literature. The Religion and the Politics of the .New Nation. Some
Original Thoughts from a Most Original Thinker." St. Louis
Post-Dispatch (17 October), 2.
Reprinted: Hubach, American Literature (May 1942), 144-47; Mabbott
and Silver, Colophon (February 1932).
Interview with W, who prophesies the greatness of the central
states and an American literature "entirely new, entirely different."
W comments favorably on a few writers, unfavorably on several other
contemporaries; describes his purpose.
8. Symonds, J. A. "Matthew Arnold's Selections from Wordsworth."
Fortnightly Review, 32 (1 November), 699-700.
Quotes W's "severe verdict" on English poetry from Vistas. W
surely knows the American people better than the refined students of
Boston do, and finds that English poetry has little to contribute to
their forward movement. But he would have perceived Wordsworth to be
an exception.
9. Burroughs, John. "Nature and the Poets." Scribner's Monthly,
19 (December), 293-94.
Reprinted: 1881.1.
No poet has studied American nature more closely than W, or sought
more carefully the right descriptive phrases. W is not merely local.
He dwells upon life, not mere nature, discovering its meaning for man.
___________________ L31_
1880
BOOKS
1. Todhunter, John. Study of Shelley. London: C. Kegan Paul & Co.,
pp. 1-3.
"This age has produced three great poets of Democracy," Shelley,
Hugo, and W. W, "the idealist of real life," sets "pulses beating with
intenser life," making us feel the golden age in the present. His
expression of the relations between the sexes is "full of the savage
sensuality of an unprogressive naturalism."
PERIODICALS
2. Walters, Frank. "Walt Whitman." London Papers for the Times,
2nd Series (1 January), 47-63.
"America has found voice" in the power and beauty of W ’s poems,
which "are one with nature." "He interprets your soul to you." His
poems "are the man himself." W sees the world as God’s poem, denies
the dualism of matter and spirit, body and soul. His poems are
sensuous but never sensual. W is pagan but also "intensely Christian"
in his sympathy. His "Religion of Humanity" points toward progress.
3. Anon. "Walt Whitman." Philadelphia Press (3 March).
Reprinted: 1880.4.
Sketches W ’s life; quotes W on his subject matter and form.
4. Anon. "How Walt Whitman Writes." New York Tribune (7 March), 3.
Reprint of 1880.3.
5. Anon. "Literary Gossip." Athenaeum, No. 2734 (20 March), 378.
Reprinted: 1908.10.
Ruskin has sent to W for five sets of Leaves and Two Rivulets;
132
Ruskin explains in a letter that those books excite such hostile
criticism because "'they are deadly true— in the sense of rifles—
against all our deadliest sins.'"
6. Fawcett, Edgar. "Americanism in Literature." Californian, 1
(April), 332-37.
W is acclaimed in England as the emancipator of American letters
because he represents untrammeled impulses of which Americans do not
need to be reminded. His lack of form and art is a pose, not coming
from the democratic spirit of the people, who prefer rhyme and meter.
He can create poetically beautiful and powerful lines; his "barbaric
yawp" does not represent the true direction of American poetry.
7. Thomson, James. "Walt Whitman, I." Cope's Tobacco Plant, 2 (May),
471-73.
Reprinted: 1910.6.
Biographical information from Burroughs (1871.1). Defense of W
against charges of smut, Emerson against charges of hasty judgment on
W in his letter (1855.7). Continued 1880.8.
8. Thomson, James. "Walt Whitman, II." Cope'-s Tobacco Plant,
2 (June), 483-85.
Reprinted: 1910.6.
Continues 1880.7. W's poems on the war are "immeasurably greater
and deeper and nobler" than anything by other Americans on the subject,
lacking in bitterness. He surpasses the Boston school, though their
prose is more scholarly. His faith in democracy does not ignore doubt
or despair. Continued 1880.12.
9. Anon. "Walt Whitman. Interview with the Author of 'Leaves of
Grass.'" London (Ontario) Free Press (5 June).
W describes writing the first Leaves; his supporters (including
133
Zola); opinions of his fellow-writers; his life. Interviewer
suggests that he is the ideal poet.
10. Maclean, Mrs. Kate Seymour. "Walt Whitman and His Poems."
Rose-Belford1s Canadian Monthly and National Review, 5 (July),
29-34.
W's "more enlightened religion" and moral code meet near-universal
antagonism because he rejects literary orthodoxy, although he includes
poetic touches when they come to his power naturally. He has "vivid
pictures," a profound reverence for nature and humanity. Extracts
show the expression fitting the subject. He achieves directness and
simplicity of expression more successfully than any book save the
Bible. One should approach him as one approaches philosophy or
religion, not superficially. "His sins of grossness and coarseness of
style" do not detract from his own healthful nature. "America has
found at last a poet of her own."
11. Thrall, Anthony. "Satin Versus Sacking." Californian, 2 (July),
35-44.
Fawcett's arguments (1880.5) are contradictory; his verse, not
W's, is artificial. W is full of fascination with life, as extracts
show. He has something to say, with "faith, earnestness, sympathy,"
and "acute powers of perception and a peculiar gift of language." He
provides welcome relief from such poetry as Fawcett's.
12. Thomson, James. "Walt Whitman, III." Cope's Tobacco Plant,
2 (August), 508-10.
Reprinted: 1910.6. Extract reprinted: 1889.4.
Continues 1880.8. Records W's war service from Burroughs (1871.1)
and O'Connor (1866.2). W's conduct and style in describing it are
exemplary. Continued 1880.13.
134
13. Thomson, James. "Walt Whitman, IV." Cope's Tobacco Plant,
2 (September), 522-24.
Reprinted: 1910.6.
Continues 1880.12. Describes and quotes extensively Memoranda, •
comments on W's "Three Young Men's Deaths" (Cope's Tobacco Plant,
April 1879). W aptly presents the horrors of war, necessary to make
readers come to shun it. Concluded 1880.16.
14. Davis, Sam. "Walt Whitman Again." Californian, 2 (October),
385-86.
Responds to Thrall (1880.11). W's thought is clothed "in cheap,
badly fitting garments." He dismisses absolutely the art a reader
expects. The passages Thrall cites are prosaic or absurd. Few readers
are willing to dig so hard to find beauties in W.
15. Stedman, Edmund Clarence. "Walt Whitman." Scribner's Magazine,
21 (November), 47-64.
Revised: 1885.2.
"As a lyric and idyllic poet," W is, "when at his best, among the
first of his time." He applies the Concord philosophy to daily life,
but with suspicion "of all save the masses." Recalls the strong
impression W's work made on him when read in Putnam's (1855.3). W's
purposes were "to assert the 'Religion of Humanity,'" "to predict a
superb illustration of this development in "These States, "' "to
portray an archetypal microcosm" in himself, and "to lay the
groundwork for a new era in literature." His reception is traced to
deny the professed neglect. .W robs sex of its appeal by treating it.
openly rather than with Nature's "half-concealment." His style, with
Greek and Hebrew affinities, is "capable of impressive rhythmical and
lyrical effects," although blank verse might have helped him avoid
_____________ -_______. _____ 1 - 3 - 5 -
some tediousness. "His diction, on its good behavior, is copious and
strong, full of surprises," using words of the people, slang, foreign
words, new senses' for common verbs and nouns. His mode seems suited
only to himself, no other poets having used it successfully. His vivid
pictures are due to his knowledge of America and her people. His
poetry proclaims a glorious future but his prose portrays a corrupt
nation. Though the people prefer Whittier, W yet may reach them. His
self-assertion is bracing, except when it "seems to be 'posing.'" But
the "extravagance of genius" is allowed to great poets, such as W.
16. Thomson, James. "Walt Whitman, V." Cope's Tobacco Plant,
2 (December), 558-59.
Reprinted: 1910.6.
Concludes 1880.13. Quotes Memoranda and 1855 Preface, with
comments.
136
1881
BOOKS
1. Burroughs, John. Pepacton. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Co.
"Nature and the Poets," pp. 122-24.
Reprint of 1879.9.
2. Conway, Moncure D. Thomas Carlyle. New York: Harper and
Brothers, p. 100.
Despite Conway's attempts "to make him admit the merit of certain
passages" in W, Carlyle said, "I cannot like him. It all seems to
be, 'I'm a big man because I live in such a big country.’ But I have
heard of great men living in very small corners of the earth."
3. Cooke, George Willis. Ralph Waldo Emerson: His Life, Writings,
and Philosophy. Boston: James R. Osgood and Co., pp. 233-34.
Revised: 1900.3.
Explains Emerson's opinions of W's poetry, favoring W's earlier
work over his less coarse recent poems of spiritual power.
PERIODICALS
4. *Chainey, George. "Lessons for To-day from Walt Whitman.” The
Infidel Pulpit, 1, No. 12, pp. 91-97.
Reported in CHAL.
5. Kennedy, William Sloane. "A Study of Walt Whitman."
Californian, 3 (February), 149-58.
Beyond "his magnificent originality as an interpreter of nature"
and "the unparalleled grandeur of his poems of immortality and death,"
W is "the first great poet of democracy," spokesman for the masses in
the "grossness" and "swagger" of his early writings and his "almost
wholly Saxon" language. Explanations of his democracy, "novel" idea of
friendship, individual personality (though his egotism is offensive).
137
W has "titanic strength," amplitude, but also a dangerous optimism and
lack of discrimination. W insists on the vital necessity of religion.
6. [Baxter, Sylvester] "Walt Whitman. His Second Visit to the New
England Metropolis. A Cordial Welcome in Literary Circles.
Sketch of His Life and Poetic Characteristics." Boston Herald
(18 April), Supplement, 1.
W has become more affectionately regarded. He put a great deal of
his individuality into his work, forming a new "poesy inspired by the
nineteenth century, by the broad American continent." Stedman
(1880.15) failed "to grasp the true significance of his subject."
7. Anon. "Walt Whitman." New York Tribune (21 April), 4.
W writes of contemporary matters "in an antique spirit and an
almost archaic phraseology." His independence from literary
conventions is his appeal; he is himself, unspoiled by his literary
coteries. At first shocking, his work is "in demand and read still."
8. Anon. "News and Notes." Literary World, 12 (23 April), 153.
An eyewitness account of W's Lincoln lecture on April 15;
description of his other Boston activities, a planned future visit.
9. Anon. "Table Talk." Literary World, 12 (23 April), 152.
Letter criticizes Literary World for its high ranking of W.
10. Bunner, H. C. "Bric-a-Brac. Home, Sweet Home, with Variations:
VI. As Walt Whitman might have written all-around it."
Scribner ';s Monthly/ 22 (May) , 159-60.
Reprinted: 1884.4; 1904.11; Saunders.
Parody.
138
11. Burroughs, John. "Nature in Literature." New York Critic, 1
(16 July), 185.
Reprinted: 1882.2.
Unlike earlier writers, W regards Nature "mainly in the light of
science," viewing modern conditions and "the highest regions."
12. Wager-Fisher, Mrs. Mary E. "Walt Whitman." Huntjington Long
Islander (5 August), 2.
Abridged from 1878.5.
13. B. "To Walt WhitWAW." Liberty, 1 (17 September), 4.
Sonnet rejoicing in W's acceptance by the literary elite.
14. [Holland, J. G.] "Literary Eccentricity." Scribner's Monthly,
22 (October), 945-46.
W's new form has been too eagerly accepted by the English as
characterizing the new American literature, but it is not imitated.
15. Stedman, Edmund C. "Poetry in America. Second Article."
Scribner*s Monthly, 22 (October), 823, 826, 827.
W's charm lies in his "fresh, absolute handling of outdoor
nature," not his "method and democratic vistas." Stedman defends his
Scribner's article (1880.15), and praises W's artistry, democracy.
16. Jarves, James Jackson. "Art and Poesy in Italy — Walt Whitman
Held Up as a Model to Italian Poets." New York Times (24
October), 2.
Approvingly quotes Enrico Nencioni in the Fanfulla regarding W as
an antidote to the "piddling realism and hot-house sensationalism" of
modern Italian and European literature.
17. Anon. "Whitmani's 'Leaves of Grass.'" New York Critic, 1 (5
November), 302-303.
Reprinted: 1882.2; Hindus.
________ 139_
Review of 1881 edition. The changes are generally good. Only lovers
of poetry have penetrated and rejoiced in W's verse. His doctrines
have been misconstrued; he is enthusiastic about the wonders of the
body, not lewd. He has lack of taste, monotonous expression, but
great power. "Drum-Taps" and Memoranda are praised. He represents
America.
18. Anon. ’ ’ New Publications. Walt Whitman." New York Tribune
(.19 November) , 6.
Review of 1881 edition. W is celebrated more than he is read.
His genius and role as poet are praised, but the indecent elements
still present are deplored, representing art*s "last degradation."
19. Anon. "Walt Whitman's Poems." Literary World, 12 (19 November),
411-12.
Review of 1881 edition. W cannot be regarded as "our
representative American poet" because of his war on poetic tradition
and our ideas of decency and purity. His form is "a chaos of
monotonies," not diverse like the elements. His powers of observation
are acute but he fails to grasp "the inner spiritual lessons."
"American he is, of the ruder and more barbaric type." His religion
"is curiously Asiatic." He has gleams of great things ("Captain,"
"Singer in Prison"), but cannot be considered a real poet.
20. M., E. P. "Walt Whitman and the Poetry of the Future." New
York Sun and New York Herald (19 November).
Review of 1881 edition, which allows W's work to be judged as a
whole. W has not compromised by cancelling any objectionable line.
His work is justifiably full of "an egotism that reaches the verge of
_______________ 140
sublimity." His versification is his most superficial distinction,
actually a "reversion to a primitive mode of poetic expression,"
comparable to quoted passages from Psalms and Ossian, never becoming
monotonous. W reacts against romanticism, showing the modern man in
relation to nature and modern society. His portrait of himself falls
short in being part ideal and part real, but no more so than any other
writer's attempts. His democratic philosophy is not clearly thought
out. He presents like no other poet the wide range of human activity.
21. Anon. "'Leaves of G r a s s . Liberty, 1 (26 November), 3.
Review of 1881 edition, which has not lost W's "original native
simplicity, freshness, and vigor," "outspoken independence," and
"naked truthfulness and purity." W is the poet of innovation and
evolution, quivering with life. "Ontario" (quoted) reveals W's
mission, at one with Liberty's.
22. Anon. "A 'Symposium' on 'Leaves of Grass.'" Literary World,
12 (3 December), 446.
Repr inted: 1883.2.
Comments from three readers support the Literary World's stand
against Leaves, "the dirtiest unsuppressed book ever published in
this country."
23. Shoemaker, W. L. "To Walt Whitman." Literary World, 12 (3
December), 446.
Sonnet.
24. [Higginson, T. W.?] "Recent Poetry." Nationy- 33 (15 December),
476-77.
Review of 1881 edition, which makes even poor poetry in other
141
volumes here reviewed look good. W's "somewhat nauseating quality
remains in full force." His love lacks personal emotion, being
animalistic. "Drum-Taps" rings hollow. His one fine poem, "Captain,"
overthrows his whole poetic theory and suggests that W may yet
recognize the value of form. Only an occasional phrase, not a
complete work, will be remembered. He should be compared to Ossian,
once praised, now ignored.
25. Anon. "Walt Whitman's 'Leaves of Grass' Redivivus." New'York
Independent, 33 (29 December), 10.
Revised: 1892.4].
"Much of this book is a loud and long-winded replication of
Emerson's egoistic pantheism." We may fall for a while into W's
movement, then he falls into prose. "The diction is repulsive,"
retained although he became more decent with Drum-Taps. He will
appeal only to a few critics, not to "the general voice of the sane."
142
1882
BOOKS
1. Conway, Moncure Daniel. Emerson at Home and Abroad. Boston:
James R. Osgood and Co., pp. 360-61.
Emerson admired W's "Oriental largeness and optimism." Emerson
said one should not be too squeamish when reading W. Apocryphal
anecdote of Emerson as affected by W, as told by the Bohemians.
2. Essays from "The Critic." Boston: James R. Osgood and Co.
Includes reprints of 1881.11 and 1881.17 and two essays by W.
3. Holland, J. G. Every-Day Topics: A Book of Briefs, 2nd Series.
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. "Is it Poetry?", pp. 126-34.
Reprint of 1876.38.
4. Nichol, John. American Literature, An Historical Sketch 1620-1880.
Edinburgh: Adam and Charles Black, pp. 207-14.
Reprinted in part: Hindus.
W, though a writer of great force, "is ruined as an artist by his
contempt for art," notwithstanding his revisions. Lacking humor, he
has perpetrated absurdities, but his perception of natural beauty
exhibits some genius. His positive moral values are his democratic
philanthropy, confidence in a new world, and "intense pathetic
sympathy." "Lilacs," "Captain," and "Reconciliation" represent his
highest mood.
5. Shepard, William [William Shepard Walsh], ed. Pen Pictures of
Modern Authors. New York: G. P. Putnam's. ..-"Walt Whitman,"
pp. 161-77.
Reprints of Danbury News (unlocated) and 1866.18.
______________________ 143
"Jay Charlton" in "Bohemians in America" (from Danbury News)
recalls W, before the war/ reading aloud his poems, which were
failures. W "would have served the world better had he stuck to the
printer's case and left poetry alone." Describes W's quarrel with
George Arnold over secession.
6. Stevenson, Robert Louis. Familiar Studies of Men and Books.
London: Chatto and Windus. "Walt Whitman," pp. 91-128; Preface,
pp. xvii-xix.
Reprint of 1878.8. Reprinted: 1900.12. Abridged: Miller.
Preface explains his need to qualify his admiration for W in order
"to explain him credibly to Mrs. Grundy," although he would have liked
to speak more strongly in W's favor.
PERIODICALS
7. [Alden, Henry Mills] "Editor's Literary Record." Harper's New
Monthly Magazine, 64 (January), 313.
Acknowledges new volumes of poetry, including Leaves, "a congeries
of bizarre rhapsodies, that are neither sane verse nor intelligible
prose."
8. Anon. Review of Leaves■ Atlantic Monthly, 49 (January), 124-26.
W's offensive passages are no more characteristic than "the fresh,
strong, healthy presentation of common things in a way that
revivifies them, the genuine aspiration, the fine sympathy with man
and nature, the buoyant belief in immortality," Debate over his form
is no longer necessary. The imagination informing the whole of one of
his poems transcends the weakness of any parts, such as vocabulary,
although many of his epithets are vivid and apt. "Pioneers," "Lilacs,"
_______ 144
’ ’ Cradle," "Man-of-War Bird," and "Locomotive" are praised, as is his
aim "to increase virility in manners, thought, and writing." But he
can have no wide influence because his method breaks natural laws and
degrades the body by depriving it of its spiritual attributes.
9. [Browne, Francis F.] "Briefs on New Books." Chicago Dial, 2
(January), 218-19.
.Reprinted: Hindus.
Review of 1881 Leaves. To accept W's poetic revolution would mean
dropping all distinctions between poetry and prose. W ironically may
be better remembered for his fine regular poems "Captain" and
"Ethiopia," and such near-metrical ones as "Lilacs," and occasional
lines and passages. His freedom and virility are primitive, his
democracy sentimental. His grossness, though not extensive in this
volume, is due to his general lack of taste, selectivity, and "the
sense of poetic fitness."
10. Anon. "New Publications." Detroit Free Press (7 January), 3.
Review of 1881 Leaves. W's genuineness and self-confidence are
undoubted, but this is scarcely poetry, although as prose it would be
"grandiloquent, sonorous, rhetorical," sometimes imaginative, almost
always "egotistical."
11. Anon. "Wilde and Whitman." Philadelphia Press (19 January), 8.
Interview with W on his favorable impressions of Wilde who
visited him yesterday. W admires the aesthetes' break from
convention. Wilde admired W since childhood.
12. M., G. E. "Whitman, Poet and Seer — A Review of His Literary
Scheme, Work, and Method." New York Times (22 January), 4.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________: _________________________________________________________________________________145-
Review of 1881 Leaves, which shows in W's work "a harmony and an
intellectual completeness" hitherto absent. W stands for democracy,
"the spiritual and material evolution of man," teaching that the
purpose, not merely the act, may be immoral. W's intentions are
better than his work, for he equates "the ability to discriminate"
with "mere technical dexterity." Though too primitive, his work does
remind us of America's creative spirit. "Adam" is "over-WHitmanish,"
only questionably moral. "Myself" is "a healthy expression of
vigorous humanity and imaginative egotism," its contradictions
intentional. The Songs present W "at his best, free of verbiage and
pretension." "Drum-Taps" shows a strong spirit of manhood. These
poems are significant as a whole rather than individually, for W fails
in the poet's chief work, use of language. His value lies in his
modernness and individuality.
13. Anon. Commentary on Leaves. New York Evangelist (26 January), 2.
W owes his short-lived fame to "the sedulous puffings of a few
admirers" and the "ridicule of judicious critics." The Examiner1s
review (unlocated) is quoted,- complaining of "the coarse filthiness of
the book," which calls out for the Society for the Suppression of
Vice. His baseness, not coming from "a depraved and bestial nature,"
as his friends claim, is all the more deplorable.
14. Cook, Clarence. "Wilde and Whitman." New York Tribune (29
January), 4.
Extract reprinted from 1882.16.
15. Anon. "Leaves of Grass.". Catholic World, 34 (February), 719-20.
"Enfans d'Adam" would be more truly titled "Enfans de la Bete,"
_______ 146
since W acts "free from all conscious restraint/ young and lusty." W
is "a more recent and more genuine outcome of transcendentalism," "more
a creature of his instincts," than Emerson, whose Calvinistic heritage
W lacks. But man should act in accord with rational laws, not with
opinions like W's, so degrading to man.
16. Cook, Clarence. "Some Recent Poetry." International Review,
12 (February), 222-24.
Review of 1881 edition. Wilde's latest volume (also reviewed
here) reveals W's influence in his titles but lacks W's "call to sing."
W merely enlarges Emerson's earlier ideas, but in an original way. His
work is not impure but lacks taste and humor. The 1855 Leaves had "a
rudimentary good taste," a unity and expression that the new edition
lacks, and will remain a real contribution to American thought.
"Captain," "Banner," and "Cradle" are unforgettable. W is not really a
true American, but he and Emerson are America’ "s only poets so far.
17. H[igginson], T. W. "Unmanly Manhood." Woman1s Journal, 13
(4 February), 1.
Though "called 'manly' poetry," the work of Wilde and w is
immoral. "Drum-Taps" seems hollow since W, though fit and available,
failed to join the army.
18. Anon. Editorial. New York Times (13 February), 4.
Brief biographical sketch, since W "has never had a biographer in
the real sense of the term."
19. Anon. "Among Books." Glasgow Mace, 3 (21 March), 2-3.
At last the Modern Poet appears in W, "the first authentic message
147
from the New World to the Old." "At once the most egotistic and most
universal of bards," W includes and accepts all subjects and
religions, evil as well as good. He makes readers think for
themselves. (Errors in this essay regarding W's current age and the
recency of his stroke may indicate a composition date around 1876.)
20. *Chainey, George. This Word [sic], 3 (1 April).
Reported in Asselineau, p. 346, n.86.
21. *Bucke, Richard Maurice. "Walt Whitman." Family Circle (May).
Reported in CHAL.
22. Anon. "'Leaves of Grass.' An Interview with the Author at
Camden, N. J. The Correspondence With His Boston Publishers. The
Effort of Attorney-General Marston to Suppress the Book." Boston
Daily Globe (22 May), 1.
Reports W's exchange with Osgood regarding expurgation.
23. Anon. "A Blur at a Poet." New York Times (22 May), 1.
Reprinted: 1882.24.
Announces Marston's action; traces troubled history of Leaves.
24. Anon. "A Blur at a Poet." Philadelphia Press (22 May), 1.
Reprint of 1882.23.
25. Anon. Editorial. Philadelphia Press (22 May), 4.
Deplores Marston's action. W's work should be accepted as
literature; his possibly offensive lines lack the "subtle impurity" of
other works. This action will not hurt W, whose fruitful career may
look forward to greater glories.
26. Bucke, R. M. "'Leaves of Grass' Suppressed. An Indignant
Protest Against the Act and an Earnest Plea for the Book."
Springfield Daily Republican (23 May), 2.
148
W's book is "the most honest, pure, religious and moral of this or
of almost any other age," advocating nothing immoral but seeing all
elements in the physical world, including sex, as "the work of a wise
and good God," teachings which are sacred like Christ's own.
27.. Anon. "Dirt in Ink." Boston Daily Advertiser (24 May), 4.
Editorial supporting Marston's action and limitation of a
completely free press. No mention of W or Leaves.
28. Anon. "Men and Things." Boston Herald (24 May), 4.
Quotation from New York Sun (unlocated): W pursues his theory of
realism in literature to extremes, but he is still a man of genius,
with some "magnificent, peerless" pieces.
29. O'Connor, William D. "Suppressing Walt Whitman. Raising a New
'Barbaric Yawp . . .’" New York Tribune (.25 May), 3.
Deplores America's first suppression of "an honest book, the work
of a man of great and admitted genius." Describes the passages
pronounced obscene, emphasizing their humanity and literary precedents.
Emerson in 1855.7 (reprinted) showed a "cool, deliberate judgment"
which he never retracted, "invented anecdotes" notwithstanding.
Important admirers of this sanest, most splendid and enduring literary
product of today's "Celto-Saxon race" are listed.
30. Anon. "Literary Notes." Boston Commonwealth (27 May), 2.
Traces the new edition from its planning to Osgood's decision not
to publish it.
31. [Tucker, Benjamin R.?] "Obscenity and the State." Liberty,
1 (27 May), 2.
149
Ironic editorial rejoicing that the government guards the private
moral natures from the "hell-born nature" of W (who has been admired by
the "most competent critics living"). Perversion of physical passion
is more dangerous than perversion of moral passion by the government.
32. Anon. "'Leaves of Grass.'" Boston Daily Globe (28 May), 4.
Mocks Marston and Comstock for taking up "the task of
emasculating the literature of today." Admits shame that Massachusetts
is so puritanical as to suppress poems "that have met with the
approval of the clearest, purest intellects of the nineteenth century."
33. Anon. Editorial. Boston Sunday Herald (28 May), 6.
The regrettable suppression reveals "prurient prudery."
34. Chadwick, John. "Emerson and Whitman. The Rev. John W.
Chadwick Replies to Mr. W. D. O'Connor." New York Tribune
(28 May), 7.
Admires W and most of O'Connor's defense (1882.29), but finds
some of W "simply nasty and disgusting," though purely intended.
Quotes W's narration of the talk with Emerson to show that Emerson did
disapprove of certain elements in W's poetry.
35. Anon. Editorial. New York Times (2 June), 4.
Marston's action is generally considered "foolish and
pernicious." Modern readers can censor literature such as "Adam" fpr
themselves. Though impure, W deserves free expression.
36. Anon. Interview with Oscar Wilde. Boston Herald ■■(3 June),
Supplement, 5.
Wilde defends W, citing the 1855 Preface as evidence of W's noble
150
attitude to life and poetry. He must be read as a whole, with no lines
taken^out of context. In fifty years he will be considered one of
America's greatest writers. Wilde agrees with W in seeing much grace
in American machinery.
37. Anon. "The Suppression of Walt Whitman." Literary World, 13
(3 June), 180.
"Public sentiment will sustain the authorities," because Leaves
demands moral as well as literary judgment. No author has the right to
publish such "downright indecencies” for anyone to read.
38. G[ere], T[homas] A. "Walt Whitman. Some Recollections of the
'Good, Gray Poet' from One of the Old Sentimental 'Roughs.'" New
York World, 22 (4 June), 9.
Reprinted in part: 1883.2.
Recalls W riding on the East River steamboat on which this writer
worked. W taught the workers about politics and the arts while
learning from them about the boat and the river. Contrary to charges of
eccentricity, W disliked show or sham in dress. He never uttered an
"impious thought" or "unchaste sentence."
39. *Chainey, George. "Keep off the Grass." This World, 3 (17 June),
1-8.
Reported in CHAL.
40. O'Connor, William D. "Emerson and Whitman. Mr. O'Connor Replies
to the Rev. Mr. Chadwick." New York Tribune (18 June), 4.
Chadwick's letter (1882.34) is insulting. Emerson remains W's
friend, basing his request not on moral but on literary considerations.
41. Sigma [R. H. Stoddard?]. "Judging the Case on Its Merits. The
Mistake of Trying to Reform Society by Abolishing Clothes —
Emerson's Qualifications of His Approval of Whitman." New York
Tribune (18 June), 4.
151
Response to 1882.29. W's work can hardly celebrate "chaste love,"
since it lacks the context of marriage. Erotic themes in other writers
do not demand such "glorification of the animal man." W can hardly be
called a poet, despite "many fresh, noble and elevated sentiments" amid
much that is trivial and repulsive. The suppression was a mistake, but
not unique.
42. *Chainey, George. "A New Joshua." This World (1 July), 2-4.
Reported in Saunders Supplement.
43. Deuceace. "Eastern Notables. Walt Whitman, Rhapsodist and Loafer.
A Bard of an Iconoclastic Kind — Some Specimens of His
Originality Run Mand — His Eminent Admirers — How He Loafs and
Invites His Soul." St. Louis Globe-Democrat (2 July), 18.
Despite his admirers, W will not be popular, because of his
difficulties. His poems are not obscene but deliberately natural with
"a Biblical plainness." His poetry has touches of "deep humanity,
evidences of aspiration, but hardly any picturesqueness, or passion, or
beauty, or music." His life reveals personal magnetism.
44. Anon. Editorial. New York Times (13 July), 4.
Notes recent "brief and acidulous reference" to W in the Pall Mall
Gazette (unlocated) regarding W's article on Poe in the Critic. It
correctly labels one of W's phrases "a barbarous jargon which vainly
seeks to make originality out of commonplace."
45. Anon. "Walt Whitman's Work." Philadelphia Press (15 July), 1.
Quotes Rev. James Morrow, who supports W against bigotry and
prudery, for Leaves is "neither lewd nor obscene," but should be read
in the spirit in which it was written.
152
46. Anon. Editorial. Philadelphia Press.(22 July), 4.
W's first edition has sold out; thus good comes for W out of
this high official's mistake.
47. Tucker, Benjamin R. Letter to Stevens and Marston in
advertisement for Leaves. Liberty, 1 (22 July), 4.
Offers Leaves on sale to anyone; challenges the District Attorney
and Attorney-General to find a jury "sufficiently bigoted" to believe
with them that such selling is an unlawful act. This advertisement
appeared in subsequent issues as well.
48. Anon. "'Leaves of Grass.'" Foote's Health Monthly (August), 12.
Questions American freedom, which can allow suppression of a work
like Leaves by the Vice Society.
49. Anon. "Vandals Still Treading on 'Leaves of Grass.'" Foote1s
Health Monthly (August), 11-12.
Cites the approval the Rev. Mr. Morrow has made of Leaves, although
he sustains the double standard in admitting that he would ejqpurgate
passages!before he could allow his daughter to read it. Reading W, as
so many will do now, will help stimulate discussion on whether art
dealing with the body's varied functions should be considered obscene.
50. "Con Amore." "Leaves of Grass." Philadelphia Press (4 August), 5.
Letter offering an impressionistic appreciation of W's work.
51. Anon. "Whitman's 'Leaves of Grass.' The Book Sold Freely in This
City." New York Tribune (6 August), 8.
Reprinted: 1882.52.
Explores bookstores to determine how Leaves is selling: a
salesman affirms that the proceedings have helped it. Interviews
153
Comstock who comments on the Postmaster General's order against Leaves
and announces his intention of suppressing the book in New York.
52. Anon. "Whitman's 'Leaves of Grass.'" Philadelphia Press : X7
August), 3.
Reprint of 1882.51.
53. Anon. "Walt Whitman's Complete Volume. The Condemnation of the
Unedited Book." Philadelphia American, 10 (12 August), 282-83.
Review of 1881 Leaves. Soijne of the pieces present "only the
animalism of the male";! some are unpoetic physiology. W should have
expurgated, because much of the book is valuable for its simplicity,
individuality, courage, naturalness, and truthfulness.
54. Gordon, T. Francis. "Walt Whitman's Complete Volume. The Realism
of Walt Whitman." Philadelphia American, 10 (12 August), 282.
W's emphasis on the physical, falsely proclaimed as new, strips
passion of "all imaginative charm" and higher emotion. Occasional
bursts of something like poetry call for submission to the laws of
poetic art. His egotism and self-assertion are favored in Europe as
typical of the New World. His "insistent realism" is generally
condemned from an artistic rather than an ethical viewpoint.
55. Anon. Paragraph. New York Tribune (15 August), 4.
J. A. Galbraith, Fellow of Trinity College, Dublin, has removed
Leaves from the library shelves out of disgust; he supports Marston.
56. [Tucker, Benjamin R.?]. "On Picket Duty." Liberty/ 1 (19
August), 1.
Notes cowardice and stupidity of Marston and Stevens in refusing
to respond to his challenge (1882.47).
154
57. O'Connor, William D. "Mr. Comstock as Cato the Censor." New York
Tribune (27 August), 5.
Explains the post office difficulties. The virtuous character of
Leaves is shown by the support of Morrow, W. J. Fox, Ruskin, Thoreau,
Freiligrath, and Emerson. Dares Comstock to try to stop its
circulation.
58. Anon. "Late Publications." Boston Commonwealth (1 September), 1.
Review of Leaves. Much of W's work seems "the baldest of prose,"
yet there are many passages which bear much re-reading. The '"fleshly'
pieces" are merely "beatific adorations of the great gift of maternity"
but might be eliminated because society is not ready for them.
59. Anon. "Leaves of Grass. By Your Honor's Permission?" New York
Man (1 September), 6-7.
Protests the suppression, particularly the trouble Chainey has had
with his publication This World, which printed "Common Prostitute."
60. Molloy, Fitzgerald. "Leaders of Modern Thought." Modern Thought,
4 (1 September), 319-26.
Extract reprinted: 1884.3; Hindus.
W is "America's representative poet," a "man of the people."
Various criticism is cited; poems are quoted extensively. W's
character is defended. W is "a recognised Leader of Modern Thought."
61. Anon. "New Books." Philadelphia Press (11 September), 7.
Favorable one-paragraph review of 1881 Leaves. An expurgated
edition should be brought out for people (including youth) who should
not be deprived of W's other ideas, even though the offending passages
are integral to W's purpose. This book is worth anyone's reading.
155
62. G. , A. E. "Walt 'Whitman's 'Fleshly Pieces. '" Liberty, 1 (16
September) » 1..
Reprinted: 1882.64.
Responds to 1882.55. W's works should not be expurgated to keep
the sexual pieces from people, thus perpetuating their ignorance.
63. Anon. "Correspondence. Whitman, Zola, Etc." Boston
Commonwealth (23 September), 1.
W's book is "harmless" for dirtiness depends upon the buyer.
64. G., A. E. "Walt Whitman's 'Fleshly' Pieces." Boston
Commonwe a1th (23 September), 1.
Reprint of 1882.62.
65. Anon. "Arts and Letters." Springfield Daily Republican (24
September), 4.
Deplores the vulgar advertising of Leaves in the Philadelphia
Press as inappropriate for such a noble work, which looks ahead into
eternity rather than back into the past. The trivial person may
misunderstand W's use of the first person, not realizing that it
represents the essential man.
66. Frothingham, 0. B. "The Morally Objectionable in Literature."
North American Review, 135 (October), 323-38, passim.
The "disgusting things" in W's poetry are not corrupting but are
part of his high aim, which involves "moral enthusiasm," "aspiration of
human brotherhood," and "faith in progress." W regards the soul as
sovereign over sense. His coarse elements, although the theory behind
their inclusion is not to be endorsed, have been unduly emphasized,
giving Leaves an undeservedly bad name.
67. Anon. "New Publications." New York Tribune (14 October), 6.
156
One-paragraph review of Specimen. W' s prose may come nearer his
intrinsic quality than the "wilder and less genuine strains" of his
poetry. This prose has "freshness and individuality" but little new to
say.
68. Anon. "Whitman's Music and the Lute." Liberty, 2 (28 October), 4.
Reprints "Lines to Walt Whitman," poem by Sam Ward in New York
World (unlocated) asking why W should "scorn the tuneful measure."
"Lines to Sam Ward" follow, mocking mere rhyme and measure.
69. Anon. "Letters in America." Scottish Review, 1 (November), 39-40.
W, preaching Unity and universal sympathy, is too large for the
world's measures. JHis form is "highly effective." His catalogues
merely impart the names of many things rather than their common
significance, but W adopted such methods for his own reasons, and
because of his nobility we shall accept them.
70. Cone, Helen Gray. "Narcissus in Camden." Century Magazine, 25
(November), 157-59.
Reprinted: Saunders.
Parody of the verse of W and Wilde, depicting their exchange upon
Wilde's visit to W in January.
71. Anon. "All About Walt Whitman." Literary World, 13 (4 November),
372-73.
Review of Specimen. W's prose is better than his poetry because
it is clean, sane, intelligible. W's life is traced through
description of the contents. The Civil War reminiscences reveal
familiar incidents "in unconventional terms." A few passages are here
printed in verse lines to demonstrate the interchangeability of W's
__________________ 157
prose and poetry. His prose reveals his pleasanter side.
72. Dowden, Edward. "Specimen Days and Collect. ' ' " Academy, 22 (18
November), 357-59.
These notes are "sweet and sane and nourishing," with the feel of
fresh air, even though*from an invalid. W provides fine criticism,
with "keen perception of the limitations of Emerson's genius." Some
early pieces have been printed now "to avoid the annoyance of a
surreptitious issue which had been announced." Wis many English
admirers are named, in hopes that W will visit them all in England.
73. Macaulay, G. C. "Walt Whitman." Nineteenth Century, 12
(December), 903-18.
Reprinted: 1883.7. Extract reprinted: 1884.3; 1893.4; Hindus.
Review of 1881 Leaves, noting changes. W sells well, despite his
poor taste, slang, neglect of syntax, disregard of meter, incoherence,
egotism. W's unmatched power of passionate expression, depth of grief,
and sympathy with nature are praised. His religion is pantheism; his
"poetical optimism continually leads him to assert immortality." "His
own claim to be the poet of America is based on other than pure lit-'-, r
literary grounds."
74. Anon. "New Publications: Walt Whitman's Prose." New York Times
(18 December), 2.
Review of Specimen. W's prose manner is "a kind of cultivated
affectation,” best when "most free from the writer's word-torturings."
His works on nature reveal mastery in picturesque word-painting. W
sees the world in a way new to literature. His comments on American
poetry show that he does not reject it, although he might have cci.
commented on such "eminent American verse-writers" as Lowell, Stedman,
158
Aldrich, and Stoddard. W's theory of utter frankness in literature is
interesting, but would abolish "mystery in human relations." Because
of his belief in science, progress, and America, Specimen is "an
important contributin to our literature."
159
1883
BOOKS
1. Bates, William. The Maclise Portrait-Gallery of 1 1 Illustrious
Literary Characters" with Memoirs. London: Chatto and Windus,
p. 99n.
Among the impostures bringing disgrace upon the sacred name of
poetry is "the 'Walt Whitman* hoaxperpetrated upon the gullible
public by Rossetti and his friends, who dug up "an American Vpoet' who
had never written a word of poetry in his life." What he wrote was
"barbaric, coarse, conceited, and irreverent, or generally
meaningless," but was declared "the noblest Transatlantic 'tone' yet
heard." His vogue continues. His book is worth having as a literary
curiosity.
2. Bucke, Richard Maurice. Walt Whitman. Philadelphia: David McKay,
236 pp. Illustrated. No index.
Reprinted: 1884.3.
Part One, I. "Biographical Sketch": Chronology of W's life, based
on his notes. The leading fact in his life and his book is "moral
elevation." Traces his family background, natural enviornment,
education from people and worldly experience.
II. "The Poet in 1880.— Personnel, Etc.": Quotes various accounts,
published and unpublished, of personal acquaintance with W from
different periods. Helen Price contributes a seven-page character
study. W's heroism in hospital work and sickness is emphasized. His
central teaching is the greatness of the commonplace.
________________ 1££L
III. "His Conversation": Uses W's own words to help explain his
various philosophic and poetic ideas.
"Appendix to Part I": Reprints 1866.2, with long introduction by
O'Connor defending this defense and W himself against specific
reviewers' criticisms, praising W's ideals and poetry. Leaves is "the
poem of the embodied human soul." Reprints 1866.7 and 1866.9.
Part Two, I. "History of Leaves of Grass": Discusses its
reception, the more successful 1860 edition, various problems.
II. "Analysis of Poems, Etc.": In treating the intellectual side
of Democracy, the prose complements the poetry. Leaves is "the image
of his real work, which was his life itself." Explication of "Myself"
as "perhaps the most important poem that has so far been written at any
time, in any language." The "Calamus", emotion is defended against
1875.9 (extract reprinted). Other major poems are explicated. W's
later work moved toward greater polish but less power.
III. "Analysis of Poems, Etc., Continued": Describes his own
response to Leaves, initial and subsequent. Leaves is universal,
different for each reader, "the bible of Democracy." W creates in
himself the history of the country from Washington through the
rejoining of the States..
"Appendix to Part II. Contemporaneous Criticisms, Etc., 1855-
1883": Compendium of critical remarks on W, some complete, some
abridged or extracted.
Walt Whitman's Autograph Revision of the Analysis of Leaves of
Grass (New York: New York University Press, 1974) reprints Part Two
(IT, III, and Appendix), with manuscript facsimiles, showing the
161
large part W played in writing and revising this book. W also
contributed the first chapter.
3. Emerson, Ralph Waldo. The Correspondence of Thomas Carlyle and
Ralph- .Waldo ..Emerson..!83441872Boston: James R. Osgood and Co.,
Vol. 2, p. 251.
Reprinted: 1883.2; 1884.5.
■i, ;
Letter of May 6, 1856, suggests Carlyle read Leaves, "a
nondescript monster which yet had terrible eyes and buffalo strength,
and was indisputably American," though it "wanted good morals." "If
you think, as you may, that it is only an auctioneer's inventory of a
warehouse, you can light your pipe with it."
4. Lanier, Sidney. The English Novel and the Principle of Its.
Development. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, pp. 44-62, 118-19.
Reprinted with changes: 1897.8. Abridged: Miller.
W errs in thinking that the poetry of the future must be
"democratic and formless." Like Wordsworth, he has professed to write
for the people, yet has failed to appeal to them. None of America's
great statesmen or poets fits W'.s description of the great democrat;
his muscular ideal is no picture of true manhood, but represents the
worst kind of aristocracy, rejecting the weak. His "dandyism" is
everywhere apparent; his "detailed description of the song he is going
to sing" is "the extreme of sophistication in writing." He is too
naive regarding the simplicity and content of the animals.
5. Meredith, George. Poems and Lyrics of the Joy of the Earth.
London: Macmillan and Co. "An Orson of the Muse," p. 173.
Sonnet to W.
162-
6. Anon. "Walt Whitman's New Book." New York Critic, 3 (.13
January) , 2-3. Portrait and manuscript facsimile,/
Review of Specimen. The word "Ensemble," which gives W's work its
chief value and grandeur, is explained. W is "a Democratic
Prometheus." He is impressed most by his country's size. He is a
poet's poet. Wanting to depict everything, he "fails magnificently."
The patriotic and nature notes here are welcome; "his fearlessly
egotistical account" of his background will help readers of Leaves.
7. Macaulay, G. C. "Walt Whitman." Eclectic Magazine, NS 37
'(February), 252-62.
Reprint of 1882.73.
8. Stedman, Edmund C. "Emerson." Century Magazine, 25 (April),
879, 882.
W follows Emerson's theory, showing "descriptive truth" and "lusty
Americanism." Emerson;s later doubts about Leaves were a matter of
artistic taste rather than of prudery or censorship.
9. Anon. "New Publications. The Apotheosis of Whitman." New York
Tribune (8 June), 6.
Review of Bucke (1883.2): "enthusiasm so profound, praise so
lavish, are hardly within the pale of reasonable criticism."
10., [Gilder, Jeannette?]. "'Walt Whitman./" New York Critic, 3
(9 June), 266-67.
Review of Bucke (1883.2). Most who read W carefully, without
bias, may be classified as his admirers. Description of W’s life and
personality, which this book presents plainly without letting such
intimacy detract from W's true dignity.
163
11. Anon. "Walt Whitman in Russia," New York Critic, 3 (.16 June) ,
278-79.
Abstract with quotations (translated) of Popoffes article on W in
Zagranichny Viestnlk, which has been suspended for the rest of the
year for publishing the essay. Popoff praises America, its energy, and
its "heroes of labor" whom W sang in his best poems (e. g., "Broad-Axe"
and "Pioneers"). Popoff notes the mission W sees for America,
perceiving W as a "microcosmos."
12. Anon.. Review of Specimen. Westminster Review, NS 64 (July),
287-91.
Traces'W^s life, as in the book. Praises his "energy, good
sense, and cheerful patience" in sickness. "The thought is often
highly poetic, and always wholesome and unconventional." But his
style is flawed by excess, redundancy, and want of definiteness. His
criticism shows great insight, but his enthusiasm for the democratic
as against the feudal is too pervasive. The length of this review is
defended by the inherent importance of this work.
13. Anon. "Walt Whitman’s Prose Works," London Spectator, 56
(12 July), 933-35.
Review of Specimen. W ’s "egotistical mouthing of sentiments
either trite or untrue" is admired so because he is a non-conformist.
Passages are quoted as "trite reflections, dressed up in a ole c -
sledge-hammer style, and constantly interrupted by trivial personal
parentheses." Reading a few is equivalent to reading all. W
appears in a pleasanter light than in his poems. Passages like the
war memoranda have, power and insight, without the vulgar personal
_________________________________ J L6 _ 4 .
element. He should have served as a soldier. His writings lack "any
real and permanent significance." "Captain" is "his one successful
lyrical poem." His use of Emerson’s letter, grammar, slang, original
vocabulary, ignorance, and "animalism" are criticized. Emerson
presents a higher form of W's democratic faith.
14. Anon. Review of Bucke (1883.2). Nation, 37 (26 July), 84.
This book's author has little culture or critical ability. The
first stage of W's career was not promising, the next revealed nothing
original or distinctively American except for the "singular shape" of
Leaves. W mistook "uncontrolled feeling for soaring thought," caring
only for impressions and ignoring the progress of modem thought. He
lacks the "transfiguring devotion to one woman." But the war improved
him with patriotism, "a broader, more sympathetic humanity," and a
higher imagination. Yet he retains the grosser parts of Leaves,
carrying individualism to the point of "extremest selfishness."
15. Lanier, Mary Day. "Mr. Sidney Lanier's Judgment of Walt Whitman."
Nation, 37 (30 August), 183.
Reprinted in part: 189 7.8.
Letter presenting a paragraph omitted from 1883.4 by Dr. William
Browne, the editor: Lanier admits disagreements with W but praises
"Captain" and the "bigness and naivety" of some passages.
16. Anon. "Walt Whitman." Scottish Review, 2 (September)', 281-300.
Traces history of Leaves and its reception. W's prose, though
with intense realism and much to admire, is not equal to his verse.
W's charm and force work gradually on the reader, who may be repelled
165
at first. Leaves is "an Epic of Life." W is one of America's most
notable figures, with lofty purposes for America, democracy, and their
literature. W is defective in artistic ability and effort, having
earlier failed in the standard forms, achieving rhythm and melody in
rare poems like "Cradle," "Lilacs," and "Captain." W's frankness is an
error of taste, not of morals. "His manner, style, and spirit are
entirely his own," distinctively American, democratic, and modern.
His vision is universally human, and does not disdain the past or other
writers. In suggestiveness he ranks with the foremost poets*
17* Dowden, Edward. Review of Bucke (1883.2). Academy, 24 (8
September), 156.
Bucke writes "as a lover intoxicated by Whitman's presence," for
he over-praises, yet he. tells much about W, and reveals the spiritual
quality behind W's writings. W is a mystic and a keen observer both.
166
1884
BOOKS
1. Adams, Oscar Fay. A Brief Handbook of American Authors. Boston:
Houghton, Mifflin and Co., p. 178.
Brief factual entry, listing references and publishers of W. "His
style is rhapsodical and his expressions frequently coarse and
repellant, while his descriptions often sink to the level of a
catalogue." "Captain" is perhaps his best poem.
2. Backus, Truman J. Shaw's New History of English Literature;
Together with a History of English Literature in America.
Revised Edition. New York and Chicago: Sheldon and Co., pp. 466-67.
"Captain" shows that W can use rhyme, although he chose a poetic
theory which eschewed it, depending rather upon the stress of feeling
and truth of sentiment. His work seems rather the rough material of
poetry than the finished article. Despite many a Shakespearean phrase
and burning thought, his lack of form is often an insuperable obstacle
to his recognition.
3. Bucke, Richard Maurice. Walt Whitman. To Which. Is Added English
Critics on Walt Whitman Edited by Edward Dowden. Glasgow: Wilson
& McCormick, 255 pp. Illustrated. No index.
Reprint of 1883T2, with additions, pp. 237-55.
Presents in approximate chronological order extracts from
commentary on W by various English critics and literary figures,
including some private letters.
4. Banner, H. C. Airs from Arcady and Elsewhere. New York: Charles
Scribner’s Sons. "Home Sweet Home: VI. As Walt Whitman might have
167
Written all around it," pp. 68-73.
Reprint of 1881.10.
5.1 Emerson, Ralph Waldo. The Correspondence Of Thomas Caryle and
Ralph waido Emerson 1834-1872. Boston and New York: Houghton
Mifflin Co., Vol. 2, p. 283.
Reprint of 1883.3.
6. Faithfull, Emily. Three Visits to America. Edinburgh: David
Douglas, pp. 89-91.
Recalls ""delightful hours spent in the society of this most
eccentric genius" in Philadelphia [at the Smiths*]; describes his
Socrates-like appearance and magnetism; quotes him on American cities.
W is "certainly a cultured man," "a.’ .deep thinker and an able talker,"
but he should have taken Emerson's advice about pruning Leaves.
7. Lanier, Sidney. Poems of Sidney Lanier. New York: Charles
Scribner's Sons. "Memorial," byu William Haynes Ward, pp.
xxxvii-xxxviii,
Although Lanier found something refreshing in W, he rejected W's
lawlessness in art, writing in his notes: "Whitman is poetry's
butcher. Huge raw collops slashed from the rump of poetry, and never
mind gristle--is what Whitman feeds ©Hr SoulS with." W's argument
seems toibe "that, because a prairie is wide, therefore debauchery is
admirable, and because the Mississippi is long, therefore every
American is God."
8. . Richardson, Charles F. A Primer of American Literature. New and
Revised Edition. ’’ Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Co., pp. 91-92.
P. Revision of 1878,3.
To the brief discussion of 1878.3, adds commentary on W's indecency
and omission of "the 'upward look.'" "The world's great poets have
been morally in advance of their times; Whitman lags behind."
168
9. Robertson, John. Walt Whitman, Poet and Democrat. Round Table
Series, IV. Edinburgh: William Brown, 52 pp.
English readers demand "a new and autochthonic poetical product."
Appropriately for his time, W manifests "the force which is democracy;
the typical self-asserting individual." His diatribe against American
literature is unfair, considering the contributions of Hawthorne, Poe,
and Emerson, but W must be "didactically inconsistent in order to be
consistently prophetic." He is generally too earnest to perceive the
humorously incongruous. His attitudes toward sex merit attention. His
prose, less shocking, might be read first as a way into his poetry,
distinguished from the prose by its lilt and passion. He is no
barbarian in art but is familiar with more literature than earlier was
supposed. "Lilacs," not "Captain," should be cited as an example of
his real verse. He has developed from his early,flaws and aggressive
quality to more delicate perceptions in his later, more recognizably
poetic work. His poetic theory is discussed as part of the movement of
artistic expansion Wagner embodies. His style "moves the sensibilities
as potently as do its teachings" of a future-looking optimism.
10. Watson, William. Epigrams of Art, Life, and Nature. Liverpool:
Gilbert G. Walmsley. LXXXII, "To Walt Whitman."
Quatrain: some "find thee foul," but "Thou followest Truth."
11. White, Richard Grant. The Fate of Mansfield Humphreys. Boston:
Houghton, Mifflin and Co., pp. 102-09.
Parody reprinted: 1888.2; Saunders. Abridged: 1884.15.
At a discussion of W with some English men and women (some
admiring, some skeptical), a Yankee reads "a poem that Walt Whitman
never published," a parody in many numbered sections beginning "I
169
happify myself." Some of the listeners find it universal and
inspiring, some prefer "the more English Whittier" and Longfellow.
PERIODICALS
'€.2. Sturgis, Julian. "A Mad Parson." Longman's Magazine, 3 (April),
614-35, passim.
Parody ("Covent Garden Market," p. 630) reprinted: 1888.2?
Saunders.
The old man, Ferdinand, goes through the story voicing W-like
sentiments about the open-air life and involvement with people of all
kinds. His preachings are made fun of by another character in the
"Covent Garden Market" parody of W's form and thought.
13. *Bensel, James Berry. Article on W and Longfellow. Lynn
(Massachusetts) Saturday Union (24 May).
Reprinted in part: 1884.14.
W sent Longfellow a letter asking to dedicate Leaves to him, but
Longfellow refused. Leaves and W are praised.
14. Anon. "A Fabulous 'Episode.'" Critic, 4, NS 1 (31 May), 258.
Presents precis of 1884.13, "a very kindly and eulogistic notice"
Leaves and W, explaining Longfellow's story of W asking to dedicate
Leaves to him but refusing to omit the lines Longfellow objected to.
Now, "Whitman requests us to say that no such 'advance-sheets' were
ever sent to Mr. Longfellow," and believes that Longfellow "never told
anything of the kind."
•15. Kennedy, Walker. "Walt Whitman." North American Review, 138
(June), 591-601.
There is occasionally the "gleam of the diamond in this mass of
rubbish" of "uncouth chants, the mixed metaphors, the hirsute style,
the ragged similes, and the rickety grammar." W's deficiencies in
______________ LZ£L
clarity, consistency, art, and common sense, blatantly exemplified in
passages of "Myself," represent the antithesis of the democratic
spirit. W's egotism represents "the delirium of self-conceit." In
exalting the flesh W ignores the morality that literature should teach.
16. Anon. "Notes." Critic, 4, NS 1 (28 June), 311.
Quotes response by Bensel to W's denial of sending Leaves to
Longfellow (1884.14), vouching that Longfellow did indeed tell such a
story, which Bensel related in a newspaper letter several years ago
(to the San Francisco Chronicle), which Longfellow saw but which no
one denied then.
17. White, Richard Grant. "A Poem that Walt Whitman Never
Published." Literary World, 15 (28 June), 212-13.
Abridged, with introductory comment, from 1884.11.
*18. Bellew, Frank. "Recollections of Ralph Waldo Emerson."
Lippincott's Magazine, NS 8 (July), 45-50.
Describes his conversations with Emerson in 1855 about Leaves and
W, Emerson's initial excitement, surprise at his letter's publication
("I should have enlarged the but very much"), account of his presence
at a reading of Leaves by a minister unsuspecting of its contents.
19. *Anon. Imitation of W. Judy (10 December) .
Reprinted: 1888.2; 1904.11; Saunders.
17:1
1885
BOOKS
1. Puckts Annual for 1885. New York: Keppler and Schwarzmann.
"Choice Selections from the Works of W__lt Wh_tm n,u p. 13.
Reprinted; Saunders.
Parody.
2. Stedman, Edmund Clarence. Poets of America. Boston and New York:
Houghton, Mifflin and Co. "Walt Whitman," pp. 349-95; also passim
per index.
Reprint with minor changes and additions of 1880.15.
PERIODICALS
3. Selwyn, George (Walt Whitman]. "Authors at Home. VII. Walt
Whitman at Camden." New York Critic, 6 (28 February), 97-98.
Reprinted: 1888.4; 1898.15; 1902.15.
Sketches W's life at various residences. Descrobes extensively
his home in-.Camden, where "to my household, wife and family, he has
7
been an honored and most cherished guest." 'Quotes Dr. Drinkard's
opinion of W as "the most natural man I have ever met." Explains the
sources of W's work in his experiences and printing background.
Describes W's "public sociability," Despite his hardships, his
spirits remain "vigorous and radiant."
*4x~ Gilchrist, Anne, "A Confession of Faith." London TO-day, NS 3
(June), 269-84.
Reprinted: 1887,3; 1900.5; 1918.5.
W is an unacclaimed innovator like Wordsworth. He may be termed
172
the Poet of Democracy for proclaiming a profoundly religious faith in
man. His book is not the mere biography of a man but "his actual
presence." For W, the Civil War verified America's greatness, although
he regards contemporary America with an anxious eye. He is a pioneer
into a New World literature, making a beginning with the "vitality,
initiative, sublimity" of his poems.
5. Chainey, George. "Walt Whitman." The'Gnostic, 1 (July), 1-8.
Reprinted in part from 1881.4.
Quotes various detractors and admirers of W, "the poet of the
future"; "there is no heart that beats so full and respondent to the lif
of ;the living present, as that of Walt. Whitman." He sought his truth
from nature, his style from the sea. "Whitman has taken up the common,
unpoetic realities of every-day life" and "shown their relation to all
that is high and good in the life of humanity," emphasizing democratic
brotherhood and the present, rejecting religion and politics as now
practiced. "Whitman preaches a practical gospel, though he believes
more firmly than any one in the soul and its immortality." He sees the
importance of sex, rejecting "the prurient tastes" of conventionality.
Leaves is "a sacred and inspired book." W told Chainey that Chainey's
1882 publication of the condemned poems helped his sales greatly.
6. Buchanan, Robert. "Socrates in Camden, with a Look Round."
Academy, 28 (15 August), 102-103.
Long poem recording his visit to W, comparing him to Socrates and
Christ, asking him to revive the over-refined American literature of the
present. CHAL errs in saying this is reprinted in 1887.2.
»7. Powers, Horatio N. "Mr. Stedman on the Poet's of America."
Chicago Dial, 6 (November), 172-74. Review of 1885.2.
W has not the poetic eminence to merit a separate chapter.
______________________________________________ 173:
e
1886
BOOKS
1. Kennedy, Wm. Sloane. The Poet as a Craftsman. Philadelphia:
David McKay, pp. 13-20.
In his most finished poems, W's art follows the laws of nature and
symphonic music. Like Hugo he struggles for poetic reform but with
less acceptance. His lines correspond to the natural length of the
thoughts, and echo Homer's hexameters. He often suspends the main
thought of a poem until the close.
2. Noel, Hon. Roden. Essays on Poetry and Poets. London: Kegan Paul,
Trench & Co. "A Study of Walt Whitman," pp. 304-41.
Reprint of 1871.9 and 1871.10, with some revision of the "Calamus"
discussion and short additions»
3. Posnett, Hutcheson Macaulay. Comparative Literature. New York: D.
Appleton and Co., pp. 32, 68-69, 71, 364, 372, 388-89.
W exemplifies the modern tendency to present "the corporate life of
men," and combines democracy and personality. He is the culminating
embodiment of the combination of "social sympathies, individual
consciousness, Nature's life, all on a scale of greatness never before
approximated."
4.. Rhys, Ernest. Introduction to Leaves of Grass: The Poems of Walt
Whitman, SelectedLondon: Walter Scott, pp. ix-xxxix.
Biographical sketch from O'Connor (.1866.2), Burroughs (1867.1),
Bucke (1883.2), and Specimen. W's new form is not a freakish
eccentricity but the genuine outcome of a new, vastly extended
174
apprehension of contemporary life and letters, returning to a
Burns-like use of contemporary idiom and concern after decades of
archaic and cultured poetry. Others will follow his new poetic mode
but will need to avoid his mannerisms. Though a mystic like Hegel, he
requires only emotional, not academic, equipment. A beginning reading
order is suggested. Besides his merely literary excellences, W exerts
a strong "personal magnetism," "potent for moral elevation," especially
for the young. Due to the limitations of average readers, poems that
have been objected to are here omitted (notably "Myself," "Adam,"
"Salut," "Passage," "Sleepers"); otherwise the selection is fairly
complete and follows W's order.
5. Rossetti, William Michael, ed. Poems by Walt Whitman. A New
Edition. London; Chatto and Windus. Preface, pp. 1-22.
Reprint of 1868.2. .
This edition is a mere resetting of 1868.2, with a brief paragraph
appended to the Preface noting W's illness and recent works.
6. *Wilkie, James. The Democratic Movement in Literature; Walt
Whitman. Cupar-Fife, Scotland.
Reported in CHAL.
PERIODICALS
«7. Anon. "Stedman's Poets of America." Atlantic Monthly, 57
(January), 131.
Review of 1885.2. "American democracy is not yet red-shirted, and
Whitman remains to the public mainly a curiosity."
8. Haweis, Rev. H. R., M. A. "A Visit to Walt Whitman." Pall Mall
Gazette, 43 (13 January), 1-2.
Reprinted; 1886.10.
Reports his December 1885 visit with W, who speaks of Emerson,
175
Tennyson, Browning. His revolt against rigid form resembles Wagner's,
seeking a more adequate method for conveying the interior changes of bl.
the soul. Such a poem as "Whispers: reveals W's insight and genius.
His broad sympathy is typical of America. Reprinted: 1886.10.
9. Thompson, William. "Mr. Haweis and Walt Whitman." Ball Mall
Gazette, 43 (16 January), 2.
Corrects Haweis's ascribing the English edition of W to Dante
Gabriel Rossetti and his implication that those poems were expurgated.
10. Haweis, Rev. H. R. "A Visit to Walt Whitman." ' New York Times
(26 February), 6.
Reprint of 1886.8.
11. [Costello, Mary D., Smith]. "Whitman for the Drawing Room."
London Papers for the Times (April), 181-85.
Review of Rhys (1886.4). The introduction ignores W's real
advance, his attitude toward death. People who seek to appear
respectable but secretly enjoy immoral jokes and deeds will be
disappointed in W's work, which is "cleanly minded." "Myself" and
"Singer in Prison" are unfortunately omitted, but "City Dead House"
and "Dalliance" are.(happily included.
12. Rowlandson, H. "'Towards Democracy.'" Dublin University Review,
2 (April), 319-28.
Review of Edward Carpenter's Towards Democracy. W's place is as
assured as that of any of his contemporaries. The capacities of his
method have not been exhausted but are available for such disciples as
Carpenter. W's poetic principle is analyzed, sound though not always
satisfactory in practice. W felt rhythm should help the sense, hence
his long lines. Like W, Carpenter includes elements "shocking to
176
modern notions of delicacy"; they reject "the proprieties.”
*13. Anon. "An Editor's Farewell." Boston Christian Register, 65
Cl2 August), 499.
Much of W reads like a plagiarized "auctioneer's catalogue." The
ease of writing such raw poetry is shown by a parody, "Adieu!"
14. Kennedy, William Sloane. "The Precession of the Poets." New
York Critic, 6 (4 September), 109-10.
Incidentally mentions W as example of orchestral (as opposed to
organ) harmony in verse, especially evident in his sea-chants.
•15* Anon. . , "Poets and Poetry of America." London Quarterly Review,
163 (October), 363-94, passim.
Reprinted; 1887.10.
W's "attempt to represent the large ideas, the concrete realities
of multiform activities, the panoramic pageant of moving life— the proa-::
great heart of the democratic Republic— was rather prophetic of the
future than descriptive of the present." W seeks a new literature for
democracy, free in form and subject. "Lilacs" and "Cradle" prove him
"a lyric genius of the highest order," first among American poets for
"creative force and imaginative vigour." His theory is defensible not
for seeking "to render poetry inartistic" but for seeking to reproduce
in verse the pulse of Nature. W's language is praised. As a
transcendental evolutionist W echoes Emerson in thought. His: lists are
sometimes powerful in expressing vastness. His fanaticism is his
strength and weakness. The future lies with him, not for his form but
for his depiction of personality (which in him displays comradeship,
sympathy, an open-air quality1 and "the concrete realities of life,"
_________________________________________ 177
*16. Lathrop, George Parsons, "The Literary Movement in New York,"
Harper's New Monthly Magazine, 73 (November), 823-24,
Of all the poets of New York, only W "has attempted to reproduce
its elements in a shape suggesting their mass and variety, and with a
spirit responding to and interpreting them." His method, alternating
"dull prose with gleams of splendid poetry," may be fit to express the
actual city, through his large grasp and native tone,
*L7. Hughes, H D . "Walt Whitman.— The Old Gray Poet." Leisure
Moments, 1 (December), 266-71.
W discarded ordinary verse forms in favor of an original blend of
the prose of Bacon, Carlyle, and others, and the poetry of Shakespeare,
Milton, Homer, and Hugo, Through chaos he attains a kind of order,
with a compass and harmony greater than the accepted and more elegant
poets because of his "towering magnetic presence." Leaves is a
dramatic poem of man in his relation to the outward world. The war
pictures of Drum-Taps are described, "Cradle" and "Lilacs" are
compared, praised, and explicated. One reaches W's atmosphere only
after repeated readings. His style, is a "mass movement" of details
which gather as the sentence moves along. His titles give evidence of
his skill in epithets.
18, Anon. Paragraph. Pall Mall Gazette, 44 (16 December), 3.
Proposes subscription to help W's living conditions, which are not
creditable to Americans interested in literature. Though W cannot live
much longer, his work will be discussed as long as language survives.
19. [Costello, Mary D. Smith]. "Walt Whitman at Camden. By One who
has been there. " Pall Mall Gazette, 44 (23 December), 1-2/ i
Describes W's surroundings, writing habits:. He. is not in want?
178
Describes W's surroundings^ writing habits. He is not in want;
his writing and lectures provide for "an exacting and simple life."
' V - ■ -3
179
1887
books:
1, Beers,, Henry A An Outline Sketch of American Literature. New
York; Chautauqua Press, pp. 232-39. With bibliography.
Reprinted; 1891,3.
Some of W's verse may offend, but it is appropriate to his "strong,
masculine joy in life and nature" in all their aspects. His prosaic
attempts to get everything into his verse are offset by lines "often
unsurpassed for descriptive beauty and truth." His ideas are not many,
individualized humanity finds small place, but "one likes to read him
because he feels so good," confident in immortality and man's future.
2.. Buchanan, Robert. A Look Round Literature. London: Ward and
Downey.. "The American.:-Socrates," pp. 341-46; 354, 382, 384, 385.
W is outlawed in his country, like Socrates, while lesser poets are
praised. His visit to W in March 1885 is described: how W lives, with
little income from his poetry, neglected by editors for being dangerous.
In personality W is akin to Socrates and Christ. He is unconcerned with
praise, fame, or wealth, having spoken his message and lived his life.
He is "supreme in his power of convening moral stimulation." (CHAL
errs in calling this article a reprint of 1885.6.}
3. Gilchrist, Herbert Harlakenden. Anne Gilchrist: Her Life and
Writings. London: T. Fisher Unwin, 368 pp., passim. No index.
Contents: Author's Preface, Prefatory Notice by W. M. Rossetti
(both discussing W's relationship with Anne Gilchrist), Biography,
Essays (reprints of 1870.3 and 1885.4). Her story is largely told
180
through letters (.to and from Gilchrist herself, Rossetti, W, etc.).
Her relationship with W is traced, as is the development of her essay
(1870.3) and its publication. Extensive transcriptions by her son
Herbert of W's conversations record his comments on or anecdotes about
Emerson, Joaquin Miller, Jenny Lind, Count Gurowski, Thoreau, Tennyson,
Eliot, Scott, Shakespeare, Henry James's essay on Sand.
4. Morrill, Justin S. Self-Consciousness Of Noted Persons. Boston:
Ticknor and Co. "Walt Whitman," p. 43.
W's poems "are not winning all the gratitude" Americans owe them.
Only W among American poets offers "lusty self-appreciation." He
never fears to take a reader into his confidence.
5. Morris, Charles. Half-Hours with the Best American Authors.
Philadelphia,: , - J . B. Lippincott, Vol. 2, p. 489.
Headnote to "Redwood": W's poetry is "never likely to become
popular," being rarely above the level of prose. Though frequently
"full of imaginative fervor," "with many passages of fine power," it
exalts "the grosser bodily element," without the spiritual element.
"Redwood" "has a deeper and more elevanting significance than is usual"
with W; "if judiciously pruned" it might rank high in the poetic world.
6. Stevenson, Robert Louis. In Books Which Have Influenced Me .(by
various writers). London: Office of the "British Weekly," pp. 7-8.
Reprinted: Hindus.
Leaves "tumbled the world upside down for me" and brought back "all
the original and manly virtues." But it is only for those with the
gift of reading, for some books are too powerful for the average man.
7. United States Congress. House Committee on Invalid Pensions. Walt
181
Whiti^Whitman; Report to Accompany H. R. 10707. Washington; U. S.
Government Printing Office.
H. B. Lovering's proposal to provide W a pension of $25 a month is
supported by quotations regarding his hospital work from 1866.2; 157C.
1876.28; a letter to Bucke from a woman; Dr". D. W7 Bliss; the
Philadelphia Progress (.unlocated). . Emphasizes W's current sickness
and poverty, with no references to his poetry. Committee recommends
passage of the bill.
8. IWhipple, Edwin Percy. American Literature and Other Papers.
Boston; Ticknor and Co., pp. 112-14.
W "might have been styled the marvellous 'b'hoy.'" His disregard
for all convention should have been modified regarding the relations of
the sexes. His latest books are not so objectionable, but Leaves would
still, "if thoroughly cleaned," be considered his ablest and most
original work. Such an;iinnovator, following great praise, may have to
suffer unjust neglect.
PERIODICALS
9. Anon. Editorial paragraph. Springfield Republican 118 January),
4 .
W and his services should be honored through private beneficence
rather than the public pension proposed.
IQ. Anon. "Poets and Poetry of America." New York Critic, 7 (.29
January), 56-58.
Reprint of final part of 1886.15 (two preceding issues have
reprinted the earlier part of the 'article) .
11. Anon. Paragraph. Literary World, 18 (5 February), 40.
Quotes an English characterization (unlocated) of a certain
182
controversial American poet; "iHe is a Hebrew bard translated to the
American backwoods, where he has turned himself inside out, thence
going on to study pantheism on the quays of New York.'1 '
12. Higginson, Thomas Wentworth. "Sidney Lanier." Chautauquan,
7 (April). , 417-18.
Quotes with approval Lanier's criticisms of W C1883.4), "a
literary spirit alien to his own." Among the grounds for his
disapproval would be W's choice of civilian work during the war, in
contrast to Lanier's own military service.
13. Anon. "The. Good Gray Poet Is White Now. Walt Whitman's Welcome
by his Friends in Madison Square Theatre." New York Sun (15
April), 1,
Describes W's appearance at his vivid lecture on Lincoln.
14. Gould, Elizabeth Porter. "Whitman Among the Soldiers." New York
Critic, 7 C28 May), 268-69.
Reprinted; 1889.2.
W's descriptions of his hospital work in Specimen become more vivid
as the years go by and add to the reality of his poems. Description of
W's actions, his spiritual insight and faith.
15. Lewin, Walter. Review of Specimen. Academy, 31 (4 June), 390-91.
W has immense self-assurance but does not consider the reader, who
may be yettinstructed and charmed by this singular miscellany. W's
nature-notes recall Thoreau's, but Thoreau was "a disinterested student
of nature" while W is more concerned with relating nature to himself.
In W we get "his thought, not an echo," urging us to be ourselves.
16. Anon. "Mr. Stevenson's Literary Studies." Literary World, 18
Cll June) , 179-80..
_________________ 183
Stevenson's essay on W C.1882., 6 ) . is "even-handed" but for the most
part kindly. The chief value of W's works is "expression of i
individuality."
•17. ilScudder, Horace E.]. "Anne Gilchrist." Atlantic Monthly, 60
(August), 275-81.
Review of 1887.3. Gilchrist used W to enlarge her conception of
human life, but she was wrong, for naturalism is not enough. The
English sought in American art the expansion of the human spirit which
Americans were seeking to control by practicing "perfection of form."
Gilchrist1s writings on W were not strictly critical.
18. Swinburne, Algernon Charles. "Whitmania." Fortnightly Review,
NS 42 (.1 August) , 170-76.
Reprinted: 1887.24; 1894.6; Miller; Hindus.
W displays "a just enthusiasm, a genuine passion of patriotic and
imaginative sympathy, a sincere though limited and distorted love of
nature, an eager and earnest faith in freedom and loyalty," and a
manful, rational tone regarding duty and death. He says wise and
noble things but is original in neither thought nor manner. W should
not be ranked with the greatest world poets, as the "Whitmaniacs" rank
him. "Drum-Taps" reveals no higher literary quality than rhetoric; it
is a question of rhythm and cadence, not rhyme, at which "Captain"
fails. The poet, if he is not a singer, must be a maker, but W only
accumulates words. He has not descended to Zolaesque realism, but
resorts to animalism in treating sex. He might have made a good
orator but can scarcely be considered a major poet.
»19. Lewin, Walter. "'Leaves of Grass.'" Murray's Magazine, 2
(September), 327-29.
__________________________________________________________________________ 184
Leaves grows with W as a transcription of his life and varied
experience, "a biography of the human soul,” but lacking "concentrative
force." W's portrayal of sex seems necessary as a release preceding
the rest of the book. W enjoys nature for its health-giving and
sensuous qualities. His themes are modern, American, commonplace. He
is the first to treat man working as a subject for poems. Leaves must
be read as a whole, revealing the wonderful life of the world.and the
brotherhood of all, with doctrines of Unity, Beauty, and Progression.
21. Anon. "Whitman in London. (Adapted from the American.)" Punch,
93 (3 September), 101.
Reprinted: Saunders.
Parody.
22. Baxter, Sylvester. Long paragraph. Springfield Republican
(9 September).
Commentary on the cottage subscription, the W society, the
responses of W and Swinburne to each other. Perhaps Swinburne heard of
W's opinion of his work as not genuine with all its decorative
elaboration, and therefore reacted in "Whitmania" (1887.18).
23. Anon. "'Caviare to the General.'” New York Critic, 8 (17
September), 144.
Quotes St. James's Gazette (unlocated): the Whitmanites push W to
little effect; his prose surpasses his poetry.
24. Swinburne, Algernon Charles. "Whitmania." Eclectic Magazine,
NS 46 (October), 454-58.
Reprint of 1887.18.
>25. Noel, Roden. "Mr. Swinburne on Walt Whitman." London Time, 17
(December), 653-58.
185
Swinburne (1887*18) implies that W is not a thinker; W is rather a
seer, his style "appropriate to his vigorous and original idiosyncrasy"
while Swinburne himself claims only pretensions to being a thinker and
stylist. W's rhythm is praised; likewise his depiction of lovers, who
are not lechers. W is "ultra-Pantheistic," opposes convention and
asceticism, and "makes us feel the organic soundness of this universe."
Swinburne's attack is "aristocratic spleen." W's love is Christ-like.
26. Willard, Gyrus Field. "A Chat with the Good Gray Poet." A
American Magazine, 7 (December), 217-22.
Records his visit to W, W'is conversation (rejecting notions of a
theory in his poetry, commenting on socialism). W's poetry may be a
bit rough but it conveys "finer fervor and more rhythmical delight"
than Milton's blank verse. "Lilacs" and "Captain" are praised, making
a mockery of the Boston Public Library's restricted circulation of
Leaves. Ends with a long, good-humoredly parodic ode, "America's
Greeting to Walt," lately written by an admirer (reprinted in Saunders)
27., Tennyson, Alfred. Letter to W. New York Critic, 8 (10
December), 306.
Friendly letter of 15 November, 1887, is printed.
28. Etymologist. "'Yonnondio.'--A Word-History." New York Critic,
8 (17 December), 317.
C Corrects W as to the true meaning of the title of his "affecting
elegy" printed in the November 26 Critic.
186
1888
BOOKS
1. *Greg, Thomas T. Walt Whitman : Man and Poet. Warrington, England.
Reported in CHAL.
2. Hamilton, Walter. Parodies of the Works of English and American
Authors, Collected and Annotated by Walter Hamilton. London:
Reeves and Turner, Vol. 5, pp. 256-62; also p. 103.
Reprints various parodies, preceding them with introductory remarks
and extracts from "Myself" and other poems, since W's "mannerisms are
far more familiar to most English readers than the vigour of his
poetry" and many of his finest thoughts have been omitted from English
editions due to editors' mock-modesty. W "is emphatically a poet for
men," not for "the tinkling rhyme."
3. Richardson, Charles F. American Literature 1607-1885. New York
and London: G. P. Putnam's Sons, Vol. 2, pp. 268-81.
W equals the Genteel poets in ability, but he attracted attention
by "magnifying the physical and the crudely spontaneous." He has
"strength without artistic power." His prose is pleasant and fresh but
inelegant in style and of little value. His poetic plan to present
a complete picture of his times and an individual man is not
adequate, for W omits man's spiritual development. His treatment of
sex is not peculiarly shameful, but sex "is not per se a poetic theme."
His unity is merely conglomeration. His choice of verse form is
appropriate and often pleasing, though seldom a true "art-product."
He is most successful in dealing with sympathy, the eternal, and
187
nature. In a century W will be seen as not the prophet he claims to
be. His world is partial and poor next to Emerson's. W "is the
fittest of all laureates of Lincoln" and merits the name of poet for
those poems and such others as "Brooklyn Ferry," "Broad-Axe.”
4. Selwyn, George [Walt Whitman]. "Walt Whitman in Camden." In
Authors at Home: Personal and Biographical Sketches of Well-Known
American Writers. Ed. J. L. and J. B. Gilder. New York: Cassell
and Co., pp. 335-42.
Reprint of 1885.3. Revised: 1902.15.
Periodicals
5. Sempers, Charles T. "Walt Whitman and His Philosophy." Harvard
Monthly, 5 (January), 149-65.
Traces his own gradual understanding of Leaves as "a living
cosmos" out of "seeming chaos." W is a true singer, with a religious
conception of the world and nature. Though serious of purpose, he is
not devoid of humor. He has a true historic consciousness, a sense for
spiritual significance. W is compared to Spinoza. W has communicated
his enthusiasm for the ordinary to recent ficition writers. His prose
and lack of distinctions are criticized. Poems to read are suggested/
6. [Howells, W. D.]. "Editor's Study." Harper's New Monthly Magazine
76 (February), 478-79.
W has finally done justice to Emerson's still valid exceptions to
him, in manners, not morals. He sympathized with W's aesthetic revolt.
W and Tolstoi, "at opposite poles morally, are the same in aesthetic
effect." W's rebellion was itself a confession of literary
consciousness.
188
W . Munger, Rev.ZT. T. "Personal Purity,. II.." Christian Union, 33
Cl March.) , 267..
"Do not suffer yourself to be caught by the Walt Whitman fallacy
that all nature and all processes of nature are sacred and may
therefore be talked about. Walt Whitman is not a true poet in this
respect, or he would have scanned nature more accurately./ Nature is
silent and shy where he is loud and bold."
8. Kennedy, W. S. "Fraudulent 'Leaves of Grass,'" New York Critic,
9 C2 June), 272.
Calls attention to the pirated editions using the 1860 plates.
•9. Williams, Francis Howard. "The Poetry of Walt Whitman. (First
Paper.,)" Philadelphia American, 16 (9 June), 119-20.
W fulfills the true business of art, interpreting the whole of
nature, avoiding half-truths, describing what he himself has seen,
bringing us into contact with fundamental passions as they really are,
with no exaggeration of fact.. Many find Leaves unfit for the very
young, but it was not meant for them. Concluded 1888.10.
*10. Williams, Francis Howard, "The Poetry of Walt Whitman. (Second
Paper.)" Philadelphia American, 16 (16 June), 135-36.
Concludes 1888.9. W's form is a further evolution of freedom ..-
from highly artifical poetry. He rejected established forms as
inadequate for expressing his thought, which often required more
syllables than standard English metres could put in a line, while he
preferred toi keep each thought a unity. "Lilacs" opening is put into
blank verse, although such an attempt to "'improve'" W would destroy
his individuality.
189
11. Morris, Charles. "The Poetry of Walt Whitman." Philadelphia
American, 16 (23 June), 151.
Responds to 1888.9 and 1888.10, even though he has read little of
W's poetry. A poet should do more than simply reproduce nature: W is
merely "an industrious catalogue-maker,"1 falling to earth when he
should soar. His rhythmic method "may have its merits," but it lacks
attractiveness, denying the ear's expectations.
12. Beckett, Reginald A. "Whitman as a Socialist Poet." London
To-day, NS 10 (July), 8-15.
W is the poet who has come nearest to expressing Socialist ideas,
with his faith in natural processes and evolution, his expression of
all aspects of contemporary life, his gospel of comradeship requiring
social equality. His thought has been courageously pursued. His idea
of love revives the essence of Christianity. He fuses Hebraic and
Hellenic tendencies, the mystical and the realistic, and reveals their
identity.
13. Winter, William. "Matthew Arnold. A Speech by William Winter."
Boston Evening Transcript (3 July), 6.
Reprints speech Winter made in London. Many in England "have
accepted, and have extolled even to the verge of extravagance, one of
our authors— a very worthy man— for little or no better reason than
because he has discarded all versification, and all prose as well, and
furnished in their places an unmelodious catalogue of miscellaneous
images, generally commonplace and sometimes unfragrant." America
should carry on English literature, not break from it.
........... _iaoj
’14. Morris, Harrison S. "The Poetry of Walt Whitman." Philadelphia
American, 16 (7 July), 183-84.
W has passages equal to any in our literature "for landscape
description and that usage of the happy epithet," but he has stronger
claims to recognition as a thinker. By birth a poet, he falls short of
the canons of art, except in moments of great emotion. Like Wordsworth
seeking to be philosopher and poet at the same time, he falls short of
Doth. He must be praised for his adventurous course of candor.
Smacking of the soil, his poetry seems intended to record America in
ler youth for future races to know and understand.
15. Luders, Charles Henry. "A Matter of Form." Philadelphia American,
16 (11 August), 264-65.
Disagrees with Kennedy (1886.1) regarding line divisions, but for
certain subjects "the Whitmanesque form is excellent" ("Cradle,"
"Lilacs"). But W often errs in leaving nothing to his reader,
providing no artistic selection. His form gains in being distinctive,
but loses in tending to monotony.
16. Stoddard, R. H. "Poetical Fads." New York Independent, 40
(6 September), 1131.
The strange veneration for W continues in England. Commentary upon
"Old Age:'s Lambent Peaks" (in Century) , which is original only in its
construction and obscurity. Criticizes the pushing of poets by cliques.
*17. Williams, Francis Howard. "The Poetry of Walt Whitman: A
Rejoinder." Philadelphia American, 16 (15 September), 345-46.
Disagrees with the critical standards of Morris (1888.11) and
Morris (1888.14), for W's purpose is remedial, not unclean or immoral.
3e leads toward beauty, and is not merely the Poet of Democracy.
191
18. Anon. "Walt Whitman's Words. He Thinks Bryant America's Greatest
Poet. Optimistic Old Age. He Agrees with Darwin, Yet Seeks a
Loftier Theology." New York Herald {23 September), 8.
Recalls first meeting W in June 1885; describes W's publishing
history (inaccurately) and Trowbridge's efforts to get a publisher for
Leaves, quoting the responses of Ticknor and Fields, Lee and Shepard,
who hesitated because of the tone of the period. Stedman's severe
criticism (1880.15) puzzled W. W is quoted on his critics, the poetry
of the future, the importance of his "Western experiences" to his life
work, his war poems, America's virtues, love. “I am an old bachelor who
lever had a love affair. Nature supplied the place of a bride, with
suffering to be nursed and scenes to be poetically clothed."
L9. Summers, William, M. P. "A Visit to Walt Whitman." Pall Mall
Gazette, 48 (18 October), 1-2.
Record of a meeting with W in September 1888; his conversation on
lis health and life, the Irish question, American politics. He is "one
Df the most striking personalities and one of the most typical and
representative characters" that America has yet produced.
20. Garland, Hamlin. "Whitman's 'November Boughs.'" Boston Evening
Transcript (15 November), 6.
Review of November, with praise for "Backward Glance" and W's
choice of titles. This volume reveals how calm and philosophical W
really is. His life is commendable, as is the motive behind the
cbjectionable passages. It is "unreasonable to hold a prejudice
against a most remarkable outpouring of exalted passion, prophecy,
landscape painting, songs of the sea and, above all, calls for deeper
love for Nature and for men." He should be honored while still with us.
192
21. Anon. One-paragraph review of November. New York Independent,
40 (29 November), 1538.
"An interesting miscellany"; the prose has value as "reflections
of the author," "the most altogether pleasing" piece being that on
Father Taylor (who is briefly discussed).
22. Anon. "Whitman*s November Boughs." Literary World, 19
(8 December), 446-47.
Review of November. W is valuable for his personality, his
prophecy of the new era of comradeship and the ideal democracy, his
oreak with "the outworn mold," even if he has failed in "his attempt to
construct a new technique in verse." Pre-eminent among modems, he
"sounds the note of revolt against universal self-indulgence and
boredom," providing "a bracing tonic" for the mind. His poems are
suggestive, stimulating because inspired by optimism. We can thank him
for revealing candidly his inmost thought.
23. Anon. Review of November. New York Tribune (9 December), 14.
The poems of "Sands at Seventy" display W's characteristic
strengths and weaknesses and "a curious stability of quality." His
exaggerated realism and departure from accepted methods are due to
aarrowness rather than to a radical spirit of reform. These poems,
aowever, display less crudeness and more melody. But W should realize
the flaws in his convictions, apparent through the people's failure to
respond to him, for his most successful poems are those least following
ais eccentric method.
24. Anon. One-paragraph review of November. Nation, 47 (20 December),
502.
193
This volume merely presents the "infinitely sad spectacle" of
W's sickly old age, following which the "cooler atmosphere" of a new
edition of Sidney provides welcome relief.
194
1889
BOOKS
1. Emerson, Edward Waldo. Emerson In Concord: A Memoir Written for
the Social Circle in Concord, Massachusetts. Boston and New York:
Houghton, Mifflin and Co.., p.. 228n,.
Describes Emerson's response to the promise of Leaves and his later
disappointment. "He used to say, ‘This catalogue-style of poetry is
easy and leads nowhere,' or words to that effect."
2. Gould, Elizabeth Porter. Gems from Walt Whitman. Philadelphia:
David McKay, 58 pp.
Contents: "To Walt Whitman," Gould's poem in fourteen long lines
with some rhyme ’ (reprinted: 1916.5); "Biographical and Bibliographical
Note," brief sketch; "Fac-simile ‘Of Life Immense,1" W’s manuscript;
"Gems from Leaves of Grass," excerpts and short poems; reprint of
1887.14.
3. Symington, Andrew James. "Walt Whitman." In Appleton1s
Cyclopaedia of American Biography. Ed. James Grant Wilson and
John Fiske. New York: D. Appleton & Co., Vol. 6, pp. 485-86.
Biographical sketch. Leaves "is a series of poems dealing with
moral, social, and political problems, and more especially with the
interests involved in nineteenth century American life and progress."
W's style, though preventing his popularity, utters "musical thoughts
in an unconventional way which is entirely his own."
4. Thomson, James. Selections from Original Contributions by James
Thomson to "Cope's Tobacco Plant." Cope's Smoke-Room Booklets,
No. 3. Liverpool: The Office of "Cope's Tobacco Plant." "Walt
Whitman," pp. 50-51.
Extract reprinted from 1880.12.
195
5. Traubel, Horace L., ed. Camden's Compliment to Walt: Whitman: May
31, 1889; Notes, Addresses,. Letters, Telegrams. , Philadelphia;
David McKay, 74 pp.
After material by W and a poem, “To Walt Whitman," by Ernest Rhys
(reprinted: 1916.5), Traubel describes the banquet and projects W's
fame, since he is now a prophet honored in his country, by literary and
non-literary figures, for he himself and his works are non-literary.
"He has rung the alarum for behoof of humanism in literature." Prints
the addresses:
Samuel H. Grey: W is honored as worthy man and as poet.
Thomas B. Earned: W's person is greater than his book, for he
consistently follows his teachings (equality, humility, serenity).
Herbert Gilchrist: W rs influence is spreading among the masses,
artists, and scholars in the United Kingdom.
Francis Howard Williams: W, the revolutionary, is inevitably
misunderstood as an infidel, a sensualist, and a materialist.
John Herbert Clifford: Considers W's philosophy and the
necessarily corresponding seriousness and lack of humor.
Charles G. Garrison: W is not lawless but offers true philosophy.
E. A. Armstrong; Emphasizes New Jersey's pride in W.
Richard Watson Gilder; Praises W's magnificent, inimitable form,
appreciation of the duality of existence, role as picture of our times.
Julian Hawthorne: Praises W's sympathy as man and poet, ranging
from Lincoln (his friend) to the "common prostitute" of his poem.
Hamlin Garland: Describes W's principal messages as "Optimism and
Altruism— Hope for the. future and Sympathy toward men." He is "the
strongest, most electric, most original of modern poets."
196
Henry L. Bonsall:. On W's well-regarded work and personality.
Lincoln L. Eyre: He stands for what is best in American life, the
fittest representative of an indigenous literature./
Translated extract from Eduard Hertz's article in Deutsche Press.
"Letters: Over-Sea1 — Over-Land": Tributes and regrets from Hallam
Tennyson, W. M. Rossetti, Sarrazin, Rolleston, William Morris, Dowden,
Costelloe, Schmidt, Edward Carpenter, John Hay, R. Pearsall Smith,
Burroughs, Bucke, Kennedy, Sidney Morse, E. C. Stedman, Sanborn,
Howells, Whittier, Baxter, Aldrich, Felix Adler, Furness, George W.
Childs, Twain, Will Carleton, William M. Salter, Chadwick, George H.
Boker, John A., Cockrill, Julius CHambers, G, W. Curtis, Jeannette L.
Gilder, John Habberton, William C. Gannett, H» D. Bush, Hinton, J. F.
Garrison. They describe the value W has had for them, personal
memories of their acquaintance with W or Leaves. See 1889.18.
"By Wire: Then, Postscript": Telegrams in honor of W from Henry
Irving, Ingersoll, Jeff Whitman, Mrs. A. H. Spaulding, Mrs. Fanny
Taylor, Felix Adler, Aldrich, J., H. Gilman. Last-minute letters from
H. Buxton Forman, Brinton, Symonds. Translated excerpt from Sarrazin.
6. Willard, Frances E. Glimpses of Fifty Years: The Autobiography of
an American Woman. Chicago and Philadelphia: H. J. Smith & Co.;
Woman's Temperance Publishing Association, pp. 541-42.
Recalls meeting W at the Smiths' in Philadelphia. Contrary to her
expectations, he was "the mildest, most modest and simple-hearted man I
ever saw." He came alive when Nature was the topic. "His sense of God
Nature and Human Brotherhood" seemed "raised to such a power, and fused
in such a white heat of devotion, that they made the man a genius."
________________________ 197
PERIODICALS
7. B[uc.ke] , R. M. "Walt Whitman." Magazine of poetry, 1 (January) , 15 ,
Biography? publications. W's fame will rest not on his prose hut
on Leaves, in structure "'rhythmic prose," in force and meaning "poetry
of a high if not the highest order," its subject always "himself
treated as the typical man, not so much as being better than others,
but as seeing more clearly the divinity that is in every human being."
W's personality is presented with vividness and vitality in his work.
Six pages: of poems and extracts follow, with two portraits.
8. [Wilde, Oscar]. "The Gospel According to Walt Whitman." Pall
Mall Gazette, 49 (25 January), 3.
Review- of November. , W ’s work is the record of a human soul, not
tragedy, because there is joy and hope, but rather a drama of spiritual
development. W is at his’best when analyzing his own work, as in this
volume, or looking to the poetry of the future. Literature to him has
a social aim, which may be his chief value, over his poetic
performance. In rejecting art, he- is an artist.
9. [Howells, W. D.]., "Editor's Study." Harper1 s New Monthly
Magazine., 78 (February), 488.
Reprinted: Miller.
Review of November. While W is still with us, we should admit that
"his literary intention was as generous as his spirit was bold, and
that if he has not accomplished all he intended, he has been a force
that is"by no means spent." He did not quite liberate poetry from
metre and rhyme, but he allowed poetry to be more direct and natural.
His "gospel of nudity"' is unnecessary.. November is innocent,
meditative and reminiscent, with prose, that is more poetic and full of
-oati.os e : v . ' the 1 of trvth than his too
pathos and the love of truth than his poetry.
10. Lewin, Walter. Review of November. Academy, -35 (23 February) ,
127.
For the uninitiated, this volume ""offers little to attract and at
the same time little to repel," but W's admirers will welcome it.
Interesting prose pieces and poems of varying merits are pointed out.
W has bravely "lived to celebrate his triumph" in compelling attention
and winning regard, without compromising. These pages present a note
of sadness, but still "the same hopeful, cheery, affectionate, and
great-souled man and poet," his heart untouched by age.
11. [Porter, Charlotte?]. "The Library." Poet-Lore, 1 (March),
145-47.
Review of November, , which provides large glimpses of its subjects,
revealing W 1s breadth, democratic kindliness, and homespun sense.
"Backward Glance" helps us understand his poetry.
12. Anon. "November Boughs." London Saturday Review, 67 (2 March),
260-61.
There is nothing controversial here; W is "singularly modest" in
"Backward Glance." His critics have failed to distinguish between
flaws in his premises and his actual poetic ability and achievement.
His flaws include democratic enthusiasm, portrayal of personality
without passing "every personal emotion through the sieve of the
universal," diction, oyer-frankness, some of his rhythmic theory.
"Death. Carol" and "Sea-Shore Memories" (his "next best") represent his
true poetry. He is one of America's "remarkably few poets."
13. Carpenter, Edward. "'November Boughs.'" Scottish Art Review,
1 (April);,. .334-35.
'lO f . C
199
Describes his visit to W several years ago. "Sands at Seventy"
contains work comparable to W's best, with the same "acceptance of
ordinary facts," "direct gaze into the spiritual world behind them,"
egotism, yearning love, jagged lines, emotional passages. His poetry's
power lies in its quality of Nature.
14. Payne, William Morton. "Recent Books of Poetry." Chicago Dial,
9 CApril), 323-24.
Review of November, in which W ’s thought and language fit his
character and mood. His honesty andcstylistic genius will ensure his
influence and permanence. Several extracts are quoted with praise.
15. Hartmann, C. Sadakichi. "Notes of a Conversation with the Good
Gray Poet by a German Poet and Traveller." New York Herald
Cl4 April) , 10. ............................
Reprinted; George Knox, The Whitman-Hartmann Controversy
CFrankfurt/M. und Muenchen: Herbert Lang Bern, 1976).
Presents quotations from W on his fellow writers, past and cro.
contemporary (Bryant, Holmes, Emerson, Hawthorne, Stedman, Whittier,
Lowell, Stoddard, Poe, Rousseau, Byron); epigrammatic statements;
comments on great statesmen, cities, his poetic ideas.
16. Hinton, Richard. "Walt Whitman at Home— An Interesting Visit to
the Famous Poet's Humble Sick-Room." New York World (14 April),
28.,
Records his visit with W, the power of W's personality over >eo ■'la
people, their first meeting in 1855. Describes the 1855 Leaves, its
opening lines "the keynote of democracy." The. meaning of his poetry
becomes plainer with more readings. His poetry seems egotistical but
his life is not, revealing rather a strong faith in himself. "Lilacs"
is the most sane, and spiritual poem of death in English.
17. Rhys, Ernest. "The Portraits, of Walt Whitman," Scottish Art
Review, 2 (.June) , 17-24. Illustrated.
. 200
Describes photographs and oil portraits, with some factual errors.
W ' s personal references in "Calamus" reveal his ideal of manly beauty
as not conventional.. His outdoors- natural life has resulted in a noble
physical presence in old age.
18. Anon. "Walt Whitman's Birthday— The 'Good Gray Poet' Reaches His
Threescore Years and Ten., The Occasion Fittingly Celebrated in
Camden-— Mr. Whitman Appears at the Dinner— betters of Regret from
Prominent Persons.” New York Tribune Cl June), 7.
"No poet, certainly no innovator in poetic methods, was ever in
higher honor in his own country” than W, whose personal qualities as
well as originality make him "a National figure in literature," his
name known wherever English poetry is studied. Quotes Samuel Grey's
opening tribute; letters from Whittier (praising wis wartime services
only), Howells (terming W a liberator), Twain (noting the vast changes
that w has: lived through) . See 1889,5.
19. Anon. "Notes and News." Poet-Lore, 1 (July), 348.
Records W's pleasant comments at the birthday dinner.
2 . 0 , . Anon. Review of November. Scottish Review, 14 (July), 212-13.
Describes contents, the most interesting being "Backward Glance."
The papers on Shakespeare and Burns are suggestive but not new.
21. De Kay, Charles. "George Fuller, Painter," Magazine of Art,
12 (September)., 349-54.
Fuller admired and was influenced by W, sharing with him a New
York City background, interest in commonplace subjects, and failure to
appeal to the common people both valued. W "is a poet for writers, for
strong natures loving the unconventional, and for readers weary of much
verse." Impressionism is important for both,
201
1890
BOOKS
1. ,*Ellis, Havelock. The New Spirit.
Reported in CHAL. Reprinted: 1892.3 (q.v. for annotation).
2. F [orman], H. B[uxton]. "Walt Whitman." In Celebrities of the
Century. Ed. Lloyd C. Sanders. London: Cassell, pp. 1046-48.
Biographical sketch, showing W's preparation for preaching the
gospel of democracy and the natural man. He may be termed a prophet,
the most absolute optimist, more at one with the external universe than
"perhaps anyone whose writings are extant" and possessing firmer faith
about the soul. "His perfectly primeval outspokenness" and "want of
attention to form" must be accepted as part of his religion.
3. Herringshaw, Thomas W. Local and National Poets of America.
Chicago: American Publishers' Association. "Walt Whitman," pp.
193-94. Portrait.
One-paragraph biographical sketch. Leaves is "a record of the
author's thoughts, in song— solely of America and to-day." Extracts.
4. Holmes, Oliver Wendell. Over the Teacups. Boston and New York:
Houghton, Mifflin and Co., pp. 234-38.
Reprint of 1890.16.
5. Ingersoll, Robert G. Liberty in Literature: Testimonial to Walt
Whitman, An Address Delivered in Philadelphia, October 21, 1890.
New York: Truth Seeker Co., 77 pp. Portrait.
Discarding customs and rules, W spoke his true thought, proclaiming
the gospel of the body, denying human depravity. Leaves, like the Bible
and Shakespeare, cannot be judged by only a few lines. W believes in
democracy and liberty, paints vivid pictures, uses no rhyme and meter
but rather the true essence of poetry, symbols. He finds revelation
202
everywhere, not in narrow creeds. "Cradle" and "Lilacs" are explicated.
W is the poet of childhood, youth, manhood, and old age. He has lived
his philosophy, accepted life, "voiced the aspirations of America";
"above all, he is the poet of Love and Death." One becomes part of all
life through Leaves. (The address is quoted extensively in 1890.19.)
6. Johnston, J. Notes of Visit to Walt Whitman, etc., in July, 1890.
Bolton: T. Brimelow & Co., 46 pp.
Reprinted: 1898.9. Revised: 1917.4; 1918.8.
Describes W, his home, habits, conversation, opinions, sympathy,
magnetism, keen senses; Johnston's visit to Brooklyn and West Hills to
see W's early friends and home. Andrew Rome describes W as he knew him.
John Y. Baulsir, a ferry pilot Johnston meets by chance, recalls with
fondness W and his book. Sandford Brown, a former student of W, recalls
him favorably, describing his habits and thinking. Visits to Herbert
Gilchrist and Burroughs are described. W's personality offers the
tonic influence of nature and personifies camaraderie.
7. Symonds, John Addington. Essays Speculative and Suggestive, Vol. 2.
London: Chapman and Hall. "Democratic Art. With Special Reference
to Walt Whitman," pp. 30-77.
Reprinted in part: 1893.3.
W exemplifies Democratic Art, cherishing the art and literature of
the past but looking ahead, seeking in the people themselves a robust
character. He realizes America's spiritual inadequacy. Of contemporary
figures, only Millet and the Russians would meet W's approval.
Extensive quotations, especially from Vistas.
8. Woodbury, Charles J. Talks with Ralph Waldo Emerson. New York:
Baker and Taylor Co., pp. 62-63, 128.
Reprint of 1890.9.
Adds description of Emerson's disapproval of W coming to dinner
203
without his coat ("though undoubtedly he enjoyed the unrestrained man
fwd democratic poet, despite the odour his verses perspire','),
PERIODICALS
9,. Woodbury, Charles J. "Emerson's Talks with a College Boy."
Century Magazine, 39 (February), 62|y.
Reprinted: 1890.8.
Records conversations with Emerson in the late 18601s, including
vhis praise for W "'until he became Bohemian,'" and explanation of
Thoreau's interest in W.
•10. Bucke, Richard Maurice. "'Leaves of Grass' and Modern Science."
Conservator, 1 (May), 19.
Reprinted: 1893.4.
W, no trained scientist, "dips into all conceivable subjects"
without striking a false note. Might his "inner light" serve him as
accurately in those areas where we cannot check him?
11. *Guthrie, William Norman. "The Apostle of Chaotism." University
of the South Magazine (May).
Reprinted: 1897.4 (pp. 343-48).
W's best work is truly poetry. His mannerisms are enumerated and
condemned. Explanation of his "Nihilistic Theology," "Chaotistic
Ethics," "Fan-Fetichism," "Neo-phallicism," unrepresentative of America
12. #Random, Roderick. "Letters to Men: of Note. To Walt Whitman, in
America." Wit and Wisdom (17 May).
Your philosophy is easier "for simpletons like Thoreau and Walt
Whitman" than for people with "knowledge of Mayfair." You have
Milton's reforming fervor and sweeping vigor but not his antique grace
or "majestic and mellifluous roll," although you have many beautiful
and tender lines and couplets. You are less asinger than a prophet and
exhorter, helping us to freedom of spirit.
204
13. Kennedy, William Sloane. "The Quaker Traits of Walt Whitman.”
Conservator, 1 (July) t 36.
Reprinted: 1893.4. Also used in 1896.5.
W, empowered by the spiritual Inner Light from his Quaker ancestry,
exhibits such Quaker traits as tolerance, plainness, sincerity.
14. Trumbull, Jonathan. "Walt Whitman's View of Shakespeare."
Poet-Lore, 2 (July), 368-71.
W reveres Shakespeare's works but believes them "inadequate as
applied to America." Shakespeare tells nothing about himself; W tells
all that he can, but leaves much to conjecture. Heroism is only "part
of the great message of humanity" in each.
15. T[raubel], H. L. "Walt Whitman's Birthday." Chicago Unity, 25
(28 August), 215.
Reports birthday celebration and guests; W's comments.
16. Holmes, Oliver Wendell. "Over the Teacups. X." Atlantic Monthly,
66 (September), 388-90.
Reprinted: 1890.4.
W may claim to have introduced literary independence to America
because of his undiscriminating acceptance of all words and subjects
into his poetry, and the originality of his specimens of a new
literature. "No man has ever asserted the surpassing dignity and
importance of the American citizen so boldly and freely as Mr.
Whitman." But some restraint is preferable to "lawless independence."
17. Anon. "Whitman's Reminiscences— The Old Poet Talks Entertainingly
— His Contempt for Harrison." New York Times (1 September), 3.
Interviews W on his memories,of Emerson, attitude toward politics
and President Harrison, evaluations of Edwin Arnold and Boyle O'Reilly.
18. Bucke, R. M. "The Case of Walt Whitman and Col. Ingersoll."
Conservator, 1 (October), 59.
205
Typical of the nation's plight is the prejudice against W, her
"one great poet," and Ingersoll, her "supreme orator."
19. Anon. "Ingersoll on Whitman." Philadelphia Press (22 October),
11.
Describes and quotes extensively address of the previous day. See
1890.5.
20. Anon. "Give It to the Bard?" Punch, 99 (1 November), 215.
Humorous note regarding Ingersoll's address (1890.5) and a few
statements which might be construed in a sense negative to W and his
reputation.
206
1891
BOOKS
1. Anon. Twenty Modern. Men, from the National Observer. London:
Edward Arnold. "Walt Whitman," pp. 36-41.
W's career and work are full of contradictions; he offended from
wrongheadedness, not prurience. W believes the fallacy that laws of
art must vary with political and social changes. But "he leads you
into the open air," and offers a new rapture in approaching death.
"Cradle" and "Lilacs" outweigh the rest of his work and are unequalled
in America "for passion and depth and nobility of thought." "He will
live as the singer of the old eternal themes": Friendship, Love, Death.
2. Arnold, Sir Edwin. Seas and Lands. New York: Longmans, Green, and
Co., pp. 75-79.
Records visit of September 1889 to W, whom he eagerly sought out as
"one of the chief personages of American literature in his own strange
and unrestrained, albeit most musical and majestic style." Explanation
of his admiration for W's art and truth.
3. Beers, Henry A. Initial Studies in American Letters. New York:
Chautauqua Press, pp. 176-81; also 126, 183.
Reprint with minor changes of 1887.1.
4. Hawthorne, Julian, and Leonard Lemmon. American Literature: An
Elementary Text-Book for Use in High Schools and Academies.
Boston: D. C. Heath and Co., pp. 261-66.
Reprinted: 1896.46.
W's peculiarities were determined not so much by conscious
conviction as by egotism and ignorance. He rejected form because he
207
could not achieve it, yet his method is much more "laborious and
cramping," imitating Isaiah and Jeremiah, replacing their eloquence
with vulgarity. His writings are not consistent with his philosophy:
he "is not a democrat" or "free from prejudice," remaining the fad of
"the aristocracy of culture." Yet as a human being he reveals a
harmonious nature, large sympathies, with an occasional lyrical impulse
("Captain"), suggesting that his value for literature lies in his
portrayal of emotion, rather than thought.
5. Lombroso, Cesare. The Man of Genius. London: Walter Scott, pp.
7, 318.
W is an example of insane artists who pioneer in originality: he
created "a rhymeless poetry, which the Anglo-Saxons regard as the
poetry of the future," with "strange and wild originality."
6. Lynch, Arthur. Modern Authors: A Review and a Forecast. London:
Ward & Downey, 189 pp., passim, especially 41-44, 85-87, 101, 110,
117-21, 123-27, 171-72. No index.
W is the only American writer discussed in this study of what
literature should do. He is "the only immortal" among contemporary
poets, with a sense of values truer than mere artificial training and
conventions, with "his broad, free, flowing discourse of life" which
finds "harmony in the succession of ideas themselves," not in mere
formal metre alone. Reading W is refreshing, with his native atmosphere
of greatness and open air. Even in using the first person, "his regard
of himself is more objective than that of his friends." His poetry
comes out of his own experience and character. Explanation of W's
morality and his musical ear (which listens to meaning).
208
7. National Cyclopaedia of American Biography, Vol. 1. New York:
James T. White and, Co. "Whitman," p. 255.
Page-long biographical sketch, quoting Stedman, powden, and
Stevenson for ideas on W's work. His recent "occasional literary
efforts evince the original and quaint power of his earlier writings."
His acts and personality witness to his wholesome, charitable nature.
8. O'Connor, William Douglas. Three Tales. Boston and New York:
Houghton, Mifflin and Co. "The Carpenter," pp. 211-30.
Reprint of 1868.4.
.9. _ Smith, ,G [eorge] J[ames] . A Synopsis of English and American
~ literature. Boston: Ginn & Co., p. 98.
The typeface for this outline's entry for W indicates a middle
ranking out of a range of five. W is "a singular 'poetical iconoclast'
graceful, tender."
PERIODICALS
*L0. Anon. "'The Good Gray Poet.'" No Name Magazine, 2 (January),
45-47.
W "has succeeded in hoodwinking thousands." He believes in the
levelling tendencies of socialism, the instincts of the passions,
universal equality, and himself. His verses are biblical in form but
with "prurient assumptions," glorifying the meanest of the body's
functions as well as himself. He is an eccentric without morals.
11. Kennedy, William Sloane. "Dutch Traits of Walt Whitman."
Conservator, 1 (February), 90-91.
Reprinted: 1893.4. Used in 1896.5.
The Dutch traits in W outweightthe Quaker, in terms of his
physical appearance and energy. His "profound spirituality" and
"mystical philosophy" differentiate him most from his ancestors.
209
*'12. Traubel, Horace L. "Walt Whitman: Poet and Philosopher and Man."
Lippincott1s Monthly Magazine, 47 (March), 382-89.
Reprinted: 1893.4.
W is "the one unique influence developed" in America's literature-
The effects of his early life and ancestry are described; the impact of
his creative individuality, his sympathy, intentions, reputation.
13. Anon. "Magazine Notes." New York Critic, 19 (21 March), 154.
Calls attention with favor to W's pieces in the March Lippincott1s
as revealing his unimpaired literary faculty; his North American article.
*L4. Curtis, William O'Leary. "Whitman's Defects and Beauties."
The Month, 27 (April), 527-36.
W's works may not be poetry at all. Because present taste is
improving, "literature will produce no more Whitmans." His admirers
..are becoming fewer. His philosophy is unsafe: he never gets beyond
the earth; his egotism leads him to preposterous conclusions about man
-and God. America has still no great national poet.
15. Traubel, Horace L. "Walt Whitman at Date." New England Magazine,
NS 4 (May), 274-92.
Reprinted with many added sentences, some changes: 1893.4.
Physical description; phrenological chart reprinted; personal
qualities and"appeal; illness; habits, personal and literary; lack of
depression,, preference for spontaneity; many anecdotes; his books,
reading, attitudes toward contemporary writers; friends, portraits,
room. His message: literature "is not to tell a life, but to be one."
16. Anon. "Jottings." Boston Evening Transcript (7 May), 4.
"The Epictetus saying, as given by Walt Whitman in his own quite
utterly dilapidated physical case— (and Whitman is particular about
verbalism and even commas) is, 'a little spark of soul dragging a great
210
lummux of corpse-body clumsily to and fro around.'" (Entire item.)
17. D[ole], N[athan] H[askell]. "To Walt Whitman." Literary World,
22 (9 May), 160.
Poem of friendly praise in short free-verse lines.
18. Anon. "Minor Notices." New York Critic, 19 (23 May), 275.
Brief review of Ingersoll (1890.5), whose exaggerated praise of W
is offensive and not needed by or worthy of W.
19. Traubel, Horace L. "Walt Whitman's Birthday. May 31, 1891."
Lippincott's Monthly Magazine, 47 (August), 229-39.
Reprinted without the omissions Traubel notes here: 1893.4.
Records the celebration in dialogue form, "made up from the direct
work of a stenographer and liberal noteskkept by the writer. For lack
of space much that is valuable must be omitted; but Walt Whitman's talk
has been preserved almost in its entirety." Quotes letters honoring W,
with his comments; Bucke on diversity of opinion as to W's supreme
theme; W's contradictory impulses; W's reasons for never marrying.
20. *Traubel, Horace. "Over-Sea Greeting. Walt Whitman's Fame
Abroad." Camden Post (1 August).
21. Anon. "Whitman's Farewell. A Melancholy Book." New York Tribune
(16 August), 14.
Review of Good-Bye. W's faith in his work's endurance should not
be disturbed at this point in his life. This book seems meant to
satisfy his mind; some of the attempts at prose are unintelligible.
22. Morse, Sidney. "The 'Second Annex to "Leaves of Grass."'"
Conservator, 2 (September), 51-52.
Review of Good-Bye, like all of W's writing an expression of his
personality, fortunately lacking the polish which so many miss in him.
2L1
Even the lesser pieces contain the magnetism of his best work.
23. Anon. Review of Good-Bye. New York Critic, 19 (5 September), 114.
W's soul shines through. His "beliefs in future personality,
identity, immortality, a merciful and loving God, progress,
consciousness," and his "protest against materialism" compare with
Tennyson and Whittier. Optimism and the benignity of Death prevail.
24. Anon. Review of Good-Bye. New York Independent, 43 (10
September), 1355.
This book is the work of a worn-out and diseased mind and makes
one feel sorry for W, without disagreeing with the justness of his
treatment by editors. "It will be well for the world when his writings
disappear and are as little talked of as they always have been little
read."
25. Anon. "Goodbye My Fancy." Literary World, 22 (12 September), 305
This "definitive leave-taking" is "pathetic and courageous." W's
poetic manner pleases more in his prose than in his chants. This
volume closes fitly "the literary career of a poet who has with pride
and fidelity obeyed his own genius, and who has sought to collect
within himself, and to understand and speak— in his oracular, strange
voice— the experiences of common humanity."
26. [Howells, W. D.]. "Editor's Study." Harper's New Monthly
Magazine, 83 (November), 962-66, passim.
The English assume there is no American literature because we all
don't write like W. He seems to have exhausted the resources of his
formlessness. He fails ultimately to embrace beauty itself, although
moving in the right direction. He is "suggestive if not representative
_ _ _ _ _ _ 2. 12
of America/' for there are other moods than only his.
27. Anon. "Day with Walt Whitman. How the Venerable Poet Spends His
Lagging Leaden Hours." New York World (8 November), 26.
Describes visit with W f his room ("characteristic of a literary
man"), his appearance, "the same rugged personality, the same terseness
and broadness of expression that have characterized him all through
life." W tells about his habits, eating, mental state, philosophy,
his ideas about the poetry of today.
28. [Gilder, Jeannette L.]. "The Lounger." New York Critic, 19 (29
November), 307.
Records her visit with W, his mind being clear, his room cluttered
>29. Trumbull, Jonathan. "The Whitman-Shakespeare Question."
Poet-Lore, 3 (December), 626-29.
W is beginning to be recognized as a stage in the evolution of
verse, more distinctive and original than that of Shakespeare,
suggesting what is needed for an American poetry. W clubs may help
t -propagate his work, as clubs have helped Browning and Shakespeare.
30. Anon. "Walt Whitman's Good-bye." Pall Mall Gazette, 53
(12 December), 3.
Review of Good-Bye with extensive quotations. The volume has "the
interest of last words," but W is wished a long life.
213
1892
BOOKS
1. *Christie, John. Poems and Prose. Auckland: Bowrinq and Lusher,
p. 197.
Reprinted: McLeod.
W.and America are "large, live, full of power, and teeming with
wonderful potentialities." His poetry and prose are more invigorating
than anything in modern literature. He was no "analyser of life" in
its secondary details. His benign optimism anticipated the future.
2. Clarke, William. Walt Whitman. London:- Swan Sonnenschein & Co.;
New York: Mamillan & Co., 132 pp. No Index.
This is "written.as an exposition rather than as a criticism" of
W's works.
"His Personality": His early life, with much outdoor experience,
prepared him to be the poet of the body. His democratic bearing is
gentle, not coarse, combining New World, Pagan, and Christian
qualities. "His Message to America": He is America's representative
voice, depicting her more fully than other writers. He recognizes
America's shortcomings but fails to provide a serious solution. Yet he
tries to help America find her soul behind all the materialism and
hypocrisy. "His Art": His formlessness allows readers to arrange his
material for themselves. His catalogues, though indiscriminate, are
meant to show participation in the breadth of life. His inability to
___________ 214
distinguish between verbiage and inspiration in his work is partly due
to the lack of intelligent, sympathetic criticism from his compatriots.
His treatment of sex, though physiological, avoids the usual slyness.
He is forward-looking in form and theme, a sacer vates.
"His Democracy": His idea of democracy is neither collectivist nor
individualist entirely. His "dash of barbarism" would be healthy.
"His Spiritual Creed": He accepts evil as leading eventually to good;
believes in spiritual solidarity and individual immortality.
3. Conway, Moncure Daniel. The Life of Thomas Paine, Vol. 2. New
York and London: G. P. Putnam's Sons, pp. 422-23.
Quotes W's conversation on Hicks and Paine, defending Paine
according to Colonel Fellow's testimony.
4. Ellis, Havelock. The New Spirit. London: Walter Scott Publishing
Co. "Whitman," pp. 89-132.
America's figures of world significance are Emerson, Thoreau, and
Whitman. Describes W's growth in compassion during the war; his Greek
spirit; his energy. From his early emphasis on the unity of matter and
spirit, with morality being "the normal activity of a healthy nature,"
he moved to a stronger spiritual emphasis. His religion is strenuous
rather than mystical. Love is central for him, and personal. W "has
opened a fresh channel of Nature's force into human life — the largest
since Wordsworth, and more fit for human use."
5. Foss, Sam Walter. Back Country Poems. Boston: Potter Publishing
Co. "Walt Whitman," pp. 251-52. Photograph.
Tribute poem.
_________________________________________________________________________ 215
6. Harrison, Clifford. Stray Records; or Personal and Professional
Notes, Vol. 2. London; Richard Bentley and Son, pp. 198-202.
Describes his appreciation of Leaves since boyhood; W reveals one's
own thoughts and experiences, although some regard his simplicity as
"almost pointless and foolish." If a part seems hard to understand or
inconsistent, the fault is probably in the reader rather than in W,
because W is such a great artist.
7. Scott, William Bell. Autobiographical Notes of the Life of William
Bell Scott, Vol. 2, ed. W. Minto. New York; Harper and Brothers,
pp. 32-33, 267-69.
Letters from Rossetti and Thomas Dixon, showing the introduction of
Leaves into England, through American traveling bookseller James
Grindrod; their appreciation.
8. [Stedman, Arthur]. Autobiographia or The Story of a Life by Walt
Whitman, Selected from His Prose Writings. New York: Charles L.
Webster and Co. Editor's Note, pp. v-vii.
W approved making the selection, but the editor is responsible for
the selections made. Describes W's prose style as "conversational and
loosely written or elaborately involved."
9. [Stedman, Arthur]. Selected Poems by Walt Whitman. New York:
Charles L. Webster and Co. Editor's Note, pp. vii-viii.
This edition, with the selection of which W had nothing to do,
concentrates on the poems "most nearly in harmony with the poetic era
(though really they have a character quite apart from it)." W may be
recognized here as "wonderfully rhythmic."
21£j
10. Stedman, Edmund Clarence. The Nature arid Elements of Poetry.
Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., pp. 35, 38, 129, 158,
195-96, 252-53.
W's fidelity to nature and America is his greatest achievement.
"His theory of unvarying realism" is in error. Like Sidney Lanier, W
moves toward "an escape from conventional trammels to =something free"
in rhythm. His cosmic power has affinities to William Cullen Bryant.
11. Thomson, James. Poems, Essays and Fragments. London: Bertram
Dobell. "Walt Whitman," pp. 148-95.
Reprint of 1874.1, 1874.2, 1874.4, 1874.5, 1874.6, 1874.7.
Reprinted 1910.6.
12. Traubel, Horace, ed. Good-bye and Hail Walt Whitman: At the
Graveside of Walt Whitman. Philadelphia: Billstein and Son,
39 pp.
Reprint of 1892.48. Also printed in part: 1892.37, 1892.38,
1892.42, 1892.125, 1893.4
Prints in order the readings and addresses at W's funeral, with
opening and closing extracts from W and E. C. Stedman's poem "Good-bye,
Walt" and Harrison S. Morris's sonnet "He was in love with truth,"
both reprinted 1916.5. Thomas B. Harned: Praises his life as cc:.
consistent with his teachings. :
Daniel G. Brinton: W leaves his message of individuality and
freedom in his legacy of verse.
Richard M. Bucke: W was great in personality, understanding,
spirit faith. He still lives, sustaining us by his strength.
Robert G. Ingersoll: His fame is secure as "the poet of humanity,
of sympathy," human rights, America, democracy, life, love, the natural,
217
death. "He has uttered more supreme words than any writer of our
century, possibly of almost any other." He was above all a man. He
absorbed all religions and transcended them. His frankness and -
self-reliance will eventually be praised. Gratitude is due him.
John Burroughs (present at the service but not speaking): W would
have enjoyed the crowds of common people at his funeral. He does not
ignore the ideal of excellence, for he "would lift the average man to a
higher average," without losing the universal qualities.
"Sprigs of Lilac: Clipt from Sundry Letters" (reprinted from 1892.
99 and 1892.113): Letters or extracts honoring W from Tennyson,
Symonds, Rossetti, H. B. Forman, Carpenter, Rolleston, Rudolf Schmidt,
J. W. Wallace, John Johnston, Ellen O’Connor, Elizabeth Fairchild,
Herbert Gilchrist, Sidney Morse, John Herbert Clifford, Kennedy,
Garland, Sylvester Baxter, T, B. Aldrich, I. Newton Baker, John H.
Johnston, Percival Chubb, H. L. Bonsall, Dr. Longaker, Harry D. Bush,
R. W. Gilder.
PERIODICALS
*13. Traubel, Horace L. "Lowell— Whitman: A Contrast." Poet-Lore, 4
(January), 22-31.
Appreciation of Lowell, followed by impressionistic appreciation of
W. W's work is of the elements, not books; he moves the soul, sings
life, emancipates literature, asserts immortality. Quotes W on his
purposes, as "written but a few months ago."
•14. Watts, D. G. "Walt Whitman." Arena, 5 (January), 228-36.
218
W is "the ugly duckling of American literature." He stands for
national and spiritual freedom. His consistently unrewarded .
nonconformity is admirable, in':literature as in his positive attitude
toward the body. Discusses his poems in divisions: "Descriptive
(miscellaneous) poems"; "poems of nature"; "poems of the war"; "poems
of Democracy and man." W merits recognition for what he can offer
America.
15. Anon. "Walt Whitman." Illustrated American, 9 (16 January), 391-
95. Illustrated.
Although W may repel at first, his moral intention then becomes
clear, to "bring men back to sound ways of thinking and feeling." His
syntax and language are problematic, but he achieves profound moments
of passionate expression. Life sketch; quotations from critics and
poems, notably "Cradle" and "Lilacs," which mark him as "inferior to
few, if any, of our time in strength of native genius." W holds
religion to be above all. His central belief is health for body and
soul.
*16. Young, John Russell. "Men and Memories. Walt Whitman, ’The Good
Gray Head That All Men Knew'— Whtiman as He Was in the War Days—
His Silent, Modest Heroism— His Theology and Politics— Reminiscences
by John Russell Young." Philadelphia Evening Star (16 January),
5-6.
Reprinted: 1901.8.
Recalls his early admiration for W's writings and personality,
noting W's flaws and significant influence on literary style. Praises
various works, notably "Banner" and "Lilacs," "the high water mark of
American poetic genius." Concluded 1892.17.
219
17. Young, John Russell. "Men and Memories. Further Recollections of
Walt Whitman— The Interview with Sir Edwin Arnold— The Message from
Tennyson— Whitman's Lesson to Manking— Reminiscences of John Russell
Young." Philadelphia Evening Star (23 January), 5.
Reprinted: 1901.8.
Concludes 1892.16. For another version of this visit with Arnold
to W, see 1900.0. Quotes W's comments on Longfellow, Tennyson, Emerson,
Poe. W's faith is more than paganism. His great work will long endure
without parallel for its depiction of Democracy and his ideals, "the
Dignity of Man and the Divinity of Love."
18. Burroughs, John. "Mr. Howells's Agreements with Whitman." New
York Critic, 17 (6 February), 85-86.
The writer and critic must derive principles from nature and life,
not from accepted works. W is not merely on the way to the way, as
Howells says (1891.26), but is on the way itself — toward realization
in art through actual life. Despite flaws in W's work since his stroke
in 1873, "his work as a whole constitutes one of the master poetic
currents of the world." His revolution will be accepted.
19. Anon. "Walt Whitman Passes Away"; "Sketch of the Poet's Life."
New York Herald (27 March), 16.
Account of W's death; life, noting his early days in New York.
Quotes examples of his verse, a Herald interview. His poetry will
always be a sealed book to the masses, although the beauty and pathos
of "Cradle" may be universally appreciated, and Two Rivulets- contains
"poetic prose and noble verse," with no objectionable features.
20. Anon. "Walt Whitman's Career-His Was a Striking and Most Singular
220
Figure— A Remarkable and Original Literary Character— A Poet Who
Was Little Careful of Rhythm and Had the Courage to Speak Out."
New York Times (27 March), 10.
Describes W's career, life, and largely negative reception, which
was due to his "two ro three indecencies" which would cause less scandal
today, as well as to his technical innovations and egotism, although
others.found them exhilarating. Even the United States was too
restricted a theme for him asi he tried to express the human being in
all aspects. His poems remain unappreciated by most people except for
some of "Drum-Taps" and poems "free from physiological themes" such as
"Cradle," "which ranks with the greatest productions of genius in
English." Perhaps future readers, not objecting to him so, will be
drawn by the exaltation with which he embraced all humanity. C^fvpares
W to other writers and artists.
*
21. Anon. "Walt Whitman Is No More." New York World (27 March).
Account of death, life, works. To the Biblical parallels of his
innovations, W added successfully a discordant aspect of his own
(although his verse might have been equally successful as prose
paragraphs). The high regard in which he is held as a man should be
granted him as a poet, although his poetry should be admired more for
its sincerity than for its form. Praises "Cradle," "Sail Out for Good,
Eidolon Yacht," "Old Ireland." There is much that is exalted in W, but
his egotism intrudes on his patriotic verse.
22. Anon. "Walt Whitman Dead"; "The Poet's Career. How Walt Whitman
Became One of the Most Picturesque Figures in American Literary
Life." Philadelphia Press (27 March), 1.
221
Detailed account of W's end. Extensive account of his life and
career. His poetic revolt may be due to his late start, in contrast
to other great English poets, although his verse if full of the life
of youth. He loved people, and interested the world's great men by his
words. Quotes W on his ideas; 1855.7; 1871.1. Notes translations,
reviews.
23. Anon. "Walt Whitman." Philadelphia Press (27 March), 4.
W is America's most significant figure and most picturesque
original personality, uttering democracy, the secrets of nature, the
revelation of the spiritual. Innovative writers take long to be
accepted; but though generally ignored or disapproved of, except
abroad, he is well-loved for his personality.
24. Anon. "Walt Whitman Dead. End of the"..Long Career of the Poet.
His Noble Services During the War. His Ideas of Poetry and Life-
-Reflections on Death in His Old Age"; "A Sketch of His Career.
Life and Traits of the. Poet of the American People." San
Francisco Chronicle (27 March), 14.
Reports death scene; quotes "one of the poet's last letters";
traces life (with some inaccuracies). He is "a genuine poet, but his
poetical ideas were never more than half wrought out." He relied on
himself, reasoning that the ordinary man could perceive all possible
ideals. His style sometimes juxtaposes the'highest sentiment with "a
dozen lines of rubbish." Praises "Captain."
25.I [Chamberlain, Joseph E.]. "The Listener." Boston Evening
Transcript (28 March), 4.
, 222_
W was unequalled in "his sublime optimism, his splendid faith in
the'health, the goodness, the divinity of the earth and of humanity."
His writings will take care of themselves, fully expressing him. Since
he was a great man, the-, world will eventually discover his great
message.
26. C[hamberlin], J[oseph] E. "Walt Whitman. ’The Good Gray Poet’
Is Dead." Boston Evening Transcript (28 March), 6.
Traces W's life and work; includes anecdotal impressions of W
from the Pfaffians. W made his life serve his ideals.
27. Anon. "The Poet of Democracy." Pall Mall Gazette, 54 (28 March),
1.
W's philosophy and poetic experiments are based on democracy.
"Prayer" symbolizes his purpose. "He dignifies 'the common and the
unclean' by his firm grasp of the essential and the elemental." The
"Whitmanesque frame of mind" his poetry requires is only a mood of
mid-century America; he will be better remembered for such prose as
Vistas, which gives America a needed sense of dignity, and Specimen.
28. Anon. "Walt Whitman. A Memoir of the!Poet." Pall Mall Gazette,
54 (28 March), 3.
Summarizes his life, works; notes earlier Gazette references to i
tiim. Though some projected the coarse naturalism of some passages upon
their author, others saw in Leaves "strength, colour, love, .and
cnowledge of:\nature and the utterances of a genuine poet."
. 22. 3.
29. Anon. "Death of Walt Whitman." London Times (28 March),.7.
W's "uncouth style," departure from norms of prosody, and freedom
of language preclude his general acceptance, but for his earnest
optimism and freshness of thought his influence upon future American
literature is sure, although he was better received abroad. He
"despised the veneer of modern society, and advocated a return to the
original simplicity of character in man, with a love of nature and the
external universe."
30. Anon. "Walt Whitman's Place." New York Evening Telegram (28
March),4.
W's death may reverse the preceding attitude of his countrymen
toward "one of the most unique of her literary products, produced by
American Bohemianism— that is, New York cosmopolitanism.
31. Anon. "Walt Whitman." New.York Times (28 March), 4.
W was not a great poet because he failed in giving a valid form
to his poetical sensibility, which was very great, particularly to the
value ofccommon people and things. His titles and occasional lines and
snatches are more poetical than most of his complete pieces. He was no
founder of a new poetic school; his picturesque personality was of more
interest.
32. Anon. Editorial. San Francisco Chronicle (28 March), 4.
"Had it not been-for his open warfare on religion and on
conventionality Whitman would have enjoyed a far larger measure of
224
popularity, for no one can read him without being struck by his vigor,
his originality and his love of nature." Despite such faults as
excessive cataloguing and occasional coarseness, he is to be admired
for his proud independence and wholesome nature. We need a~selection
of his best work.
33. Anon. "Walt Whitman, 'The Only One.'" Springfield Daily
Republican (28 March).
Tribute to W as "messenger of democracy" and "a great poet."
Traces his life and career, discussing particularly the 1876 edition
and his periodical publications, praising Vistas, various poems.
34. , Conway, Moncure D. "Walt Whitman." Manchester Guardian (28
March), 8.
W incarnated American democracy, scorning therrestraints of verse
and of monarchy. His poetry had an order of its own. Recalls visits
with W and with Emerson; W was not such a rough as he had presented
himself to be. His later editions show little decline from his
earlier vigor, sincerity, largeness, and freedom. Inaccurate account
of W's dismissal by Harlan.
35. [Higginson, Thomas Wentworth]. "Walt Whitman. His Death on
Saturday Evening— His Life and His Literary Place." New York
Evening Post (28 March), 11.
Reprinted: ::1892-64... .Extract reprinted: ’ 1892.57. Revised:
1899.5.
Brief life sketch. The English find "picturesque and novel" W's
"vague sentiment of democracy" which "is to us comparatively trite and
225
almost conventional." His works gained attention "by his superb and
now blighted physique," the exaggerated acclaim of his hospital
services, and their role as curiosities. The earlier revolts against
form by Tupper and Ossian are poorly regarded now. His flaws diminish
in his later work, with shorter lines and better-defined rhythms, as in
"Darest Thou Now, 0 Soul?" But his admirers usually place "Captain"
first. Morbidly concentrating on sex, he lacks the sentiment of
individual love and the ideal side of passion. Testifies to W's "bad
influence" on many young men. His senility, "the retribution for 'the
drench of the passions':".in youith," compared unfavorably with the old
age of Bryant and Whittier.' W is gifted in occasional strains and in
his choice of titles, e. g. "When Lilies last in Door-yard Bloomed"
[sic] , but heiis affected in using foreign phrases and talking of labor
and war. He has such ingredients of a poet's nature as sympathy and a
keen eye, but lacks form, "and without form there is no immortality."
There follow favorable quotations on W from London Standard (unlocated),
1892.28, 1892.29.
36. *Anon. "Walt Whitman." Sydney Morning Herald (29 March), 8.
Reprinted: McLeod.
Public opinion on W may change with his death, but his popularity
and recognition during his lifetime "have not been nearly so cordial in
Sngland as in his own country," because of his treatment of sex and
'his rhythmic extravagances." Sketches W's life. Notes his ability to
encourage thought in his readers, his sympathy with nature and skill in
expressing impressions. His art, though appealing to those "tired of
226
the smooth vapidities and empty jingles of most modern verse," is of
less interest than his vigorous, free and manly thought, which speaks
for the.'.American continent; English readers remain unsure.
37. 3-Anon. "Whitman." Camden Post (30 March), 1.
Account of the funeral; prints speeches of Harned, Bucke, and
Ingersoll (see 1892.12).
38. Anon. "'Good-by, Walt! Good-by from All You Loved on Earth!’
Walt Whitman at Rest in the Cyclopean Tomb Which He Built for
Himself. Simple and Impressive Funeral Services. Notable People
Gathered at This Marriage Feast of Death." New York Evening
Telegram (30 March), 1.
It was "a funeral without tears, and yet a funeral more full of
love than are most funerals." "Lowly working men and women, white men
and colored, rubbed elbows with men whose names are known to fame.
There was affection in the low voices. That which lay before them had
once framed the, personality of a sweet and tender and sympathetic .
friend, and they';knew it." Quotes Harned and Bucke (see 1892.12).
39. Anon. "Walt Whitman's Bequest." New York Evening Telegram (30
March), 4.
In a recent interview in the Telegram (unlocated), W said that
"behind all things is 'the human critter,'" an inspiring thought like
many of his. The world should remember the debt it owes "this rare
genius."
40. +[Bonsall, H. L.]. Editorial. Camden Post (30 March).
227
W was strongly the poet of the people, of "virile democracy and
universal comradeship," and the people love him, whatever the literary
quidnuncs are deciding about "his tunique position' in the world of
letters." His tomb will be the future goal of many pilgrimages.
41. Anon. "Walt Whitman." New York Independent, 44 (31 March), 439.
Revision of 1881.25.
W wrote "the noisiest, noisomest stuff ever called poetry," with
coarse catalogues; lack of structure, music and imagination; "strained
and repulsive" diction. Nothing good can be said of one who has added
nothing good to our literature.
42. Anon. "Whitman Buried as He Wished." Philadelphia Press (31
March), 1-2.
Extnesive account of the funeral, including Ingersoll's eulogy in
full, with quotations from Harned and .Bucke (see 1892.12). Describes
the crowds visiting the body at Mickle Street, the great number of women
and /children present giving evidence that he "was a great favorite with
women and tenderly loved by .'children." Describes the springtime scene
around the tomb, fitting for the poet of nature.
43. "Claudius Clear." "The Correspondence of Claudius Clear: Walt
Whitman." British Weekly, 11 (31 March), 373.
Though opinion .will remain sharply divided over W, a remnant ..will
always consider him "a great and original writer, a true poet, and one
whose conception of the--.universe is common and unclean," yet also
ambraces Night and Death, as in "Death Carol," his finest poem.
228
44. Anon. "Notes and News." Poet-Lore, 4 (April), 229-30.
W's death is "a reminder of his message and of all that his life
will stand for to the world." With his inclusiveness, he was the first
intentional expresser of democracy in literature. His style "was not
only the man, it was also the message." His importance "in the
evolution of poetry and spiritual thought is very great."
45. Haight, B. H. "'Whitman's Legacy.'" Vassar Miscellany, 21
(April), 369-72.
W 'writes his inmost thought in plainest words," with a freedom
of expression based on natural rhythm and spontaneous emotion rather
than fixed laws. He glories in'ithe divinity of his manhood. His
catalogues are endowed with keen sympathy. The" world has yet to accept
the legacy of' himself, representing the Modern Man.
46. Johnson, William H. "Whitman and Jesus." Conservator, 3 (April),
12.
W and Jesus are both examples of powerful personality. To deify
either is to wrong humanity in the name of religion.
47. *Parker, Gilbert. "Walt Whitman." Literary Opinion (April).
Reported in CHAL.
48. [Traubel, H. L., ed.]. "At the Graveside of Walt Whitman."
Conservator, 3 (April), Supplement.
Reprinted: 1892.12.
Prints the readings and speeches from the funeral, and the
Burroughs essay.
__________________________________________________________________________ 229
49. Zubof, Roman I. "Walt Whitman in Eurppe." Writer, 6; (April),
63-65.
A forward- looking American, W recognized "no beauty higher than
creative nature." Records personal experience with the Dublin -
library's refusal to purchase W's immoral book. Readers discover in
his work a force, sentiment, and moral passion that amply compensate
for occasional roughness or looseness of expressioni
50. Anon. Walt Whitman." Black and White (2 April), 424, 426.
Sketches W's life, W has occasional indecencies. He is great in
spite of his theories of formlessness and democracy; most impressive
when he simply confronts nature. The good in him will survive in
anthologies.
51. Anon. "Walt Whitman." Saturday Review, 73 (2 April), 378-79r .
W was truly Sui generis. He stood up against English and Tr-.x.sLzr.:
American criticism for many years, until eulogists "extolled his crazy
and childish politics," "palliated his marine-store catalogues," "went
mad over his daring immitation of the daring little boys?" Eventually
his true genius became recognized, despite his small intellectual
power, and defects in morals, politics and aesthetics. Unlike any
American but Poe, he possed "the three things indespensable- to the
poet-a'poetic phrase, a poetic rhythm, and a poetic imagination,"
evident "even in his most perverse and prosiac moods."
52. Anon. "Walt Whitman." Newcastle (England) Weekly Chronicle
2 30
(2 April), 4.
His life, with its diversified pursuits, was his most memorable
poetry, for his lines often have little music or philosophy. He will
be remembered not as a poet but as a preacher of a lofty though
impossible creed of universal freedom.
53. Burroughs, John. Walt Whitman 30 May 1819-~1892 March 25 [sic]."
New York Criticy 17 (2 April), 199-200.
The disapproval of such men as Lowell and Matthew Arnold may be
significant, yet W is highly regarded by other major figures, including
Europeans whose poetic standard is presumably more highly-developed*
than ours. Testifies to W's culture, sympathetic.nature, physical
presence. Quotes, diary entrydescribing W's response tp'. Swinburne' s
attack. W is the first such man to embody himself in literary
composition. He will endure not for his ideas but for his poetic
emotion, and the spirit behind his work, too often misunderstood.
Later work like "prayer" and "Redwood" is inferior to such earlier
work as "Drum-Taps.' . ' His democratic ideal is not to level all men but
to present the above average man. There follow (PP. 201-202) accounts
of W's life, death, and contributions to the Critic, reprint of 1855.7.
54. C., L. C. and "A~Man of Letters." Walt Whitman and Mr. Watts."
Pall Mall Gazette,. 54 (2 April), 2.
L. C. C.'s letter comments on Watts's criticism (1892.61) and W's
supposed indecency, since quotations from W "figured very largely in
the action about the Slang Dictionary." "A Man of Letters" complains
of the cruel remarks (1892.61) on "this sweet old man." It is not
231
surprising that W should be unintellegible to many, as "startling
originality and absolute large-heartedness" always are "to the pendant
and the cynic."
55. Crinkle, Nym [Andrew Carpenter Wheeler]. "Whitman's moods. Nym
Crinkle Writes of the Dead Poet's Characreristics. What His
Optir.iOp.ti: m±sm."Caused." New York Commercial Advertiser (2 April), 5.
Recalls W in 1856 watching the stream of life in New York, W by
the sea, W in Partons' home. W's quality was cognitive rather than
creative, "a magnificent, simple realism which pondered and wondered,
but never tried to reconstruct." He had not the masculine drive to
struggle and overcome, but rather the feminine endurance being not a
great character but a great poet. The decline of the contemplative in
himand the growth of the reflective parallels the decay of his
magnificent physical powers. Notes the influence of his reading of
Isaiah.
56. [Gilder, Jeannette L.]. "The Lounger." New York Critic, 17 (2
April), 202.
Emphasizes the squalor discribed in 1891.28, aggrieved that W
had to live thus.
57. [Higginson, T. W.]. "Obituary, Walt Whitman." Literary Digest,
4 (2 April), 614.
Extract from reprinted 1892.35
58. Philips Barnet:; "Walt Whitman's Way." Harper's Weekly, 36 (2
April), 318-19.
2 32
After discussing the methods of other writers, quotes Harrison Morris
on W's method. His verse "pulsates with strong life" and "erosive
power," but he was not rapid in composition. Notes, regarding the
Murger Poem W used to recite, that "he knew no French."
59. R., [olleston] , T. W. "Obituary. Walt Whitman.” Academy, 41 (2
April), 325-27.
Reprinted: 1892.97.
W's book grew "not by mere addition, but by an organic process of
growth." Sketches W's life praising his unprotesting death which fit
the mood of poetry. We saw the devine in the ordinary, like Wordsworthr
but surpassed him in proclaiming the whole bodye.and accepting all, thus
becoming perhaps the first truly democratic poet, and a strong example
for future native poetic growth. Praises the power, sincerity, and
"uplifting tide of elemental life" in W's poetry.
60. Watrous, A. E. "Walt Whitman." Harper.''-s Weekly, 36’ (2 April),
317-18. Illustrated.
The question remains "whether his contempts for the arts of r of:: '
poetry has not deprived him of the power of leading others as close
to natures shrine as he always dwelt." He sang the greatness of:
America, It's people and thier possibilities. His war poems were a
great public service. Leaves suffered suppression because of concern
for propriety, for there had never been any questionuas to it's . o r r l
moralty. His spirit innocent and optimistic to the end. His lack of
popularity may be due to his failure to appeal to women.
______________ 233
61. Watts, Theodore. "Walt Whitman." Athenaeum, 99, No. 3362: (2
April), 436-37.
Reprinted: 1892.101.
Regrets that W never came to London, because he had ".'theqgeriius
of a magnetic personalty," although no one would credit him with poetic
genius. W was so highly regarded in England only because he was an
American. Admits his early ridicule of W, but praises him now as "a
fine and manly soul." Such lyrics as the poems about Lincoln and i
about death are "almost sublime," revealing his poetic sensibility.
Heshould have paid more attention':to meter and grammar, although
Biblical rhythm may yet come into its own. W's ideas are rather
muddle-headed; his indecency is harmless.
62. Anon. Editorial. New York Independent, 44 (7 April), 479-80.
Announces receipt of many letters agreeing with 1892.41. Prints
Stedman*s "Good-Bye, Walt" with John B. TabbJs Whitmansque parody-of
it in slangy free verse.
63. Conway, Moncure D. "Walt Whitman. My Little Wreath of Thoughts
and Memories." Open Court, 6 (7 April), 3199-3200.
Notes his Thirty-six year aquaintance with W. Describes W's
funeral, appearance, childlike humilty and delight in approval.
Recalls 1855 visit and-:.a visit shortly before his death. Notes W's
lack of prurient intention7 feeling toward democracy, poetic
pioneering.
64. [Higginson, T. W.]. "Walt Whitman." Nation, 54 (7 April), 262-
64.
234
Reprintrjof 1892-29 with a few changes. Revised 1899.5.
65. Anon. "New York Notes." Literary World, 23 (9 April), 126.
An old friend from W's New York days has called W "the most
genial and kindness of fellows," clean in mind, body, and speech. His
titles are often some of the best things he wrote, with "many a . ri.\
brilliant gem."
66. Anon. Obituary. Literary World, 23 (9 April);, 132t33.
Inaccurate biography. After his early work, W revealed a new
light in "Drum-Taps" and Vistas, which is "too little read and cc:.
considered."
67. Anon. "Walt Whitman." Literary World, 23 (9 April), 126.
W' ."may be called the Columbus of the spirit of the New Continent. '
With "extraordinary grasp" of all, not only the higher emotion and
thought of the people which Whittier and Longfellow portrayed more
wisely. He aimed to express "The infinite fraternity of things" but
fell short because of his artistic flaws and contempt for the natural
reserves of the soul and body. "A great and unique poet'," he will be
remembered for such work as "Captian" and "Cradle."
68. Anon. "Walt Whitman.'.' Punch, 102 (9 April), 179.
Reprinted: 1892.87; 1893.4; 1916.5; and frequently.
Poem in rhymed couplets: "1 The Good Gray Poet' Gone! Brave,
hopeful. Walt!
2 35
69. Anon. "The Funeral." New York Critic, 17 (9 April), 215-16.
Standard account; prints Stedman's poem; comments on W's poem in
April Harper's.
70. Anon. "The Battle Not Yet Ended." New York Critic, 17 (9 April),
216.
Compendium of newspaper comments called forth by W's death.
71. *Anon. "Walt Whitman: An American Poet, Recently Deceased."
Sydney Town and Country Journal (9 April), 19.
Reprinted: McLeod.
W was a "perfectly original" and "most remarkable" figure. His
poetic theory, rejecting the artificial and conventional, is not hard
to understand. Sketch of W's life. W's reputation has gradually taken
firm root in England. His positive personal influence is described.
72. Burroughs, John. "Walt Whitman, After Death." New York Critic,
17 (9 April) , 215.
Letter in response to 1892.35, which the Evening Post editor
rejected. The Post writer's allegations of W's debauched life are
denied. "Adam" represents not W's own experience but the male
generating principle. W is admired not by British lovers of Artemus
Ward and Josh Billings but by such men of culture as Symonds, whose
letter on W is quoted.
73. Cavazza, E. "Walt Whitman." Literary World, 23 (9 April), 126.
Ten-line rhymed poem of tribute.
236
74. Collinson, Joseph. Letter. Newcastle Weekly Chronicle (9 April),
5.
Cites Maclise (1883.1) as source for hoax accusation. But W has
two poems unequalled in America for passion, depth, and nobility of
thought, "Cradle" and "Lilacs." W will survive as the singer of the
eternal themes of-friendship, love and death.
75. +Edgar, Pelham. "Walt Whitman. A Thoughful Essay on His
Personality and Genius.” Toronto Mail (9 April).
W extends the poetic message of the::early years of the century,
revolts against literary conventionalisms. Summary of W's religious
attitudes, friendship, egoism (a factor of strength), democratic spirit,
mystic quality. His verse is "its own magnificent apology."
76. Patterson, James. Letter. Athenaeum, 99 (9 April), 470.
Explains W's introduction into England.
77. Anon. "Adieu, Walt Whitman!" Frank Leslie's Illustrated Weekly,
74 (14 April), 183; photographs of .'funeral, p. 189.
Though subject of much controversy, Wr.was greatly loved, as
evidenced by the crowds at his funeral. "He was the peer of the
greatest, the friend of the most lowly, -.the sympathizer with the
degraded and suffering, and the champion of the oppressed."
78. Anon. Letter. Athenaeum, 99 (16 April), 504.
Correspondence from Philadelphia describing W's funeral, his face
(beautiful in death) , his welcome of-'death.
237
79. A Reader. "Walt Whitman." Newcastle Weekly Chronicle (16 April),
5.
W was an original force in art who made his own way. His revolt
resembled Wordsworth's, but with a much wider range, rejecting
artificial technique and morality. His intentions excuse his
exaggerations and mistakes. He is "the first indication of the new
world possessing any power to produce a literature entirely its own."
He suggested that the literature of the future should be of use, not a
mere plaything.
80. Anon. "Personalia." New York Critic, 17 (16 April), 231-32.
Data on W's estate; commentary on Emerson's displeasure at W's
use of his letter; compendium of English and American commentary.
81. Monroe, Harriet. "A Word About Walt Whitman." New York Critic,
17 (16 April), 231.
Reprinted: Hindus.
The masses do not appreciate W because he too accurately presents
rude reality, preferring more refined works like Longfellow and Bryant.
European readers meanwhile appreciate W's vigorous qualities,
representative of the young democracy. W does not fulfill the artist's
tasks but he gives us specimens from nature.
82. Walford, [Mrs.] L. B. "London Letter." New York Critic, 17
(16 April), 228.
W is currently a popular topic in England, but many haven't read
him, such as an ex-Lord Chancellor of the columnist's acquaintance. W
is an acquired taste which the mother country will probably never
____________ ________________________________________________________ 22E.
acquire. His claims "as a powerful and original plain-dealer with
facts" are now sure, but hisrrugged mode and lack of reticence are
jarring.
83. +Therrell, Dan MacLaughlin. "A Plea for Walt Whitman." New York
News (19 April).
Defends W against recent superficial criticism; describes the
philosophy behind W's treatment of sex. Defends his verse; his sins
against syntax and English grammar support what he expresses. His work
is no worse than that of other "manly poets" ("Venus and Adonis," "Don
Juan," parts of Faust).
84. C. "Walt Whitman." Nation, 54 (21 April), 301.
Letter defending W from accusations of indulgence (1892.35);
explains W's egotism, outspokenness. His formal faults are
insignificant: "good technique is common in the world; insight and
inspiration are rare."
85. Aldrich, Charles. Letter. New York Critic, 17 (23 April), 245-
46.
Testifies to W's situation as described in 1892.56. W's American
friends who help support h'irir.werec.fewer than his-British ones.
86. Anon. "Walt Whitman." New York Critic, 17 (23 April), 245.
Quotes various commentary on W.
87. Anon. Reprint of 1892.68. New York Critic, J 17 (23 April), 245.
_______________239
88. Raffalovich, Andre. Sonnet from The Hawk (unlocated). New York
Critic, 17 (23 April), 245.
89. Anon. "New Publications. Walt Whitman." New York Tribune (26
April), 8.
Review of 1892.9. W's early offensive barbarism is now recognizee
as specifically modern. His distinctive experience of democracy and
love of humanity, with a true poetic spirit, are apparent in this
selection of his best work, which is sure to endure, though his other
work, often rigid and infelicitously expressed, may not.
90. Rankin, President J. E. "Walt Whitman as a Poet." New York
Independent, 44 (28 April), 577.
In response to 1892.41, supports W for hisLAmericanism (evident
in his catalogues), his poetic conceptions (evident in his very titles),
his occasionally thought-fitting form ("In Cabined Ships at Sea"). He
will have influence because he has left crude materials for future
poets. His great poetry includes "Lilacs" and "Captain."
91. Anon. "Book Inklings." Poet-Lore, 4 (May), 286-87.
Reviews Leaves with Lowell and Meredith volumes. "The poet of
human selfhood, ordinarily supposed to be less weighted with the love
of libraries than Lowell, less subtly introspective than Meredith,
supposed to be, indeed, only an untutored child of Nature herself,
seems yet to have written in his ' Leaves of Grass1 — for example, in his
praise of mind-images he calls 'Eidolons'— of all the songs of thought's
supremacy the most unequivocal."
______________ 2ACL
92. Anon. "New Books." Californian, 1 (May), 669.
Memorial tribute to W, whose life was "his greatest poem." The
controversy over'-his worth still rages, because he has produced both
rare and crude thoughts, but public:.'sentiment does not now rank him':
with Longfellow, Whittier and Lowell, and probably never will.
93. Anon. "An Estimate of Walt Whitman." Overland Monthly, 19, 2nd
series (May), 551-57.
Describes1W's personality, which attracted some, repelled others.
W's first volume was tedious, too often prosaic. His obsession with
his version of a philosophy is typical of men who are "neither of the
illiterate nor the educated class, well-read and slightly trained."
He caricatures Transcendentalism; reverts to indecencies which American
literature has been outgrowing. He is an outsider, writing u
unnecessary patriotic verse, ignoring romantic love. He displays
powerful grasp of thought, strength in expressing various themes and
moods, a feeling for outdoor nature, "recurring gleams of real poetry"
in "a good chanting measure," "richiin telling phrases"; some have
entered the vernacular.
94. Burroughs, John. "The Poet of Democracy." North American Review
154 (May), 532-40.
Americans have been shocked by W's frankness in speaking in the
democratic spirit. He reveals the unconscious America, in contrast to
the New England poets, attempting to spiritualize modern materialism.
He involves the reader with himself and his thought. He measures
himself by the largest standards in~an effort to raise the average.
___________________________________________________________________________24i
95. Garrison, William H. "Walt Whitman." Lippincott1s Monthly
Magazine, 49 (May), 623-26.
Recalls his twenty-year acquaintance with W in Camden. Describes
W's conversation, mixed vocabulary, dignified demeanor, insistence on
accuracy in his published work, the power of".his personality.
96. *Pennell, Elizabeth R. "Reminiscences of Walt Whitman."
Literary Opinion, 2 (May), 57-60.
Reported in CHAL.
97. R[olleston], T. W. "Obituary. Walt Whitman." Eclectic Review,
118, NS 55 (May), 693-97.
Reprint of 1892.59.
98. Roose, Pauline W. "A Child-Poet: Walt Whitman." Gentleman1s
Magazine, 272, NS 48 (May), 464-80.
W retained "the visionoof his infancy" throughout life, answering
all questions with the easy assurance of a child, retaining delight and
wonder, loving heart and interest in himself. His depressions are
merely reflections of others.1 1 moods. His imagination, fresh c’
observations, sense of fun. He contains both the giant and the child.
99. "Sprigs of Lilac for Walt Whitman." Conservator, 3 (May), 18.
Reprinted: 1892.12.
Compendium of letters and tributes to W; continued 1892.113.
100. Walsh, William S. "Walt Whitman." Lippincott's Monthly Magazine,
49 (May), 621-23.
W's single-eyed vision which ignored all external distinctions
gave him poetic insight but denied him the more wordly gift of: humor.
__________________________________________________________________________ 242
Perhaps he abandoned too soon the quest for a proper vehicle of
expression which would reach the’masses. "Captain," his most ordered
poem, is perhaps his greatest. He went to Nature, not Art, far his
cadences.
101. Watts. Theodore. "Walt Whitman." Eclectic Review, 118, NS 55
(May), 690-93.
Reprint of 1892.61.
102. Anon. "Walt Whitman's Youth. Mr. Habherton Says that the Poet
Dressed Shabbily and’.-Lived Loosely." New York World (1 May),
Reprint of letter from Chicago Tribune (unlocated).
Recalls W from Brooklyn and’.New York days. His- mentalrpowe’ rs,
likechiscbody, were "permanently weakened by excesses committed in his
prime." His work was "the outcome of accourse of.^determined and gross
indulgence which all of the author's decent friends deplored."
103. +Anon. "Walt Whitman— Life Chronicle." Arcadia (2 May).
Seeks a middle course between "Whitmaniacs and Whitmanglers." W
is far below the masters of song, lacking affinity and respect for
rhyme and meter. His thoughts extended only to the common details of
human existence. Criticizes lack of decency. Notes Samuel Warren’s
prior use of free verse and catalogues in "The Lily and the Bee" (1851).
But Wati'as some poetry.
104. *Anon. "Walt Whitman— By One Who Knew Him." Illustrated
Australian News (.2 May) .
Reprinted: McLeod.
Explains W’s candor regarding sex. Recalls spending an evening
243
with W about ten years ago in Camden; his conversation regarding
expurgation. W was a great poet because his life was also great.
Comradeship, which he actively practiced, is the central note of'his
democracy.
105. Anon. "Walt and Watts. (An Explanation';)" New York Critic, 17
(7 May), 268. Reprinted from Pall Mall Budget (unlocated).
Poem mocking Watts's failure to appreciate W.
106. Argus. Letter. New York Critic, 17 (7 May), 268-29.
Praises Monroe (1892.81), criticizes Walford (1892.82), for W is
appreciated in England by "full-grown men." He is "the only American
American poet."
107. Anon. "Traits of Walt Whitman— Even His Friends Sometimes
Misunderstood Him— His Curious Simplicity and Freedom from
Affectation— An Interesting Conversation between the Poet and
Colonel Ingersoll." New,York Times (8 May), 17.
Describes his unassuming personality, his simplicity as the
quality most influential on literature, various anecdotes, his
diagreement with Ingersoll over immortality.
108. Murray, John. "The Most 'American, American Poet.'" New York
Critic, 17 (28 May), 305.
Responds to 1892.106, offering Whittier for the title, who is
cl'ean and beyond suspicion, as well as American.
109. Anon. "The Contributors' Club. An Impression of Walt Whitman."
Atlantic Monthly, 69 (June), 851-54.
244
Recollection by a woman of an 1883 visit with W and other
meetings, noting his curiosity and harmonious nature. Quotes his
conversation on Homer, Wordsworth, Bryant, the importance of the
physical life. His reading of "Cradle" revealed him as a true ancient
bard.
110. l/ahier, C. D. "Walt Whitman." Chautauquan, NS 6 (June) , 309-313.
Traces W's. life, love for comrades of allikihds. His work,
reminiscent of:’ Hindu and Hebrew translations, has strength, fire, charm,
and "deep, weird rhythm," whatever its limitations as literature. His
acclaimlby the English has had an adverse effect on-American readers.
He combines genius and fatuity. "Ox-Tamer" ( d e s i r e d ) is ignored but or.c
one of his best pieces. W's democracy narrowly rejects the uppercclass.
W will be remembered as a seer, not a poet, with Leaves only a literary
curio.
111. Payne, William Morton. Review of Stedman (1892.9). Chicago Dial,
135 (June), 55.
Inssu'ch a selection, much needed, W's work will live as long as
anything hitherto produced in our literature, because presented without
"cacophonous catalogues" and "vague and vaporous philosophy."
112. [Scudder, Horace E.]. "Whitman." Atlantic Monthly, 69 (June),
831-35.
W's "magnificent physical presence" may be felt even in a poem
like "Myself." His work is distinctly literary, "a deliberate attempt
_____________ . __________________________________________ 245
at an adequate mode of expressing large, elemental ideas." He is best
when celebrating the sensuous: .man. "Captain" is his most accepted work
because of its restraint in a moment of deep emotion; "Sea-Drift"
contains the best examples of rhythm divorced from rhyme. Praises the
patriotic 1855 Preface. W generally lacks universality.
113. "Sprigs of."'.•Lilac for Walt Whitman." Conservator, 3 (June), 26-27.
Reprinted: 1892.12.
Continues 1892.99. Compendium of letters and tributes to W.
114. Anon. "Whitman's 'Selected Poems.'" New York Critic, 17 (11
June), 323.
The selection (1892.9) is good, but W's place is yet to be
decided. Perhaps he does contain the foundations of a new system of
poetry.
115. Argus. "The 'American' Poet." New York Critic, 17 (11 June), r . ' l .
331.
Letter in response to 1892.108. The American poet is one who
eschews imitating European models, as W alone does. Europeans find
only W as a prophet, Poe as poet, to be new voices in America.
116. Anon. "Walt Whitman." Review of Reviews, 5 (July), 738-39.
Extracts on W from current publications: 1892.112, 1892.110, a
reprint of W's account of writing Leaves in Frank Leslie's Popular
Monthly.
246
117. Traubel, Horace L. "Walt Whitman's Birthday, May 31st."
Conservator, 3 (July), 36.
Records the gathering, notes papers read, quotes conversations,
including comments by Eakins on;.W's awareness of form in art.
118. Anon. "Walt Whitman Again." Literary World, 23 (16 July), 243.
Brief favorable review of 1892.2. Clarke1 recognizes W’s
rudenesses and his chant's chaotic shapelessness, admires W&s great
sympathy and his tremendous egotism, which is not without some
justification.
119. Traubel, Horace L. "Walt Whitman's Last Poem." New York Once a
Week, 9 (16 July), 3.
Describes finding amont W's papers "A Thought for Columbus," and
verifying that it was his last poem. Quotes W's conversation with W
during his last sickness.
120. Baxter, Sylvester. "Walt Whitman in Boston." New England
Magazine, NS 6 (August), 714-21.
Recalls and describes W's activities during his visit to Boston
in April 1881, which Baxter originally wrote up in 1881.6.
121. Black, George D. "Walt Whitman." New England Magazine, NS 6
(August), 710-14.
Describes the effect of W's poetry on him, the varieties of W's
biographical experiences; W as "radical democrat"; his appropriate
rhythm, poetic skill, spiritual perception, Greek-like love of life,
Oriental reverence for death.
_______________________________ 247
122. Gay, William. "Walt Whitman: Poet of Democracy." Australian
Herald. (August), 220-22.
Reprinted: 1893.2; McLeod.
W exemplifies the principle that poetry should induce in the
reader a feeling similar to that in which it originated. In American
literature he is even greater than Emerson, "for with equal insight he
has a larger heart," strengthening readers through his personality.
His magnetic power and spiritual Insight leads to a new poetry, "of the
free individual man."
123. Harte, Walter Blackburn. "Walt Whitman's Democracy." New England
Magazine, NS 6 (August), 721-24.
W will survive for his spirit of democracy, if not his poetry,
whichiis uneven. W's work did not appeal to the masses because they
prefer sentimental commonplace to the eternal. "Cradle" reveals a true
poetic imagination. He is best when appealing to the heart,with vivid
pictures and descriptive phrases; when appealing to the minds, he
produced incoherent philosophy. Through his egoism he seeks to arouse
readers to awareness of their true selves, not the false fronts
displayed in public.
124. Burroughs, John. "A Boston Criticism of Whitman." Poet-Lore, 4
(August-September), 392-96.
Responds to Atlantic (1892.112), The major key of Leaves is
appropriate for the poetry of power. W's work is not unrestrained but,
"true to itself, follows its own law," rejecting the traditional
advantages of poetic art. His egotism is not narrow but the egotism of
democracy. He offsets the belittling of men by specific disciplines.
__________________________________________________________________________ 248.
125. [Traubel, H. L.]. "Notes and News." Poet-Lore, 4 (August-
September), 461-70.
Quotes, as in 1892.12, the'funeral ceremonies: "the recitations
in full, the addresses in part."
126. Wyzega, M. de. "News and Notes." Literary World, 23 (2.7 August),
297.
Quoted from Revue Blue on his opinions of American poets: W,
"the magnificent and noble old- man," was "every inch a poet."
127. Boughton, Willis. "Wait Whitman." Arena, 6 (September), 471-80.
W's words have more encouragement regarding death than his .rior.
friends could express at his funeral. He is a fresh force in our
literature, Vistas helps to understand Leaves. His ambition to create
an American poem and sing the. modern man is a grand conception worthy
of a great ".literary man. The perplexing "Myself" is explained. W may
be criticized for Adam" and for inattention to art, but he created such
true poetry as "Cradle" and "Spider." He wrote for the people but they
are not yet ready to understand him.
128. Anon. "Walt Whitman." New York Critic, 18 (3 September), 116.
Favorable review of Clarke (1892.2). W leads the reader along in
his optimisms arid exuberance, so one overlooks the "artistic atheism" of
his lines for their rhythm of the heart that anyone can respond to;
they are readily translated. He appeals to those to whom essence is
more important than form.
249
129. Anon. "Walt Whitman as Revealed in His Prose Writings." Chicago
Dial, 13 (16 October), 249.
Brief review of Stedman (1892.8). To know W thoroughly one must
know his prose, here readily available. "These pages, so full of the
subjective revelation of self" and "a poet's joy in,nature" resemble
Thoreau's.
130. D. "Walt Whitman. (I.)" Spirit Lamp, 2 (4 November), 39-44.
Praises W as the voice of democracy and individualism, relying
not on the past but on experience and the heart. His love extends to
all. His greatness lies in what he does with the eternal themes of
Love and Death. His acceptance of death as an element of life
encourages emphasis on'.the present.
131. Anon. "Autofoiographia." Literary World, 23 (5 November), 391.
Review of 1892.8. Praises W's prose as poetic and revealing
himself.
132. Habberton, John. One-paragraph review of Stedman (1892.8).
Godey's Magazine, 125 (December), 642.
The eccentric poet's life could not be better expressed then
here.
?5D
1893
BOOKS
1. Garland, Hamlin. Prairie Songs. Cambridge and Chicago: Stone and
Kimball. "A Tribute of Grasses. To W. W.," p. 116.
Reprinted: 1893.4; 1916.5
Poem.
2. Gay, William. Walt Whitman, The Poet of Democracy. Melbourne,
Sydney and Adelaide: E. A. Petherick & Co., 48 pp.
Three articles reprinted from Australian Herald, 1892 (unlocated).
Preface, 1893: Seeks to vindicate W's message, for his excellence
overshadows his defects.
I. Sketches W's life and his work's reception.
II. Traces his work after 1855, his health. W is crude but not
prurient in treating "the great fact of parenthood."
III. Reprint of 1892.115.
3. Symonds, John Addington. Walt Whitman: A Study. London: John C.
Nimrno, 160 pp. xxxv, pp. on W's life. Illustrated. No index.
W's immortality was assured by 1860, for nothing he wrote after
that is greater. The elements of W's creed (each expounded in a
separate section) are: "religion, or the conception of the universe;
the personality or the sense of self and sex; then love, diverging into
251
the amative and comradely emotions; then democracy, or the theory of
human equality and brotherhood." W's religion recognized the immanence
of God and the divinity in all things; "Square Deific" explains his
thought. Sexual and comradely love are both necessary for "a
completely endowed individuality." W rejects notions of woman as the
weaker sex. "Calamus" elevates friendship to a spiritual level;, it has
a sensuous side but does not sanction physical desire, although such is
not condemned. It is a "force for stimulating national vitality." The
democratic spirit discussion reprints much of 1890.7, with some
rearrangement and the deletion of material not pertaining to W. W
chose a new attitude toward literature as well as a new form. His:',
form and style are significant as well as his content. He has produced
excellent poetry, despite such defects as lists, sparseness of humor,
"accent of swagger." Metaphorical description of the feel of W's work;
record of his own experience reading it and its effect upon him.
4. Traubel, Horace L., Richard M. Bucke, Thomas B. Harned. In Re Walt
Whitman. Philadelphia: David McKay, 452 pp.
— [Traubel]. "A First and Last Word": W had cosmic breadth,
involvement with all men and life, absolute candor. This book
supplements 1883.2, as W himself intended.
— Symonds, John Addington. "Love and Death: a Symphony," pp. 1-
12; Poem.
— Reprints of 1855.4; 1855.6; 1856.4 (here ascribed to W for the
first time), pp. 13-32.
— Traubel, Horace L. "Notes from Conversations with George W.
252
Whitman, 1893," pp. 33-40: Strictly quotes George's own reminiscences
about W's character, habits and attitudes toward the family, especially
earlier in life.
— Reprints of 1870.3, jbp. 41-55; 1892.68, p. 56.
— Bucke, Richard Maurice. "The Man Walt Whitman," pp. 57-71: One
must know the man to know his work. Considering him as a poet is a
misconception. He passed beyond his own generation. Describes his
intellectual stature, extraordinary senses, faith in immortality.
— "Letters in Sickness: Washington, 1873," pp. 73-92: Letters
from W to his mother and others, reprinted in Wound-Dresser.
— Burroughs, John. "Walt Whitman and His Recent Critics," pp. 93-
108: Surveys memorial articles which reveal more appreciation for the
man. Describes a symposium on W in a Chicago daily (unlocated).
Praises W's power, care with words, vital personality. W is a bard or
prophet rather than a poet, "unartistic rather inartistic." W
counterposes self-assertion against1 the belittling of man by the
perverted prevailing notion of Christianity.
— O’Connor, William Douglas. "'The Good Gray Poet:' Supplemental/
pp. 149-57: An unpublished letter to the Boston Transcript, dated
January 23, 1866, further explaining his views on censorship and
Leaves.
Sarrazin, Gabriel. "Walt Whitman," translated by Harrison S.
Morris from La Renaissance de la Poesie Anglaise, 1798-1889, pp. 159-94
W counteracts the pessimism of contemporary Europe. "I. Pantheism":
For W God and Nature are one. He surpasses the spirits of Renan and
253
Hegel, giving affirmation not argument. "II. The New World": "Walt
Whitman is not an artist, he is above art." W reveals correspondences
between the soul and the external world, looks toward the ideal
Democracy. "III. Leaves of Grass": Extensive quotations, revealing
the physical feeling of W. "IV. Walt Whitman": W is a man,
associated with the masses, manual labor, patriotism. He preaches by
example. Sketches his life (from 1883.2), noting his very American
shifts in occupation. Quotes Leaves extensively throughout, with many
passages presented in the notes in French translation. Abridged:
Miller.
— Reprints of 1891.11, pp. 195-99; 1891.12, pp. 201-11; 1890.13,
pp. 213-14.
— Lancaster, Albert Edmund. "To Walt Whitman," p. 212: Sonnet.
Reprinted: 1916.5.
— Knortz, Karl. "Walt Whitman," translated by Alfred Forman and
Richard Maurice Bucke, with deletions, pp. 215-30: Explains W's form,
ideas in Vistas (which helps to understand his poetry), the themes of
Leaves. W is the poet of identity, of the modern era, of the wholeness
of the human personality. He is truly Christian in his acts.
— Schmidt, Rudolf. "Walt Whitman, the Poet of American Democracy,"
translated by R. M. Bain and Richard Maurice Bucke, with deletions, pp.
231-48: Through his verse and form W produces the effects of nature
and America. "Myself," "Adam," "Calamus" are explained with their
democratic and spiritual purposes. W brings about the feeling of life
in the reader. "Salut" presents an "all-comprehending world V
solidarity." Discussion of W's struggle between pantheism and
______________ 254
democracy and his rarely-surpassed poetic gifts. Explanation of the
ideas of Vistas, a new literary type.
— Reprints of 1890.10, pp. 249-51.
— Rolleston, T. W. "Walt Whitman," translated by Alfred Forman
and Richard Maurice Bucke, with deletions, pp. 185-95: W's work
supremely represents this age. He follows the German philosophic
method of working toward the central actuality of things rather than
concentrating on phenomena. Describes the workings of his intellect,
his basic principles. He will last because his profound intellect is
combined with a wealth of poetic power and a real personal influence.
Reprinted in part: Hindus.
— Prints a complete version of 1891.19, pp. 297-327. Reprint of
1893.1.
— Bucke, Richard Maurice. "Walt Whitman and the Cosmic Sense,"
pp. 329-47: Describes cosmic sense; uses W as an example because of
his change presumably in June 1853, as described in "Myself" 5. This
material is used in an expanded version in 1901.1.
— Whitman, Walt. "Immortality," pp. 349-51: His ideas on
immortality, based on a transcription of his conversation with
Ingersoll in 1890.
— Harned, Thomas B. "The Poet of Immortality," pp. 353-61:
Leaves is a religious book. W reveals Christ-like qualities. His
spiritual life was a growth, not a sudden conversion as Bucke says.
W's.personal belief in immortality, preference for natural over formal
religion, is verified through Harned's personal recollections of W.
_______________________ 255
— Morse, Sidney H. "My Summer with Walt Whitman, 1887," pp. 367-
91: Recalls first meeting W in 1876, then describes his experience
with him while working on his sculpture of him in 1887: various
anecdotes, the farmer Johnson's visit, attitude toward labor problems;
quotes what W wrote in third person for Morse's notebook regarding his
ideas, intention, situation; quotes other material from his notebook
on W's conversation; an Emerson anecdote; letter to Morse from W.
— Longaker, Daniel. "The Last Sickness and the Death of Walt
Whitman," pp. 393-411: His first interview with W in March 1891; W's
condition throughput his last year; some of W's conversation; notes of
the post-mortem ("Another would have died much earlier with one-half
of the pathological changes which existed in his body."), which
revealed no traces of debauchery bringing about his decline.
— Wallace, J. W. "Last Days of Walt Whitman," pp. 413-35:
Extracts from letters from Traubel to the Bolton group and to Bucke
from December 21, 1891, to W's death, tracing the course of W's
condition to reveal "authentic glimpses" of W and his "deportment and
spirit." Also short letters from W and Warren Fritzinger.
— Williams, Francis Howard. "Walt Whitman: March 26, 1892," p.
436: Sonnet.
— Traubel, Horace L. "At the Graveside of Walt Whitman," pp. 437--
52: Reprints the addresses and readings from the funeral, from 1892.12,
with introductory note (pp. 437-38) describing the throngs honoring W
at his house and the funeral. W "eluded the darkness" and "reappeared
in us," who take up "'the burden and the lesson' eternal of life."
256
Throughout the volume are extracts from W's correspondence with
Rossetti and Dowden; from criticism (O'Grady, 1875.9; Lynch, 1891.6;
Buchanan, 1887.2; Macaulay, 1882.73); Lanier's letter to W.
5. Triggs, Oscar L. Browning and Whitman; A Study in Democracy.
London: Swan Sonnenschein & Co.; New York: Macmillan & Co., 145
pp. No index.
To form a more complete notion of democracy, the individualism of
Emerson and Thoreau must be balanced by the notion of union, brotherhood
and love in Lowell and W, who enshrined Lincoln as embodiment of this
democratic faith in the "Commemoration Ode" and "Lilacs," America's
chief poetic contributions to the world. W is the world's completest
embodiment of the democratic sentiment, in person and poems. Compares
W with Millet, Blake, Jefferies, Browning. Last of the romanticists,
W does not lose himself in Nature but looks for its revelations to man.
For Browning and W life is a quest for "self-realisation with reference
to eternity." W emphasizes equality, belief in the good, immortality,
individuality.,and community. W did for poetry what Wagner did for
music; both are profound thinkers like Browning; all three emphasize
consonants rather than vowels in their verse; they link literature with
life.
6. Wendell, Barrett. Stelligeri and Other Essays Concerning America.
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, pp. 142-43.
W in his form represents the spirit that may inspire the American
literature of the future. Though uncouth and inarticulate, he can make
you feel how the New York ferries are fragments of God's eternities.
This material used in 1900.13.
___________________________________________________________________12i>Z_
PERIODICALS
7. Traubel, Horace L. "Walt Whitman the Comrade." Conservator, 4
(March), 7-8.
Impressionistic account of W's impact on the reader. His book was
a lesson, centering on love, equality, freedom. "He offers you
yourself."
8. Burroughs, John. "Whitman's and Tennyson's Relations to Science."
Chicago Dial, 14 (16 March), 168-69.
"W and Tennyson were fully abreast with science," but responded
differently, Tennyson with his intellect, W with his imagination. W,
rather than Tennyson, will reveal new meaning to every age. Most of
this article incorporated into "Science" chapter of 1896.1.
9. Cheney, John Vance. "Walt." Californian Illustrated Magazine, 3
(April), 553-61.
Reprinted 1895.2.
A slangy, informal consideration. W's aura of wildness is
necessary for his teachings, such as "the forgotten fact that we are
not born with our clothes on." W describes not contemporay America but
an earlier America, "the raw period before.4 literature was," requiring
the reader to fashion the poem for himself. Admiration for "Lilacs"
has been confused with patriotic sentiment, for it has no great merit
as verse. W's ideas on death and democracy have been better stated
elsewhere, but he gives us the stuff of life and a fresh outlook.
10. Lockwood, DeWitt C. "The Good Gray Poet. (A Biographical Sketch.)"
Californian Illustrated Magazine, 3 ’ (April), 579-86.
Popular sketch of W's life and reception, based on 1883.2. His
258
theme was man, thoroughly perceived and portrayed. The real reason W
never married was "his inability to find that 'right person.'" Recalls
seeing W for the last time at his 1887 New York Lincoln lecture.
11. Burroughs, John. "A Glance into Walt Whitman." Lippincott's
Monthly Magazine, 51 (June), 753-58.
Leaves moves through the trappings of the reader's mind to touch
his sense of real things. It gives the impression not of art but of
nature and life at first hand. W has freshness, objectivity, "a
disregard for details," "an atmosphere of health and sanity,"
especially in relation to sex. W's criticism is affirmative rather
than destructive. His preference for the laboring man over the
gentleman meets the needs of "a highly refined and civilized age."
12. Anon. Commentary on reader's poll. New York Critic, 19 (3 June),
372.
In the tabulation of votes for most popular American work, W makes
a very poor showing.
13. Anon. "An English Critic of Walt Whitman." New York Critic, NS 20,
OS 23 (22 July), 48.
Favorable review of Symonds (1893.3), who reveals how W could
inflame cultivated Englishmen, much as Socrates did his discijbles.
14. Lewin, Walter. Review of Symonds (1893.3). Academy, 44 (2
September), 185-87.
At last "an adequate estimate" of W. Surveys significant works on
W. Summarizes Symonds’ s-discussion, which perhaps goes to excess in
________________________________ 25.9
explaining what W did not mean regarding the passionate element of
friendship and also explaining W's motives as scienfitic. W's
temperament was more artistic than scientific or theological, more
religious than artistic. Leaves is a biography of the human soul,
hence the need to include sex. Symonds does not pay sufficient
attention to W's artistic concerns, evident in ihis continual revisions.
He includes all aspects of life, ignoring any coherent system. His
candor is refreshing, his craving for affection understandable. His
role as prophet was somewhat self-imposed, but his personal influence
is abundantly proved.
15. Anon. "Walt Whitman." Temple Bar, 99 (October), 252-59.
W's "paean to Democracy," in a new and national literary form,
"throbbed with the lusty life of America." Somewhat exaggerated
biographical sketch. "His splendid egotism" sustained him until he won
"national regard and affection," more for his life than for his work.
He transforms his flaws into triumphs. His form displays careful work
and admirable consistency. The 1855 Preface is perhaps his noblest
poetry. He will be significant to coming poets and to America and the
world.
16. Traubel, Horace L., R. M. Bucke, Thomas B. Harned. "Walt Whitman
in War-Time. Familiar Letters from the Capital." Century Magazine,
46 (October), 840-50. Engraved portrait of 1863.
Reprinted: 1898.3.
Explanatory note prefacing letters from an upcoming volume entitled
"Hospital Letters" (actually The Wound-Dresser, 1893.3), published not
260
for literary merit but for light on W's "expansive personality."
The letters, from December 1862 to June 1864, are primarily "direct
confessions of son to mother, couched in all the simple verbal beauty
of manly love and reverence."
17. Habberton, John. One-paragraph review of 1893.3. GOdey1s Magazine
127 (November), 623.
Symonds takes W too seriously, as most English critics do;
Americans hardly recognize poetry in W. The reasons he offers for
terming W a great genius are "too indefinite to win many to his way
of thinking."
18. +C[hadwick], J. W. "Literature. Walt Whitman." Christian
Register, (2 November), 698.
Review of IhRe I (1893.4), a disservice to W, who does not need such
defending; one has only to pick up his work to escape from this
atmosphere of excessive adulation and appreciate W for oneself.
19. Payne, William Morton. "Whitmaniana." Chicago Dial, 15 (16
December), 390-92.
Review of InRe (1893.4), necessary for the student of W or American
literature, but too eulogistic. His "fanatical devotees," praising his
faults and virtues alike, keep the cultivated public from realizing his
true stature. Description and evaluation of contents.
261
1894
BOOKS
1. Garland, Hamlin. Crumbling Idols: Twelve Essays on Art Dealing
Chiefly with Literature, Painting and the Drama. Chicago and
Cambridge: Stone and Kimball, pp. 9, 11, 39, 45, 73, 117, 189.
W announced the period of literary breaking-away in America, "but
could not exemplify it in popular form," being rather the prophet.
"The real literature of America could not be a polite literature." "He
voiced its force, its love of liberty and love of comrades."
2. Linton, W. J. Threescore and Ten Years 1820 to 1890:
Recollections. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, pp. 216-17.
Recalls seeing W in Washington and Camden, and his fondness for the
"fine-natured, good-hearted, big fellow," "a true poet who could not
write poetry." Brief comment on W's war work and recognition for it.
3. Norton, Charles Eliot, ed. Letters of James Russell Lowell. New
York: Harper and Brothers Publishers, Vol. 1, pp. 242-43.
Letter to Norton (October 12, 1855), in response to his of
September 23 (see 1913.7): recalls W at the Democratic Review;
disagrees with Norton over W's worth, for an artist needs not mere
power but self-restraint as well, and should not aim at originality.
4. Sanborn, F. B., ed. Familiar Letters of Henry David Thoreau.
Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Co., pp. 321, 339-41,
345-49.
Reprint of letters from 1865.1, which are reprinted: Miller,
Hindus.
Notes Thoreau's gift of Leaves to his English friend Cholmondeley,
whose stepfather threatened to throw it in the fire upon hearing some
262
of it read. Describes Thoreau"s visit to W; notes strong impression W
made on Thoreau"s life. Quotes extracts from Alcott's diary regarding
his and Thoreau’s visit to W on November 10, 1856 (reprinted with
corrections in Shepard, Journals of Alcott, 19 38). Quotes letter from
Cholmondeley to Thoreau asking about W: Leaves is the first new book
he has seen.
5. Simonds, Arthur B. American Song: A Collection of Representative
American Poems, with Analytical and Critical Studies of the Writers,
With Introductions and Notes. New York and London: G. P. Putnam's
Sons. "Walt Whitman," pp. 107-109; Poems, pp. 109-115.
W's debts to Homer, Shakespeare, Job, Emerson are explained; "his
observation of American barbarism." W terms America's qualities his
own: "pride, carelessness, and generous receptivity." Description of
his subjects and his successful poems, particularly the shorter ones
anthologized here, which fulfill "the artistic conditions of proportion
and unity," and reveal different poetic moods. With less disdain of
literary form, he would have been a much more important figure.
6. Swinburne, Algernon Charles. Studies in Prose and Poetry. London:
Chatto and Windus. "Whitmania," pp. 129-40.
Reprint of 1887.18, with minor changes.
PERIODICALS
7. Burroughs, John. "Walt Whitman and His Art." Poet-Lore,
6 (February), 63-69.
Reprinted in part: 1896.1.
W's abandonment of poetic conventions is equivalent to the
rejection of religious ritual, relying solely upon the spontaneous
motions of the spirit. He is inartistic only when he is ineffective.
He conveys by suggestion, conceals the artist. He uses art, but for
the purpose of reflecting Nature.
■ 261
8. Porter, Charlotte. ’ ’' In Re Walt Whitman' and Other Books on
Whitman." Poet-Lore, 6 (February), 95-101.
Review of Burroughs (1867.1), Bucke (1883.2), Clarke (1892.2),
Symonds (1893.3), In Re (1893.4). W's stated purpose behind his
egotism is "universal self-reliance," which Symonds ignores. Clarke
fails to comprehend W's "pivotal idea of the claims of personality."
The variety of the contents of In Re (described) is appropriate to W.
Bucke deals well with W's personal development but fails to place W in
literary tradition and reveal his artistic debts.
9. Thompson, Maurice. "The Sapphic Secret." Atlantic Monthly,
73 (March), 367.
W mentioned in two paragraphs: Greek realism rather than that of
W, Ibsen, or Tolstoi was the true realism. W was not able to achieve
the freedom and heathen sincerity of ancient man because of "the
difference between original, unconscious nakedness and a belated
bluster about 'truthfulness to nature.'"
10. Burroughs, John. '"The Sapphic Secret.'" Literary World,
24 (17 March), 177-78.
Response to 1894.9. W emulates the Greeks by taking his place
and time as joyously and fearlessly as did they. "He is modern and
alive and forgets the past in his absorption of the present." He
brings to America the needed "un-literary" values the Greeks exemplify.
11. Thompson, Maurice. "Again 'The Sapphic Secret.'" Literary World,
24 (31 March), 211-12.
Response to 1894.10. "Whitman did not sing American civilization"
as the Greek poets sang the Greek, for W emphasizes an un-American,
"Greek nakedness and the 'phallic thumb of Love.'"
264
12. Gosse, Edmund. "A Note on Walt Whitman." New Review, 10 (April),
447-57.
Reprinted: 1894.15; 1896.3.
Because W's work is "literature in the condition of protoplasm,"
his critics find in him reflections of themselves. Every sensitive
person goes through but generally passes out of "a period of fierce
Whitmanomania." Record of his reluctant visit to W in Camden, on W's
invitation, in January 1885. He was taken in by W’s "magnetic charm."
W's theory of "uncompromising openness" strips away social conventions;
W, "a keenly observant and sentient being, without thought," goes
further than Rousseau. W provides self-recognition for readers at a
particular crisis in their development, but is this literary? "Myself"
(described) reveals many happy phrases as well as such flaws as laxity
of thought, bruality, toleration of the ugly and forbidden. W just
misses being one of the greatest of modern poets.
13. Platt, Isaac Hull. "Walt Whitman's Ethics." Conservator,
5 (April),24.
W's ethics proceed from his ideal of universal beauty and goodness
and not from mere obedience to dogma, emerging from the absorption of
W's work.
14. Bucke, Richard Maurice. "Cosmic Consciousness, I." Conservator,
5 (May), 37-39.
Traces evolution of the mind in the human race, leading to cosmic
consciousness, as observed in twenty-three individuals, upon whom this
discussion is based, including W (just mentioned). This material
provides the basis for Bucke's book of the same title (1901.1).
Ooncluded 1894.16.
265
15- Gosse, Edmund. "A Note on Walt Whitman." Littell's Living Age,
201 (26 May), 495-501.
Reprint of 1894.12.
16. Bucke, Richard Maurice. "Cosmic Consciousness, II." Conservator,
5 (June), 51-54.
Concludes 1894.14. Describes onset of cosmic consciousness,
quoting and citing W and others as examples. Those with this faculty
represent the coming of a new race.
17. Platt, Isaac Hull. "The Cosmic Sense as Manifested in Shelley and
Whitman." Conservator, 5 (June), 54-55.
Compares Shelley's concept of the "Life of Life," a spiritually
triumphant force, with the concept of spirit in W's poetry. This
philosophy, a "precocious awareness" in Shelley, matured in W.
18. *Brereton, J. Le Gay. "Hints on Walt Whitman's 'Leaves of Grass.'"
Sydney Hermes (25 July), 10-12.
Reprinted: McLeod.
W's lack of humor prevents him from realizing when he is making
himself look ridiculous. But even in his catalogues each line often
conveys a beautiful and distinct picture. His poetry must be read as a
chant. His work comes out of natural forces; his form is sometimes
perfect. He forces us to use our own intelligence. He loves vastness
but also accurately describes all.natural objects.
19. Astor, W. W. "Walt Whitman's 'Leaves of Grass.'" Pall Mall
Magazine, 3 (August), 709-11.
W embodies the ideal of American democracy. He presents
"brilliant thoughts" and natural impressions but also "the mud
beneath," "the freest possible relations between the sexes," the lack
of distinction among religions. He is at his best when writing without
_______________ , __________________________________________________________________ 2_6ia
affectation, and in a sentimental, retrospective vein, as in "The Dead
Tenor." He has skill at conveying meaning concisely but also has "much
vague utterance and undefined longing and vapoury boasting." He has
survived because of his eroticism. Quotes a nine-line parody, "I am
Walt Whitman."
20. Onderdonk, James L. "Walt Whitman— A Character Sketch."
Altruistic Review, 3 (August), 64-77.
Explains the state of American poetry into which W entered, noting
W's forerunners in themes, purposes, nationalism, even method. Amidst
his flaws, he achieves an "elemental grandeur" in such poems (briefly .
discusse) as "Trumpeter," "Passage," "Cradle." His lines recreate
nature; his attitudes toward death and modern science are noteworthy,
their expression unsurpassed. His true Americanism is not his
unconventionality or efforts to include everything in his catalogues,
but rather "his Lincolnian 'unionism.'"
21. Williams, Francis Howard. "Walt Whitman as Deliverer." Walt
Whitman Fellowship Papers, 1, No. 4 (August), 11-30.
W points away from the Myth of Antiquity by favoring the present.
He delivers from the Art Myth by advancing the growth of art; his art
suffers when he curtails his freedom of expression ("Captain,"
"Ethiopia"). Regarding the Myth of Social Convention, W seeks not to
destroy but to build up, eradicating vice; his sexual poems must be
viewed as referring to an individual epitomizing the race.
22. Bucke, Richard Maurice. "Memories of Walt Whitman." Walt
Whitman Fellowship Papers, 1, No. 6 (September), 35-46.
Describes his meeting with W; quotes W on his work; describes W's
humor, the funeral.
262
23. Savage, M. J. "The Religion of Walt Whitman's Poems." Arena,
10 (September), 433-52.
W was a truer disciple of Christ than is found in many modern
churches. His egotism means that every personality is no less
wonderful than God. His optimism leads to acceptance of the physical,
although he rejects impurity. His acceptance of death was tested during
the war. Extensive quotations illustrate W's ideals; they are compared
to Old Testament poetry.
24. Traubel, Horace L. "Walt Whitman and Good and Evil: a Discussion."
Conservator, 5 (September), 103-106.
Record of a conversation among Bucke and others following a reading
of Leaves: W's egotism, belief in immortality, regard for good and
evil as positive forces, belief in cultural evolution, attitude toward
slavery. Some passages from W are interpreted.
25. Traubel, Horace L. "Walt Whitman and Murger." Poet-Lore,
6 (October), 484-91.
Prints Murger's poem "La ballade de desespere," a literal
translation, and W's rhymed version, "The Midnight Visitor," to reveal
the quality of W's achievement. Quotes comments on it from W and
others. Describes W's readings of his version.
26. Anon. Response to Burroughs (1894.7). Poet-Lore, 6 (November),
577-79.
W was indeed literary, having rewritten his first draft of Leaves
five times before satisfied. He was receptive to the Past.
27. Burroughs, John. "Whitman's Self-Reliance." Conservator,
5 (November), 131-34.
Same as 1894.28. Reprinted: 1896.1.
W fulfilled Emerson's ideal of the self-reliant man, remaining
268
heroic in the face of rejection. Leaves "is a monument to the faith of
one man in himself." W's egotism united him to his fellows.
28. Burroughs, John. "Whitman's Self-Reliance." Walt Whitman
Fellowship Papers, 1, No. 9 (November), 51-58.
Same as 1894.27.
29. Larminie, William. "The Development of English Metres."
Contemporary Review, 66 (November), 730-31.
In the matter of irregular, unrhymed metres, W was on the right
track with his revolt, creating more musical lines than Henley and
Matthew Arnold in their efforts and even them much orthodox rhymed
verse. If he had combined culture with his great gifts and
understood his principles more clearly, he could have effected a
complete metrical revolution.
30. Brinton, Daniel G., and Horace L. Traubel. ' ! A Visit to West
Hills," Walt Whitman Fellowship Papers, 1, No. 10 (December),
59-66.
Each in turn describes their visit to W's birthplace with Platt.
Anecdotes from townsfolk about young W, remembered as '"naturally
lazy,'" not a church-goer. No one had unpleasant memories of him.
31. Clarke, Helen A. "Walt Whitman and Music." Conservator,
5 (December), 153-54.
W’s love for opera; concept of harmony, projected to the cosmic
level; habit of singing to himself as a possible basis for some poems.
32. Porter, Charlotte, and Helen A. Clarke. "A Short Reading Course
in Whitman.” Poet-Lore, 6 (December), 644-48.
Reprinted: 1895,11; 1919.129 in part.
In response to subscribers' requests, the editors suggest poems to
read to understand W's ideas, concentrating on Love, Democracy, and
Religion.
269
1895
BOOKS
1. Brown, Horatio F. John Addington Symonds: A Biography Compiled
from His Papers and Correspondence. New York: Charles Scribner's
Sons, Vol. I', pp. 404, 412, 413; Vol. 2, pp. 15-16, 70, 130-31,
132, 134, 182, 281, 291, 331, 337.
Generally brief references from Symonds's letters and journal
revealing W's impact on him; some ideas were used in 1893.3.
2. Cheney, John Vance. That Dome in Air: Thoughts on Poetry and the
Poets. Chicago: A. C. McClurg and Co. "Walt Whitman," pp. 144-68.
Reprint of 1893.9.
3. Gay, William. Walt Whitman: His Relation to Science and
Philosophy. Melbourne: Mason, Firth and M'Cutcheon, 48 pp.
Reprinted: McLeod.
W overestimated his poetic calling and intuition at the expense of
intellectual efforts, although he recognized and accepted science,
transforming it into great poetry in "Myself." Because immersed in
reality, he appeals to many who find most modern poetry irrelevant.
W's debts to Hegel are explained. Though W wrote some poetry equal to
the best ("Lilacs," "Trumpeter," "Cradle"), he is best classed with the
modern prophets like Carlyle and Emerson, stinging readers into thought.
4. Hartmann, P. Sadakichi. Conversations with Walt Whitman. New
York: E. P. Coby and Co., 51 pp.
Reprinted: The Whitman-Hartmann Controversy, ed. George Knox, 1976.
Informal account of his acquaintance with W in Camden, 1884-1891.
Quotes their conversation with W's comments on politics, literature.
Recounts his own altercation with Harned over authenticity of his
statements; his efforts to found a W society; visits with Burroughs and
Stedman. 2 70
5. Nordau, Max. Degeneration. Translated from the second edition of
the German work. London; William Heinemann, pp. 230-32.
Reprinted; Hindus.,
W ’s madness, but not his genius, is undoubted. His shameless
outbursts of "erotomania" made his fame. He lacks moral sense; his
patriotism is sycophantic; his "hysterical exclamations" have rejected
form as too difficult. W is compared to Verlaine (as a man); to
Wagner and Maeterlinck (as an artist).
6. Rossetti, William Michael, ed. Dante Gabriel Rossetti: His
Family-Letters, Vol. 2. Boston: Roberts Brothers, pp. 332, 348-49.
Letters to William of 1876 and 1878 support the subscription for W
but question his ranking with great poets or anyone not writing
"sublimated Tupper." But he appreciates W ’s "fine qualities."
7. Stead, W. T., ed. Poems by Walt Whitman. London: "Review of
Reviews" Office, The Masterpiece Library, The Penny Poets, XXVII,
60 pp.
Introductory and explanatory notes for some of the poetry. W's
poems are now available to the average person. W believed in the world
as good, though not blind to its miseries, being rather unconcerned
about his inconsistencies, which reflect his place and time. His
egotism is explained; also his songs of the divinity of sex as "the
supreme outcome of intense affection," sympathy with the individual
soldier in war.
8. Wolfe, Theodore F. Literary Shrines: The Haunts of Some Famous
American Authors. Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co. "A Day with
the Good Gray Poet," pp. 201-1-7.
Record of a visit to W in Camden (date unspecified): his home,
person, conversation, religious and poetic faith, readings of "Lilacs"
and "Cradle," comments on fellow-writers and critics.
212.
PERIODICALS
9. Jackson, Edward Payson. "Whitman and Tolstoi." Conservator,
5 (January), 165-68.
Text of Fellowship lecture and brief summary of subsequent
discussion. Tolstoi and W typify different phases of the Christ-idea;
both are energetic idealists, undeterred by opposition, loving mankind.
10. Fields, Annie. "Oliver Wendell Holmes. Personal Recollections and
Unpublished Letters." Century, 49 (February), 511.
Quotes Holmes, who thought the right thing had not been said about
W: "Emerson believes in him; Lowell not at all; Longfellow finds some
good in his 'yawp*: but the truth is, he is in an amorphous condition."
11. Kennedy, William Sloane. "The Friendship of Whitman and Emerson."
Poet-Lore, 7 (February), 71-74.
W did not know Emerson except from bits in the magazines before
publishing Leaves; prints W's letter to Kennedy denying prior
acquaintance. They truly loved each other, Emerson finding in W his
complement, through his "new friendship among men." His letter (1855.7)
is reprinted. This material is used in 1896.5.
12. Porter, Charlotte, and Helen A. Clarke. "A Short Reading Course
in Whitman." Walt Whitman Fellowship Papers, 1, No. 13
(February), 73-79.
Reprint of 1894.33.
13. Williams, Francis Howard. "Reply to a Critic." Conservator,
5 (February), 182-85.
Answers the various criticisms in Walker Kennedy's essay in North
American Review (1884.14).
14. Clarke, Helen A. "Passage to India." Conservator, 6 (March),
7-10.
Explains "Passage" as tracing the relation of the material
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universe to God, who is here given the most anthropomorphic
conception in literature.
15. Porter, Charlotte, and Helen A. Clarke. "School of Literature.
Poems Illustrative of American History: Poems of Discoveries;
Lowell’s 'Columbus' and Whitman's 'Prayer of Columbus.1"
Poet-Lore, 7 (March), 161-66.
Both poems reveal Columbus's inward character through a key moment
of introspection. Historical information is offered to correlate with
the imaginative conceptions in these poems. Continued 1895.18.
16. Brinton, Daniel G. "Walt Whitman and Science." Conservator,
6 (April), 20-21.
W's poetry reflects the growth of science in his age. A possible
influence may be J. W. Draper's History of Civilization. W's ideal man
is the goal of universal evolution.
17. Anon. "'Passage to India:' A Discussion." Conservator, 6 (April),
24-25.
Quotes several speakers in discussion arising from 1895.14; several
reminiscences of W; Ernest Fenollosa on sounds in W's poetry.
18. Porter, Charlotte, and Helen A. Clarke. "School of Literature.
Poems Illustrative of American History: Discoveries: Lowell's
and Whitman's Columbus." Poet-Lore, 7 (April), 218-22.
Continues 1895.15. W's version accords with actual events. His
Columbus is a man of high spirituality rather than intellectual grasp
in contrast to Lowell's. Both look toward an improved humanity, but W's
Columbus does so for humanity's sake, not out of resentment as Lowell's
Columbus does. Concluded 1895.21.
19. Traubel, Horace L. "Walt Whitman, Schoolmaster: Notes of a
Conversation with Charles A. Roe, 1894." Walt Whitman Fellowship
Papers, 1, No. 14 (April), 81-87.
______________ 213-
Includes biographical sketch of Roe, born 1829, a former student of
W's at Flushing. Transcribes his conversation recalling W at that time.
20. Clarke, Helen A. "Does Whitman Harmonize His Doctrine of Evil with
the Pursuit of Ideals?" Conservator, 6 (May), 39-43.
W presents the opposing elements of positive and negative forces,
with unwavering faith in complete good as the end of the process.
21. Porter, Charlotte, and Helen A. Clarke. "School of Literature.
Poems Illustrative of American History: Discoveries: (Conclusion.)”
Poet-Lore, 7 (May), 275-77.
Concludes 1895.18. Presents quotations from Columbus's letters anc
log? study questions for the two poems.
22. Bucke, Richard Maurice. "Was Walt Whitman Man?" Conservator,
6 (June), 55-58.
Reprinted: 1895.48.
Responds to’ Nordau (1895.5) . As a physician, explains critieria
for degenerative insanity and shows that W meets none of them. Rather,
he was exceptionally sane, like others who have transcended their
period (Gautama, Jesus, Dante, Shakespeare, Blake, Balzac, etc.).
23. Burroughs, John. "Emerson's and Lowell's Views of Whitman."
Conservator, 6 (June), 51-52.
Emerson was most critical of W's intentions and concepts; Lowell
was concerned with form, so W offended his sense of craft.
24. Clifford, John Herbert. "The Fellowship of Whitman."
Conservator, 6 (June), 51.
Two sonnets.
25. Clifford, John Herbert. "The Whitman Propaganda is Whitman."
Conservator, 6 (June), 59-60.
Reprinted: 1895.51.
Defends the Fellowship against its detractors, emphasizing
comradeship in W's faith, not mere discipleship.
26. Garland, Hamlin. "Whitman and Chicago University." Conservator,
6 (June), 60-61.
Reprinted: 1895.54.
Comments on Triggs's course on W, in which Garland participated.
27. Harned, Thomas B. "Whitman and the Future." Conservator,
6 (June), 54-55.
Reprinted: 1895.55.
Explains the elements of W's philosophy relevant for the future:
his democracy, spiritual force, religious nature, consistency with
science, courage in facing death.
28. Howells, W. D. "First Impressions of Literary New York."
Harper's New Monthly Magazine, 91 (June), 62-74. Illustrated.
Reprinted: 1895.29; 1900.7; Hindus.
Describes his warm meeting with W at Pfaff's in 1860, later meeting
him in Boston. In W he always found "the sense of a sweet and true
soul," with "spiritual dignity." W's work is valuable as a liberating
force, more for intention than effect. Howells prefers W's prose.
29. Howells, William D. "Walt Whitman at Pfaff's." Conservator,
6 (June), 61-62.
Reprint of W reminiscence in 1895.28.
30. Maynard, Laurens. "For Whitman*s Birthday— 1895." Conservator,
6 (June), 53.
Short poem in blank verse.
31. Thurnam, Rowland. "To Walt Whitman." Conservator, 6 (June), 55.
Sonnet.
32. Traubel, H. L. "Collect." Conservator, 6 (June), 49-51.
Summarizes W's message: man's divinity, the social bond, reform.
33. Triggs, Oscar Lovell. "On Degeneracy." Conservator, 6 (June),
52-53.
2 75
Criticizes Nordau (1895.5). W's "mysticism, egotism, and
emotionalism" may be taken as symptoms of insanity, but as a whole
personality, W embodies the higher thought and movements of the time.
34. Triggs, Oscar Lovell. "Whitman the Most--Significant and Most
Universal of Modern Writers.” Conservator, 6 (June), 60.
Reprinted: 1895.59.
W has "advanced nearly every important modern movement." Leaves is
the best example of the revelation of personality in the history of art.
Triggs notes the course he is teaching on W at the University of Chicago
(see also 1895.26).
35. Wallace, J. W. "The Task Left Us by Whitman." Conservator,
6 (June), 60.
Urges better fulfillment of the democratic duties W bequeathed.
36. Monck, Emily Christiana. "Greek Traits in Walt Whitman."
Poet-Lore, 7 (June and July), 327-32.
W is Greek in the treatment of common objects, nature, the body.
Like the Greek he rejoices in life, but he also perceives the joy of
death, and enlarges the democratic spirit to include the lowest classes.
He suggests the absence of art which is the highest art. His fidelity
to himself is an emulation of the true Greek spirit.
37. Miller, Kelly. "What Walt Whitman Means to the Negro."
Conservator, 6 (July), 70-73.
Reprinted: 1895.56.
Contrasts W's treatment of the negro as equal with the patronizing
attitude of other writers. W does not depreciate culture and refinement
but seeks to lift all up, not drag any down. W points to a higher
destiny for the negro. He has given.the largest human expression of
charity.
276
38. Platt, Isaac Hull. "The Justification of Evil." Conservator,
6 (July), 75-76.
Explains good and evil as relative terms, as shown in W's works,
which reveal his faith in the universe.
39. Abbey, Charlotte L. "Chanting the Square Deific." Conservator,
6 (August), 90-91.
Uses this poem as an object lesson for the soul's growth to
perfection through encountering and transcending evil.
40. Burroughs, John. "Two Critics of Walt Whitman." Conservator,
6 (August), 84-87.
Stedman's charges of narrowness and artificiality are outdated
(1885.2). W may be both a critic in prose and a prophet in poetry,
judging the actual and praising the ideal. Gosse (1894.12) notes
appropriately the demands W makes on the reader.
41. Coming, J. Leonard. Letter quoted in "Collect." Conservator,
6 (August) ,81.
The U. S. Consul at Munich explains why he called W a saint.
42. Born, Helena. "Whitman's Altruism." Conservator, 6 (September),
105-107.
Reprinted: 1902.2.
Egoism must precede true altruism. W's life answers all
allegations of selfishness through his self-sacrifice.
43. Fawcett, Edgar. "Two Letters Indicating the Con of Whitman."
Conservator, 6 (September), 103-104.
W is "sin excessively unrepresentative writer." His work is
"repulsive smd sensational; the simple recording of impressions cannot
constitute literature."
44. Bucke, Richard Maurice. "The Pro of Whitman." Conservator,
6 (October), 119-20.
______________, ____________________________________________________________ 2X1
Brief response to 1895.43. Not all readers can appreciate W.
45. Burroughs, John. "Walt Whitman Again." Conservator, 6 (October),
116-19.
Response to 1895.43. W is admired by great men of letters but is e .
prophet rather than being concerned with mere form. He formulated his
own laws for poetry, in which he did not fail.
46. James, William. "Is Life Worth Living?" International Journal
of Ethics, 6 (October),2-3.
Reprinted: 1897.7; Hindus.
Describes W's optimism and joy in living, as a mood that would make
the question in the title of the essay unnecessary.
47. Porter, Charlotte. "Hafiz and Whitman." Conservator, 6 (October),
122 .
Compares the unity of soul and body and the idealization of human
love in Hafiz and W. W's philosophy is the more complete and developed.
48. Bucke, Richard Maurice. "Was Walt Whitman Mad?” Walt Whitman
Fellowship Papers, 2, No. 9 (November), 23-30.
Reprint of 1895.22.
49. Burroughs, John. "More Whitman Characteristics." Conservator,
6 (November), 131-33.
Summary of W's religion: purity of man, acceptance of physical
death, immortality of the ego. His faith was an expression of feeling,
not a systematic philosophy; he embodied cosmic forces. His value is
lot as a rebel or patriot but as a great nature.
50. Clifford, John Herbert. "The Fellowship of Whitman." Walt
Whitman Fellowship Papers, 2, No. 2 (November), 3-4.
Reprint of 1895.24.
51. Clifford, John Herbert. "The Whitman Propaganda is Whitman."
Walt Whitman Fellowship Papers, 2, No. 8 (November), 19-22.
Reprint of 1895.25.
___________________________________________ zia_
52. Porter, Charlotte. "The Purport of Browning's and Whitman's
Democracy- Mr. Breeze's Paper: Part IV of Annals of a Quiet
Browning Club." Poet-Lore, 7 (November), 556-66.
At the end of this mock record of a meeting W is described as
unmatched in justifying the democratic idea with an evolutionary
philosophy of history. W and Browning are similar in regarding the poet
as leader, but differ in,art and spirits W is "the seer," Browning "the
maker-see." They appeal to different audiences but all classes should
respond to their message. Continued 1895.63.
53. Fawcett, Edgar. "Some Responses and Ruminations." Conservator,
6 (November), 135-37.
Responds to 1895.44 and 1895.45. Wonders how Ingersoll could
agree with W's attitude toward religion. Explains the importance of
art, which W ignores.
54. Garland, Hamlin. "Whitman and Chicago University." Walt Whitman
Fellowship Papers, 2, No. 6 (November), 13.
Reprint of 1895.26.
55. Harned, Thomas B. "Whitman and the Future." Walt Whitman
Fellowship Papers, 2, No. 7 (November), 15-18.
Reprint of 1895.27.
56. Miller, Kelly. "What Walt Whitman Means to the Negro." Walt
Whitman Fellowship Papers, 2, No. 10 (November), 31-41.
Reprint of 1895.37.
57. Titherington, Richard U. "The Good Gray Poet." Munsey's Magazine,
14 (November), 138-46. Illustrated.
Traces W's reputation (quoting several estimates), life, anecdotes
from J. H. Johnston. Praises his totally unmercenary character,
practical religion, naturalness of Leaves. Describes W's visit to some
Indian prisoners in Kansas (1879) and their responsiveness to him.
279
58. Triggs, Oscar Lovell. "Some Aspects of Whitman's Art."
Conservator, 6 (November), 137-39.
Responds to Fawcett (1895.43). W's form involves "rhythmic
movements and melodic and harmonious vocalism," is better heard than
read, compares with operatic recitative. His impressionistic method is
part of his democratic protest against aristocratic artifice. Like
Rousseau and Wordsworth, W places truth to self above conformity.
59. Triggs, Oscar Lovell. "Whitman the Most Significant and Most
Universal of Modern Writers." Walt Whitman Fellowship Papers, 2,
No. 5 (November), 11-12.
Reprint of 1895.34.
60. Anon.. "Walt Whitman Fellowship Branch Meetings." Conservator,
6 (December), 158.
Describes paper by Mrs. Mary Dana Hicks on W*'s pictorial quality.
61. Hamed, Thomas B. "Walt Whitman and His Boston Publishers."
Conservator, 6 (December), 150-52.
Reprinted: 1902.8; 1902.9.
Quotes letters from 1881 between W and Osgood and other publishers
concerning financial and publication matters. Continued 1896.10.
52. Monck, Emily Christiana. "Walt Whitman in Relation to
Christianity." Poet-Lore, 7 (December), 607-13.
W's ideas are essentially Christian: love (even for sinners),
sgalitarian sympathy, pride in the soul's exaltation into oneness with
God, immortality, human divinity.
63. Porter, Charlotte. "Mr. Breeze’s Paper Discussed: Part V. of
Annals of a Quiet Browning Club." Poet-Lore, 7 (December), 619-24.
Continues 1895.51. Includes an argument over W's catalogues which
have "a more vital relation to his thought than Homer's catalogue of
ships has to his plot." W's inclusiveness is a new kind of selection.
280
64. Sanborn, F, B. "Emerson in His Home." Arena, 15 (December),
16-21.
Recalls Emerson giving him a copy of Leaves, being impressed with
it anew in 1862; the Saturday Club's rejection of Emerson's request to
invite W in 1860; Mrs. Alcott, Mrs. Emerson, and Sophia Thoreau being
unwilling to meet W; W's 1881 visit; Emerson's recollections of meeting
W in 1855; his praise in 1878 for W's early but not his recent works.
2.81 .
1896
BOOKS
1. Burroughs, John. Whitman: A Study. Boston and New York: Houghton
Mifflin Co., 268 pp. No index.
Extracts reprinted: Hindus; 1896.48; 1897.17; 1897.30; 1897.39.
Explains W's principal ideas and spirit, answering various
criticisms. Briefly traces his life and describes his personality, from
personal acquaintance, using W's letters and commentaries by those who
knew him. Contents as follows: "Preliminary"; "Biographical and
Personal" (using material from 1866.20 and 1867.1); "His Ruling Ideas
and Aims"; "His Self-Reliance" (including reprint of 1894.27); "His
Relation to Art and Literature" (including partial reprint of 1894.7);
"His Relation to Life and Morals" (including reprint of 1896.18); "His
Relation to Cutlure" (including reprint of 1896.27); "His Relation to
lis Country and his Times"' "His Relation .to Science" (including partial
reprint of 1893.8); "His Relation to Religion"; "A Final Word.”
2. Donaldson, Thomas. Walt Whitman the Man. New York: Francis P.
Harper; London: Suckling and Galloway, 278 pp. No index.
Illustrated.
Purpose: "to give the public an insight into the life and habits of
VIr. Whitman, as I saw it and them," because "in some phases, there was
nore in the man than in his works." Concentrates on the period when
Donaldson knew him, 1876-1892, relying extensively on notes made shortly
after his conversations with W, describing his personality, attitudes,
relationships, writing method. Prints W's correspondence with Tennyson,
letters from other admirers, correspondence concerning the raising of
282
funds for his hospital work, letters accompanying the donation of money
for W's buggy (notably from Twain, Gilder, Holmes, Whittier). Much
biographical information, many anecdotes.
3. Gosse, Edmund. Critical Kit-Kats. London: William Heinemann; New
York: Dodd, Mead. "A Note on Walt Whitman," pp. 95-111.
Reprint of 1894.12.
4. Hubbard, Elbert. "Whitman." In Little Journeys to the Homes of
American Authors. No editor. New York and London: G. P. Putnam's
Sons, pp. 169-96.
Reprinted: 1900.12.
Slight errors in biographical details. 'Describes W, with "the look
of age in his youth and the look of youth in his age that often marks
the exceptional man." Describes Camden, his one visit to Mickle Street
in August 1883, W's conversaton and warmth. Above all poets, W is the
poet of humanity and comes across in his poetry as honest, fearless,
masculine, concentrating on the beauty and glory of the present.
5. Kennedy, William Sloane. Reminiscences of Walt Whitman. Paisley,
Scotland, and London: Alexander Gardner, 190 pp. No index.
Extract reprinted: Hindus.
I. "Memories, Letters, etc.": Recalls visits with W, various
aspects of his later life. Prints, quotes or cites letters to, from,
and about W. Reprints material from 1895.11, 1891.11, 1890.13.
II. "Drift and Cumulus": Explains the organization of Leaves
according to W's main concerns, The Body, Democracy, and Religion, the
key words being respectively Joy, Love, and Faith. The lack of humor
and the egotism are appropriate, but W did have flaws. W alone among
poets reveals completely humanity, society, and the world, and
particularly America in all aspects. "Eidolons" and "As I Ebb'd" are
explicated.
283
III. "The Style of Leaves of Grass": W's Wagner-like melody
demands perspective of the ear. "Lilacs" is compared to Milton's
"Lycidas." Explanations of W's form, poetic development, some flaws,
idiosyncratic words. W is objective and personal, letting the
appropriate pictures or objects convey his emotions.
6. Matthews, Brander. Introduction to the Study of American
Literature. New York: American Book Co., pp. 224-25.
W was "an intense American," looking to the future confidently.
His verse is often beautifully rhythmic. "Captain" is praised.
7. Santayana, George. The Sense of Beauty: Being the Outlines of :
Aesthetic Theory. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, p. 112.
W.is an example of making chaos sublime. . "Never, perhaps, has the
charm of uniformity in multiplicity been felt so completely and so
exclusively."
8. Symonds, John Addington. A Problem in Modern Ethics: Being an
Inquiry into the Phenomenon of Sexual Inversion Addressed
Especially to Medical Psychologists and Jurists. London, pp.
Ill, 115-25, 130.
Uses W's prose and verse to exemplify the emotional intensity
between men which is an element of the homosexual's feelings, although
W's letter to Symonds seemed to shun suggestions of inversion. But his
poetry neither indicates specifically nor rejects physical desires.
W's ideal may be the means of controlling and elevating the "darker,
more mysterious, apparently abnormal appetites."
PERIODICALS
9. Bucke, Richard Maurice. "Mr. Fawcett's Objections to Whitman
Reviewed." Conservator, 6 (January), 170.
284
Clarifies his commentary in 1895.44. The value of W's verse rests
on "splendid flashes of insight" and "profound spiritual visions"
comparable to those of the great mystics.
10. Harned, Thomas B. "Walt Whitman and His Boston Publishers."
Conservator, 6 (January), 163-66.
Continues 1895.61. Extracts of W's correspondence with publishers
in 1882 with explanatory comments. Includes list of proposed
expurgation s.
11. Traubel, Horace L. "Conversations with Walt Whitman." Arena,
15 (January), 175-83. Two photographs.
Recalls W's personality, habits, conversation, quoting him on
religion, politics, social problems, his work and purpose. He used
America in a symbolic, not merely national sense.
12. Bom, Helena. "Poets of Revolt: Shelley, Whitman, Carpenter, I."
Conservator, 7 (March), 8—10.
Reprinted: 1902.2.
These poets are seers and reformers, indebted to communion with
nature and the unseen. They are robust personalities, celebrating
comradeship, and defending democracy and women's rights. Continued
1896.17.
13. Eldridge, Charles W. "Who Were Walt Whitman's 'Boston
Publishers'?" Conservator, 7 (March), 3-4.
Calls attention to Thayer and Eldridge as W's first Boston
publishers, and to the unauthorized copies made from the 1860 plates.
14. Garrison, Charles G. "Whitman and Woman." Conservator,
7 (March), 6-7.
W presented natural laws, yet was reviled in woman's name. Woman
contributes to the evolving world the moral impulse, which W perceived.
285
15. Kennedy, William Sloane. "Alfred Austin on Walt Whitman."
Conservator7 (March), 7-8.
Comments on the new poet laureate's opinion of W (see 1869.1).
16. Trowbridge, J. T. "Whitman Inspired and Uninspired: and his
'Eroticism.'" Conservator, 7 (March), 4-5.
The first two editions contain W's best work; the rest represent
progressive decline. Osgood is defended for not publishing W; Emerson
was offended at the "gross animalism" of W's later poems.
17. Born, Helena. "Poets of Revolt: Shelley, Whitman, Carpenter, II."
Conservator, 7 (April), 23-26.
Reprinted: 1902.2.
Continues 1896.12. Discusses Shelley, then W, who celebrates all,
refuses to support causes. Peaceful comradeship is his ideal; he
favors literature rather than politics as the force to alter
civilization. Concluded 1896.20.
18. Burroughs, John. "Whitman's Relation to Morals." Conservator,
7 (April), 19-22.
Reprinted: 1896.1.
In his democracy and tolerance W sums up and justifies the modem
world, with the goal of universal brotherhood. Leaves depicts the
archetypal man in America. W does not deal with human love in
domestic, sentimental, and conventional terms, or in terms of Byron's
"hectic lust" and Swinburne's "impotence."
19. Williams, Francis Howard. "A Woman Waits for Me." Conservator,
7 (April), 26-27.
Response to 1896.16. W's works are defensible as true
representations of nature. "Woman Waits" may be read as "a splendid
metaphor," containing excellent poetic passages.
__________________________________________________________________________
20. Born, Helena. "Poets of Revolt: Shelley, Whitman, Carpenter,
III." Conservator, 7 (May), 36-37.
Reprinted: 1902.2.
Concludes 1896.17. Discusses Carpenter, with comparisons to W.
W appeals less directly to the sympathies than Shelley or Carpenter.
21. Bucke, Richard Maurice. "Notes on the Text of 'Leaves of Grass,'
I." Conservator, 7 (May), 40.
Explains the factual source of the shipwreck sequence in "Myself."
22. Eldridge, Charles Wesley. "'A Woman Waits for Me'T The Personal
Relations of Emerson and Whitman." Conservator, 7 (May), 38-39.
Response to 1896.16. Emerson remained friendly and was not
offended at the publication of his letter. He urged W to censor the
poems in order to achieve popular acceptance, but never accused W of
immorality.
23. Salt, H. S. "Shelley and Whitman." Conservator, 7 (May), 40-41.
W is the true successor of Shelley, originator of a new democratic
ideal and a poetic revolt. Critics treated them comparably.
24. Triggs, Oscar Lovell. "Walt Whitman: His Relation to Science and
Philosophy." Conservator, 7 (May), 44-45.
Response to Gay (1895.3). Contemporary forms of monism
contribute more to understanding W than the idealism of Kant or Hegel.
25. Brinton, Daniel G. "Whitman's Sexual Imagery." Conservator,
7 (June), 59-60.
W's use of erotic imagery is akin to primitive ritual symbolism.
26. Bucke, Richard Maurice. "Notes on the Text of 'Leaves of Grass,'
II." Conservator, 7 (June), 59.
Questions whether W knew French. Scraps of Rousseau in W's
literary remains may have been translated from the original.
______________________ 287
27. Burroughs, John. "Whitman's Relation to Culture." Conservator,
7 (June), 51-53.
Reprinted: 1896.1.
Reveres W as a personality. He escaped the literary disease, from
artificial culture to "more radical and primary sources."
28. Cronin, David Edward. "A Few Impressions of Walt Whitman."
Conservator, 7 (June), 57-59.
Recalls seeing W in New York, meeting him at Pfaff's in 1857;
reading Leaves- early in the war. He was not "degenerate" in the
medical sense of the word, but a natural, virile man.
29. Kennedy, William Sloane. "A Peep into Walt Whitman's Manuscripts."
Conservator, 7 (June), 53-55.
W constantly revised, thinking on paper a great deal. The drafts
of "Come, said my Soul" are discussed. Not all of his changes, though
deliberate and reasoned, were for the better.
30. Roosa, Dr. D. B. St. John. "Walt Whitman." Philadelphia Evening .
Telegraph (30 June).
Reprinted from the New York Mail and Express (unlocated). Recalls
seeing W riding the omnibuses, knowing him at the New York Hospital
where W came to visit the stage-drivers, whom he liked as "strong types
of human character," going with W to Pfaff's (all during 1858-61).
31. Harte, Walter Blackburn. "Walt Whitman and the Younger Writers:
An Interview with John Burroughs." Conservator, 7 (July), 69-72.
Burroughs's recollections of W, explanations of his ideas
(especially regarding sex), W's relations with women, influence on
younger poets, the importance of imitating his spirit, not just style.
32. Porter, Charlotte. "The American Idea in Whitman." Conservator,
7 (July), 73-75.
Reprinted: 1897.49.
288
W's concept of democracy rests on Oneself (individuality); the
Social One, or all other Selves (universal opportunity); and
Progressive Plan (selfism and altruism set inrrelation for the
progress of all).
33. Wallace, J. W. "Whitman's Expanding Influence in England."
Conservator, 7 (July), 75.
The upcoming unabridged English Leaves should be a great success.
34. Bucke, Richard Maurice. "Notes on the Text of 'Leaves of Grass,'
III." Conservator, 7 (August), 88-89.
Explains source for the sea-battle account in "Myself."
35. Abbey, Charlotte L. "Freedom and Walt Whitman." Conservator,
7 (September), 106-107.
W's concept of freedom does not affirm the status quo, but assumes
the individual has the means of achieving freedom. One must struggle
to free oneself from the bonds of society and materialism.
36. Homans, Nathalie W._ "Walt Whitman as a Creator of 'Trash.'"
Conservator, 7 (September), 108.
Reprints letter in the Christian Register (unlocated), defending
W against the charge of a Christian Register paragraph (unlocated),
also reprinted here.
37. O'Connor, William Douglas. "Another Recovered Chapter in the
History of 'Leaves of Grass.'", Conservator, 7 (September),
99-102.
Account, originally written September 16, 1882, of Chainey's
suppression for publishing W's proscribed poetry.
38. Triggs, Oscar Lovell. "Whitman's Lack of Humor." , Conservator,
7 (September), 102-103.
Reprinted? 1899.30.
289
W occasionally used satire but generally avoided humor in favor of
higher aspirations. His faith allowed him to see beyond the
incongruous which is the source of most humor.
39. Carpenter, Edward. "Wagner, Millet and Whitman: In Relation to
Art and Democracy." Progressive Review, 1 (October), 63-74.
Reprinted: 1898.4.
These three are revolutionaries in art and commentators upon it,
bringing us back to earlier, more communal and natural concepts of art.
W "had to enlarge the boundary of human expression" for the new things
he had to say: his "intense consciousness of the Actual," his quick
shifts of poetic identity. All three have intense sense of the whole
and acceptance of the universal, intense realism and acceptance of the
actual, and prophetic sense of the life of the People.
40. Kennedy, William Sloane. "To Keep Green the Memory of a Gallant
Man." Conservator, 7 (October), 116-18.
Tribute to O'Connor, quoting his comments on W in private letters;
discusses OlConnor's treatment of W in 1868.4.
41. Lanier, Sidney. "Whitman's Large and Substantial Thoughts:
His Beautiful Rhythms." Conservator, 7 (October), 122.
Letter written to W in 1878 (also in 1893.4), disagreeing with
W's artistic form but declaring his love for W.
42. Kennedy, William Sloane. "Sursum Corda, Comrades I" Conservator,
7 (November), 140-41.'
Acceptance for W is coming. Although a Yale professor has termed
Riley "'the real poet of American democracy,'" he does not measure up
to W.
43. Traubel, Horace L. "Julian Hawthorne's Several Opinions of Walt
Whitman." Conservator, 7 (November), 136-37.
__________________________________________________________________________290
Quotes Hawthorne’s criticism of W (1891.4) and his Camden speech
praising W (1889.5)» questioning which is his true opinion.
44. Crosby, Ernest H. "Maurice Maeterlinck the Mystic, II."
Conservator, 7 (December), 147-49.
Notes several similarities of Maeterlinck to W.
45. Hawthorne, Julian. "Hawthorne-Lemmon 'American Literature.'"
Conservator, 7 (December), 151-52.
Response to 1896.43. Defends the criticism in 1891.4 as his own,
and not a change of opinion.
46. Hawthorne, Julian. "Walt Whitman." Conservator, 7 (December),
15 3-54.
Reprint of 1891.4.
47. Traubel, Horace L. "Hawthorne-Lemmon 'American Literature.'"
Conservator, 7 (December), 152.
Answers 1896.45.
48. Traubel, H. L. "Whitman: A Study." Conservator, 7 (December) ,
155-56.
Appreciative review of 1896.1 with extensive quotation.
Burroughs might have included a chapter on W as a mystic. Continued
1897.17.
291
1897
BOOKS
1. Bucke, Richard Maurice, ed. Calamus: A Series of Letters Written
During the Years 1868-1880 by Walt: Whitman to a Young Friend (Peter
Doyle). Boston: Laurens Maynard, 173 pp.
Reprinted: 1902.4.
Introduction: The letters are printed verbatim, representing a
third of the actual total correspondence. Visits with W by himself and
Burroughs are described. W's friendship with Doyle was representative,
as shown by samples of letters (1867-68) to other young friends.
Account of interview with Doyle, recording his comments on W ’s habits,
personality, reading, opinions. Summary of Doyle's life. Chronology
of W's life and publications.
2. Burroughs, John. "Walt Whitman." In’A Library of the World's Best
Literature Ancient and Modern. Ed. Charles Dudley Warner. Vol.
39, pp. 15885-891. Selected poems fo-low, pp. 15892-15910.
The nudity of W's subject-matter and style repelled readers but the
newer generation is coming to appreciate his spirit. Sketch of W's
life. W appealed to our concrete every-day sense rather than to our
abstract aesthetic sense. He aimed at a complete human synthesis,
identified poetic with religious emotion. He achieves his own organic
form. He is not didactic. He may not become "a popular poet," but he
will influence poets (both to become more American and to follow
oneself), enlarge criticism. He is among the race's few major poets.
3. Foley, P. K. American Authors 1795-1895. Boston: Printed for
Subscribers, pp. 307-10.
Bibliography of W's published works.
______________________________________________________________ 292
4. Guthrie, William Norman. Modern Poet Prophets, Essays Critical
and Interpretative. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke Co. "Walt Whitman,
the Camden Sage," pp. 244-332; also 343-49 (reprint of 1890.11).
Printed in an individual edition: 1897.5.
5. Guthrie, William Norman. Walt Whitman (The Camden Sage) as
Religious and Moral Teacher: A Study. Cincinnati: Robert Clarke
Co., 105 pp.
Printed in an individual edition, from 1897.4.
Examines W's religious thought under the following headings: "The
Religious Teacher"; "What Is Religion?" (his Quakerism, fusion of
Western and Eastern concepts, Hegelian becoming); "Divine Pride"
(egotism as uniting the soul to God); "Worship" (significance of the
body); "The Problem of Evil" (W's five distinct meanings for evil);
"Salvaton and the Savior" (salvation as growth, poet as savior);
"Immortality" (related to ideal democracy); "Personal Identity"
(relation of body and soul); "Perpetuity of Character" (the soul's
growth through conflict); "!Traveling Souls' and Their End" (W's
belief in many births); "Whitman's Methods and Style" (his poetry as
related to his religion, making a poet of the reader; his flaws as
imposed from within, organic like his strengths).
6. Hill, George Birkbeck. Letters of Dante Gabriel Rossetti to
William Allingham 1854-1870. New York: Frederick A. Stokes Co.,
pp. 181, 183-85.
Letter of 1856 notes Rossetti's dislike of Leaves. Explanatory
notes quote Allingham's letter of 1857 regarding his impressions of W
as pleasant and suggestive but not new and not poetry.
7. James, William. The Will to Believe and Other Essays in Popular
Philosophy. New York: Longmans Green and Co., pp. 33-34, 64, 74.
Reprints of 1895.46 and 1879.4 (with additions not concerning W).
8. Lanier, Sidney. The English Novel: A Study in the Development of
Personality. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, pp. 45-47, 50-65,
121-22. 293
Reprint of 1883.4 with some changes, including the addition of
1883.15, admitting to some appreciation for W.
9. Miller, Joaquin. The Complete Poetical Works. San Francisco:
Whitaker & Ray Co., pp. 59, 222-23 (footnotes).
Recalls his first reading of W; W's visit to Boston and Longfellow
commenting favorably on W and visiting him; fruitless efforts to get W
to write a tribute to Garfield for $100.
10. Painter, F. V. N. Introduction to American Literature. Boston
and Chicago: Sibley & Ducker, pp. 94-95.
"Walt Whitman (1819-1892). Printer, school-teacher, carpenter,
and poet. Principal work, 'Leaves of Grass.' By some assigned a very
high rank; by others scarcely regarded as a poet at all. He is highly
appreciated in England, and his pieces have been translated into
several modem languages." (Entire entry.)
11. Robinson, Edwin Arlington. The Children of the Night: A Book of
Poems. Boston: Richard G. Badger. "Walt Whitman," p. 85.
Poem on the endurance of W's work, although not currently
understood.
12. Tennyson, Hallam. Alfred Lord Tennyson: A Memoir By His Son.
New York: Macmillan Co.; London: Macmillan & Co., Vol. 2, pp.
343-45, 424.
Prints two 1887 letters from Tennyson to W. Quotes Tennyson:
"Walt neglects form altogether, but there is a fine spirit breathing
through his writings. Some of them are quite unreadable from
nakedness of expression."
13. Anoh. "Notes and News." Poet-Lore, 9 (Winter), 154-56.
The original personality of W polarized critics, and still does.
He is not a poseur except in the sense that every writer is: he
__________________________________________________________________________ 294
"posed" in consciously aiming for a new effect in art, although it
seems inevitable to the reader.
14. Porter, Charlotte. "Books on Whitman." Poet-Lore, 9 (Winter),
131-37.
Review of Burroughs (1896.1), Donaldson (1896.2), Kennedy (1896.5).
W's vast system eludes their attempts to organize their material, and
will be better summed up by the more democratic criticism of the
future. Kennedy sheds fine light on W's Hegelianism; he and
Burroughs are suggestive in discussing W's art. The worship of W so
common now suits an Old World mentality better than W's democratic
mind.
15. Middleton, Lamar. "Whitman, the Anachronism." Quartier Latin,
2 (January), 171-74.
Appreciation of W, who proclaims "the gospel of brawn," adoration
of nation; surpasses Wordsworth; was born out of his time, like Wagner.
16. Traubel, Horace L. "Notes on the Text of 'Leaves of Grass,' IV."
Conservator, 7 (January), 171.
Prints two drafts of "Grand is the Seen" and W's comments to
Traubel about it.
17. Traubel, H. "Whitman: A Study, II." Conservator, 7 (January),
173.
Continues 1896.48. Quotes Burroughs (1896.1) approvingly on
W's spiritual import.
18. Cook, George C. "Two Views of Walt Whitman." Dial, 22 (1
January), 15-17.
Review of Burroughs (1896.1) and Donaldson (1896.2). There are
three attitudes to W: "complete non-acceptance," "acceptance so
295
complete that it involves the rejection of his opposites like
Tennyson," and the simultaneous acceptance of other poets with the
ability "to love and be helped by the crude and powerful work of
Whitman without being swept off their feet." Burroughs gets swept
away; he provides insight but should recognize W as an artist only when
he is "in the height and heat of rare emotion." W absorbs the object
rather than becoming one with it, as Shakespeare did. Donaldson's
appealing presentation of the man shows that W's principles "do not,
in a strong nature like his own, lead to evil of any kind."
19. Anon. "Trying to 'Place' Whitman." New York Times Saturday
Review (9 January), 4-5.
Review of Burroughs (1896.1) and Donaldson (1896.2). Emphasizes
the paradox of Burroughs's possessing the very qualities he praises W
for lacking. Burroughs fails to answer adequately the perennial
questions about the reason for W's rough utterances; he over-explains
W's "huge, untamed animalism." The reviewer wonders whether the
vitality of W's work might be declining, and how many people read him..
20. Triggs, Oscar Lovell. "The Primary Condition of Understanding
Whitman." Dial, 22 (16 January), 41-42.
Response to Cook (1897.18), disagreeing with his valuation of the
two books: Donaldson is untrustworthy but Burroughs has placed himself
in mental and emotional relations :to bis .subject. W created his own
audience, demanding identity from his readers, not a cold critical
view, for his book represents a life and appeals "almost wholly to the
will and the moral nature," as many have realized.
21. Anon. "Walt Whitman. More Talk about His Life and Works." New
York Tribune (17 January), III, 2.
296
Review of Burroughs (1896.1) and Donaldson (1896.2). W's teaching
is incoherent, his poetry is not poetry, but he had spiritual vigor
with some poetic feeling. His "simply prosaic sermonizing" lacks the
beauty of poetic tradition; the reader must supply the magic behind
the facts, as Burroughs has done. He could not translate his true
human sympathy into poetry; his freedom from convention and his
masculinity are somewhat affected. His future rank seems doubtful.
22. Anon. "Two Whitman Books." Nation, 64 (21 January), 55-56.
Review of DOnaldson (1896.2), who believes that W has been taken
too seriously as a poet, and Burroughs (1896.1), whose claims are
rather exalted and need more proof, especially regarding W's egotism.
He ignores the sometimes repellent quality of W's caresses to the
soldiers.
23. Anon. "Walt Whitman." Literary World, 28 (23 January), 19-20.
Review of Burroughs (1896.1) and Donaldson (1896.2). Donaldson
combines trivial with valuable observations; Burroughs's book is full
of enthusiasm and poetry. Both are valuable, "for the mere outward
actions of as strong and original a personality as Whitman's are
indicative of character, while so sympathetic an admirer as Mr.
Burroughs can always throw new light on the inner meaning of the
strange, inchoate mass which Mr. Whitman left behind him."
24. Anon. "The Rambler." Book Buyer, 14 (February), 24-25.
Reprints and briefly comments on two portraits of W (1855
Preface and the butterfly).
25. Anon. "Walt Whitman: Two New Books about the Man and His Work."
Book Buyer, 14 (February), 9-11.
297
Review of Burroughs (1896.1) with praise, of Donaldson (1896.2),
which displays the typical W disciple's incoherent admiration, but has
interest because W’s personality was his master poem.
26. Bucke, Richard Maurice. "Notes on the Text of 'Leaves of Grass,1
V." Conservator, 7 (February), 185-86.
Traces the growth of W's poems through his accumulation of
jottings on small scraps of paper. Some scraps can be identified in
published poems, some cannot. Taken together, they would make a
good-sized volume.
27. Carpenter, Edward. "A Visit to Walt Whitman in 1877."
Progressive Review, 1 (February), 407-17.
Reprinted: 1906.4.
Describes visit to W in Camden with side trips to the Stafford and
Gilchrist homes. Describes W ’s personality, attitudes toward Nature
and life, conversation on his poetic plan, Oriental literature and
people, labor. Quotes Holmes (during Carpenter’s visit to him in
Boston) on the opinions of himself, Lowell, and Longfellow regarding W.
Praises W ’s "strange omnivorous egotism, controlled and restrained by
that wonderful genius of his for human affection and love."
28. Lee, Gerald Stanley. "Mr. Burroughs's Study of Walt Whitman."
New York Bookman, 4 (February), 559-62.
Review of 1896.1. W is "perhaps the most heroic and gentle and
immovable figure in American letters." Burroughs will prove to be his
most effective friend after Emerson, but needs to recognize how W fell
short of his ideal, never reaching humbleness before the universe and
transcending himself. We still await the great poet.
29. Traubel, H. L. "Whitman: A Study, III." Conservator, 7
(February),189.
298
Continues to quote extracts from Burroughs (1896.1) with praise.
Continued 1897.39.
30. Traubel, Horace. "Collect." Conservator, 7 (February), 177-78.
W would not have been improved by art because he sought to
inform art with the writer's own personality.
31. Cook, George C. "'The Primary Condition of Understanding
Whitman,' and the Secondary Condition of Understanding Anybody."
Dial, 22 (1 February), 77-78.
Response to Triggs (1897.20). One must give oneself up to a poet
and then be critical. Admits being moved by W, but recognizing other
poets' worth also, without adopting like the disciples "Whitman's
attitude toward Whitman." W is still "second only to Emerson as a
pure force in American literature."
32. Harper, Francis P. "The Human and the Superhuman View of
Whitman." Dial, 22 (1 February), 78.
Response to 1897.20. Triggs has not shown how Donaldson is not
trustworthy; he seems to have preferred a superhuman presentation of W
to the human presentation Donaldson offers, although W would have
resented such a conception.
33. Watson, J. "Whitman Cant v£. Criticism." Dial, 22 (1 February),
78.
Response to 1897.20. A reader should not have to shut off his
critical judgment, as Triggs suggests he must do.
34. Anon. "John Burroughs on Walt Whitman." Literary Digest, 14
(13 February), 457.
Review of Burroughs (1896.1), which reflects his uncertainty over
how to describe W, for he uses much repetition, yet it is not a bad
introduction to "a poet whom so many people still refuse to know."
___________ 299
35. Anon. "Whitman." Conservator, 8 (March), 10-11.
Review of Burroughs (1896.1) from London Chronicle (unlocated).
W is the pioneer not of a new literature but of a new, democratic view
of life. The world now accepts him as "a great and resonant voice."
36. Garrison, Charles G. "Lucas Malet on Whitman." Conservator,
8 (March), 9-10.
Comments on Malet's novel The Wages of Sin, which shows a
character's strong response to some of W's poetry.
37. Kennedy, William Sloane. "Notes on the Pfaffians." Conservator,
8 (March), 9.
Includes comments from the Pfaffians on W, from Transcript
(1892.26).
38. Traubel, H. L. "Collect." Conservator, 8 (March), 2-3.
Concern for W's ultimate place is pointless, for reputations
change. Let us acknowledge his impact on those readers today who
understand him.
39. Traubel, H. L. "Whitman: A Study, IV." Conservator, 8 (March),
12.
Further extracts from Burroughs (1896.1). W brought to American
democracy, as to literature, a wider vista than provincial patriotism.
40. Triggs, Oscar Lovell. "Democratic Criticism." Dial, 22 (1
March), 141-42.
Response to Cook (1897.31). Leaves calls for democratic
criticism, which records genuine personal experience, rather than
aristocratic criticism, which estimates literary values according to
absolute standards. It is the most human book in the world and demands
that readers interact with the poet and the objects of the universe.
300
41. Anon. Review of Burroughs (1896.1). Methodist Review, 79, NS 13
(March), 338-39.
If W is a Messiah as Burroughs suggests, "it is an atonement by
stark naked shamelessness." Many will simply take W at his word and
put his book down, unread. This book should have been titled The
Apotheosis of Whitman.
42. Anon. "Notes and News." Poet-Lore, 9 (Second Quarter), 311-12.
Adds to Cook’s three attitudes toward W (1897.18) a fourth, the.
recognition in W of "as great a balance of power and form as there is
in Tennyson," despite the difference in "the laws of beauty governing
them." Defends Triggs (1897.20) from Watson (1897.33) regarding the
importance of approaching W with an open mind.
43. Michael, Helen Abbott. "Woman and Freedom in Whitman."
Poet-Lore, 9 (Second Quarter), 216-37.
Reprinted: 1907.2.
Influenced by the women of his family, W appreciated woman in her
various roles and depicted her in roles different from the standard
literary ones. He believes in woman's freedom but generally restricts
her to practical roles. In seeking freedom, W emphasizes spiritual
rather than political or economic aspirations, but he urges the
financial independence of women. His poetry is dissatisfying in not
presenting woman as a rounded character or involving her in his notion
of comradeship. But his emphasis on individualism will help lead both
men and women further along.
44. Porter, Charlotte. "Kipling's 'Seven Seas' an Atavism."
Poet-Lore, 9 (Second Quarter), 293.
W achieved greater success than Kipling in modelling modern
actualities to artistic purpose, notably in "Passage" and "Locomotive."
__________________________________________________________________ ; ___________________301
45. Carpenter, Edward. "Walt Whitman in 1884." Progressive Review,
2 (April), 9-19.
Reprinted: 1906.4.
Records visit to Mickle Street in June 1884; W's conversation on
his friends, death, the secret behind Leaves. Analyzes W's character;
obstinacy mixed with infinite tenderness, caution and artfulness;
voluminousness, contrary moods, tolerance. Quotes Emerson's
characterization of W in conversation with himself. W saw himself as
the typical man of a new era, his power of love developed to an extreme
degree, spiritual and emotional and also physical and sexual. Leaves
derives from his illumination, perception of the universal harmonized
with practical experiences.
46. Close, Stuart. "Whitman's 'Catalogues.'" Conservator, 8 (April),
25-26.
The catalogues are meant "to identify and unify mem. with the
universe," to glorify the commonplace. The reader is to work out the
meanings and relationships of these lists of crude materials.
47. Davis, Rebecca Harding. "Some Hobgoblins in Literature." Book
Buyer, 14 (April), 229-31.
Brings up W as "another American whom popular prejudice has clothed
with abnormal qualities," regarding him as either exemplar or devil.
Though possessing "the eye and tongue of the seer," the contradictions
between his behavior and his professed ideals reveal him as "a boorish,
awkward poseur." But his indecency was only that of thousands of.
others "who are coarse by nature and vulgar by breeding."
48. Jackson, Edward Payson. "Whitman and Whittier as Patriots."
Conservator, 8 (April), 24-25.
302
W's patriotism is Christ-like, based on love for mankind,
tolerance, selflessness. Concluded 1897.56.
49. Porter, Charlotte. '"Hie American Idea in Whitman." Walt
Whitman Fellowship Papers, 3, No. 6 (April), 19-26.
Reprint of 1896.32.
50. Stoddart, Mary. "Walt Whitman." Conservator, 8 (April), 20.
Poem in four rhymed stanzas.
51. Torrey, Bradford. "The Demand for an American Literature."
Atlantic Monthly, 79 (April), 571.
W is "one American poet whose literary patriotism was never
called in question," never conservative or emulative of the English.
52. Traubel, H. L. "Whitman and Symonds." Conservator, 8 (April),
29.
Quotations from Symonds attest to his respect for W as master.
53. Bucke, Richard Maurice. "Memories of Walt Whitman: 2." Walt
Whitman Fellowship Papers, 3, No. 10 (May), 35-42.
All who knew W should record their memories, including those he
helped during the war. Prints notes made in December 1891 during W's
last sickness: his conversation, will, condition, patience.
54. Higginson, Thomas Wentworth. "Cheerful Yesterdays. VII."
Atlantic Monthly, 79 (May), 676.
Reprinted: 1898.7.
Describes W in Thayer and Eldridge's shop, 1860. Admits possible
prejudice against W because of the unsavory passages in Leaves which
he had read while on a voyage, seasick. The impression of W as having
"not so much of manliness as of Boweriness" was not eradicated when he
failed to fight in the war.
303
55. Jackson, Edward Payson. "A Convert to Whitman." Walt Whitman
Fellowship Papers, 3, No. 8 (May), 29-31.
Describes his discovery upon actually reading W's work that it is
not repulsive, that his versification is grander than mere "jingles."
56. Jackson, Edward Payson. "Whitman and Whittier as Patriots, II."
Conservator, 8 (May), 36-37.
Concludes 1897.48. Following discussion of Whittier, the question
is raised: why did W not oppose slavery with such passion in his work?
57. Merwin, Henry Childs. "Millet and Walt Whitman." Atlantic
Monthly, 79 (May), 719-20.
A few excellent lines and phrases notwithstanding, W never
mastered the art of writing, yet he is the only writer so far who has
perceived what democracy really means, who has appreciated the beauty
and heroism in the daily lives of the common people. Millet's
paintings exemplify W's ideas; the two have much in common, except
W's egotism.
58. Sanborn, Frank B. "Reminiscent of Whitman." Conservator,
8 (May), 37-40.
Uses much of the same material as 1895.63. Also recalls meeting
W in Boston; describes W's appearance and mannerisms; cites critics.
59. Traubel, H. L. "Collect." Conservator, 8 (May), 34-35.
Answers Jackson's question (1897.56) by allusions to specific
passages in W's poetry that indicate his strong opposition to slavery,
though on a human rather than political level. Contrary to Sanborn’s
suggestions (1897.58), W's verse is truly meant for the lips.
60. Traubel, H. L. "Whitman as Mystic." Conservator, 8 (May), 45.
Favorable review of Guthrie (1897.5) on W's important mysticism.
__________________________________________________________________________304
61. Kennedy, William S. "Whitman's Letters to Peter Doyle."
Conservator, 8 (June), 60-61.
Review of 1897.1. The letters are invaluable for readers of
Leaves but useless for others, displaying W's simplicity of language
and feeling.
62. Maynard, Laurens. "Walt Whitman's Comradeship." Conservator,
8 (June), 53-55.
Reprinted: 1898.34.
Comradeship is W's pervasive theme in art and life, "a solvent for
the evils of our civilization," fittingly placed between self-love
("Adam") and love for all mankind ("Salut").
63. Carman, Bliss. "The Modern Athenian." Boston Evening Transcript
(5 June), 18.
Review of Calamus (1897.1), which shows contentment but none of
the genius or wit or philosophy expected of a poet. W's was not a
trained mind. But "the riches of his wholesome and rugged poetry" will
survive, his weaker efforts being forgotten. This book does shed light
on his character.
64. Young, James Walter. "Whitman's Letters." Knoxville (Tennessee)
Tribune (15 June), 4.
Review of Calamus, which reveals W's great capacity for "exalted
friendship," as in the series of Greek conception, "Calamus," and his
"great-hearted warmth of feeling." The more we know of the man, the
better we can understand his poetry; "Whitman as a man was probably
greater than anything he wrote." He represents soul rather than mind
in style. These letters might introduce people to the poet, correcting
erroneous conceptions of him.
305
65. Anon. "Letters by Walt Whitman." Brooklyn Daily Eagle (20 June),
4.
Review of Calamus. That Doyle once saved W's life "may account
for the regard that subsisted between this odd pair." The letters are
important not as literature but for helping to understand W better as a
man, displaying no petulance or discontent and strong longing rarely.
66. #Hale, Philip. "Whitman Again." Boston Journal (20 June).
Favorable review of Calamus. The letters, parental, brotherly,
sentimental, prove that W's attitude was not a pose.
67. #Anon. Review of Calamus. Boston Pilot (26 June)':.
The letters prove that W was "uninstructed, illogical," and that
praise for him is "mistaken clemency." Those who claim W was a poet
should carefully read these.
68. Donnan, May W. "Whitman's Letters to Doyle." Indianapolis
Journal (28 June), 4.
Review of Calamus, appropriately not the letters of a litterateur
but the frank description of personal activities from one man to his
friend, with no hint at posing or playing the superior, but showing
W's keen interest and delight in everything. Those who dislike or do
not know W's work can discover the man through these letters,
childlike in simplicity, "manly in feeling," full of human interest.
69. Williams, Francis Howard. "Immortality as a Motive in Poetry."
Poet-Lore, 9 (Third Quarter), 370, 375.
W most fully expresses the truth of immortality, though most
reviled of poets. He believes in "the eternal supremacy of the
individual and the indestructibility of the human soul," with a
spiritual significance even in his supposedly most material poems.
306
70. Brown, John Henry. "To Walt Whitman." Conservator, 8 (July), 77.
Sonnet.
71. Salt, Henry S. "Burroughs’ Study of Whitman,. I." Conservator,
8 (July), 74-75.
Burroughs (1896.1) provides a justification rather than a critical
study, unproductively considering whether W was "a true artist."
72. Traubel, H. L. "Collect." Conservator, 8 (July), 66-67.
Commentary on 1897.79, praising W for what Chapman deplores.
73. Young, James Walter. "The Poet of Conflict." Conservator,
8 (July), 74.
W is emancipating, leading us into struggle but giving us courage.
74. Anon. "Walt Whitman as 'Comrade.'" Chap-Book, 7 (1 July),
138-39.
Review of Calamus, very plain and not useful. Specimen.gives a
better idea of W; the poems are a better comment on the letters than
vice versa. Comradeship, of cardinal importance in W's works, is
evident here, but does not come to full expression; W's devotion is
more paternal than comradely. The "Calamus" poems are among W's
most powerful.
75. Anon. Review of Calamus. Nation, 65 (1 July), 19-20.
These letters reveal a purity of affection. Doyle's letters
should have been included. W's "unvarying puerility" is possibly his
concession to Doyle. His kindness is evident, but there is nothing
here to show his intellectual ability or poetic gift.
76. Anon. Review of Calamus. Manchester Guardian (7 July), 4.
The extreme reactions to W indicate the "elemental depth and force'
of his personality. Calamus sheds light on much of W.
. 202
77. #Hale, Philip. "Talk of the Day." Boston Journal (8 July).
Response to the Nation"s comments (1897.74) on Calamus. Defends
W's simplicity, more appropriate for this correspondence than the style
of Vistas.
78. Swinton, John. "New Books." New York Sun (10 July), 7.
Review of Calamus. Questions O'Connor's impression of W, who did
not strike all the same way. His enthusiastic admirers are not to be
trusted utterly. The grander elements of W's poetic themes are hardly
suggested in these letters, which are interesting however because not
intended for publication. Quotes letters to reveal various moods.
79. Chapman, John Jay. "Walt Whitman." Chap-Book, 7 (15 July),
156-59.
Reprinted: 1898.6. Abridged: Miller.
"America was solved" for English readers when they discovered W as
representing what they believed Americans were. But the country he
writes of does not exist nor have the people read him. But W is
representative, having "given utterance to the soul of the tramp" in a
"revolt of laziness." W was both poseur and "authentic creature." His
belief in his mission made him "a quack poet," with an incoherent mind,
despite "a few lines of epic directness and cyclopean vigor and
naturalness." He had a great physical enjoyment of life. "Lilacs" and
his "wonderful descriptions" lack "conscious art."
80. Anon. "An Old Parody on Walt Whitman." Academy, 52 (17 July),
50.
Reprinted: 1897.86. Parody reprinted: Saunders.
Reprints and explains background of "This is a wedding" from
London, in 1878 (unlocated).
308
81. Anon. "Walt Whitman's Letters." San Francisco Chronicle (25
July), 4.
Review of Calamus, not poetic or literary because W is adapting
his language to his readerj lacking the nature observations which
characterized much of his fine later writing. But the reader will gain
a warmer regard for W because of his sincere love for this comrade.
82. Kennedy, William Sloane. "Identities of Thought and Phrase in
Emerson and Whitman." Conservator, 8 (August), 88-91.
Lists parallels between passages by Emerson (before 1856) and W,
as evidence not of collaboration but of the fact that two philosophers
talking about life and its conduct must use similar ground, especially
when contemporaries and living amid similar thought and classes.
83. Salt, Henry S. "Burroughs' Study of Whitman, II." Conservator,
8 (August), 91-92.
The parallels of W with Tennyson are inaccurate. W "does not
stand for the entire democratic concept." Despite such deficiencies
due to enthusiasm, Burroughs's work (1896.1) surpasses other studies.
84. Triggs, Oscar Lovell. "The Growth of Leaves of Grass."
Conservator, 8 (August), 84-88.
Revised: 1902.17.
Leaves must be considered as a growth, related to the author's own
life process. His preparatory early works and experience are explained
as relevant. Leaves is based on W's convictions of inherent human
greatness, the United States as seat of a pure democracy, and the
failure of literature to meet the needs of the people. These poems
are records of experiences, fresh and spontaneous. Explanations of the
themes in some editions, the development of W's order, his revisions.
_________________________________________________________________________ 309
85. Anon. Review of Calamus. Progressive Review, 2 (August), 479-80.
These letters reveal W's "genial, large, robust, tender nature,"
"real affection for his brother-man," his theory of comradeship in
practice.
86. Anon. "A Skit on Walt Whitman." New York Times (1 August),
Illustrated Magazine, 5.
Reprint of 1897.80.
87. Hale, Edward E., Jr. "Walt Whitman and the Critics." Chap-Book,
7 (1 August), 193-94.
Response to Chapman (1897.79). "A good re-estimate" of W is
needed. Certainly he is not representative of ;America, nor do all
English readers think so. No tramp ever had a soul like W's poetry,
nor is it tramp-like save in rejecting authority. Chapman may object
to some of W's middle-class characteristics, but he does not account
for the vitalizing power which can appeal to so many intelligent men.
88. Thompson, Maurice. "Walt Whitman and the Critics." Chap-Book,
7 (1 August), 194-95.
Response to Chapman (1897.79). W's American eulogists are not
critics, for they focus on the man, not the literature. His sincerity
is genuine, but acquired rather than spontaneous. His form shows
"labored, overwrought unnaturalness." He had the poetic sense but
"deliberately set out to be queer and loose," producing absurdities.
89. Triggs, Oscar Lovell. "Walt Whitman and the Critics." Chap-Book,
7 (1 August), 192-93.
Response to Chapman (1897.79), who misses the mystical meaning of
W's "terminology of tramping." W's English admirers loved W's work not
for its uncouthness but for its universal poetic greatness.
-3X0
90. Thompson, Maurice. "The Personal Note." Chap-Book, 7 (15
August), 241-43.
This discussion of the importance of style contrasts W with the
Greek poets, against whom his lines ring hollowly and crudely. Like
Baudelaire, W suffers from a "chronic self-deception" keeping "the real
’man himself' out of the work." W had merely superficial knowledge.
91. Anon. Review of Calamus. Academy, 52 (28 August), 159-60.
W's admirers are too serious; his "generous tingling message of
democracy" does not need their commentary. These letters show W quite
like other men, with tremendous humanity and warmth. Doyle's picture
of W and his boyishness is "a piece of real literature." W was drawn
to young men because "he could influence them, colour their
potentialities; they were frank and fresh and spirited and unaffected."
"Calamus" appears quite unobjectionable after one reads these letters.
92. Anon. "A Bibliography of Walt Whitman." New York Bookman,
6 (September), 81-82.
Describes and lists editions of W's works. The 1860 edition was
said to be an exemplary specimen of typography. Prompt pecuniary
response to the 1876 edition helped to prolong W's life.
93. Jerrold, Laurence. "Mr. Chapman on Whitman: An English Reply."
Chap-Book, 7 (1 September), 274-75.
Ironic commentary on Chapman (1897.79). Is his "naive simplicity"
in passing judgment on English criticism greater than his "perverse
incomprehension" of W? Chapman is familiar with both methods of
attacking W: "to paint the man luridly" (a British method) and "to
declare the book artless." Chapman disapproves of W as "not a
respectable member of society," although he may actually realize "how
311
widely and how deeply the poet read life." He may resent the
uncultured W being considered America's greatest poet. "The British
public still thinks Whitman immoral, and the French public calls him
mad."
94. #Bauser, Whartin. "Calamus. Letters by Walt Whitman."
American (11 September).
Review of Calamus, "the correspondence of an illiterate
vulgarian." W "Barnumized" universal ideas into a prose-verse mixture
infused with ridiculous egotism.
95. M., W. E. "Whitman's Letters to Doyle." Poet-Lore, 9 (Fourth
Quarter), 617-18.
Review of Calamus, which gives no hint "as to the workings of his
vast synthetic intellect." Its one ingredient is W's "strong feeling
of love for men," "the beautiful spirit that pervaded the Calamus
poems."
96. Abbey, Charlotte L. "Walt Whitman and His Unsung Songs."
Conservator, 8 (October), 118-19.
Reprinted: 1898.30.
W's evolutionary thought is closer to the Eastern than the
Darwinian conception. The "Sea Drift" poems enclose the secret of
spiritual evolution. His unsung songs will be the songs of his
successors.
97. Kelley, William V. "The Whitman Craze in England." Methodist
Review, 79, NS 13 (November), 952-64.
Deplores the British adulation of W. Gosse alone seems to have
retained his sanity and perceived W's faults!’ (1894.12). W's books
"contain the most indecent things ever put in type," equalling
anything Wilde ever did. Europe was glad to regard W, "the world's
. 312
most flatulent and bombastic egotist," as the typical American. His
work is often "grotesque and monstrous in form," although occasionally
displaying "a sort of swimming majesticalness." W is hardly Greek,
as his admirers claim.
98. Anon. "Leaves of Grass." Literary World, 28 (27 November),
431-32.
Review of Small Maynard edition. Compared with the 1876 edition,
it is "practically a new work based on the old." Refrains from again
expressing this journal's opinion of W's work, except that the verse
would read just as well if printed as prose.
99. Born, Helena. "Personality in Whitman." Conservator, 8
(December), 154.
Describes program for Boston Whitman Fellowship on W's treatment
of "physical personality"j the discussion; speakers. See 1898.17.
100. de Kay, Charles. "Walt Whitman. An Appreciation." New York
Times Saturday Review (11 December), 23.
W's egotism is more human than Nietzsche's, for W includes and
identifies with all types of people, and reflects the ideals of many
Americans. W "holds an absolutely unique place in American literature
beside Poe and Emerson, yet far apart from them." "Last of Ebb, and
Daylight Waning" is unparalleled in describing beach sounds.
313
1898
BOOKS
1. Bardeen, C. W. Authors1 Birthdays, First Series. Syracuse: C. W.
Bardeen, Publisher. "Walt Whitman," pp. 137-81
General introduction, quoting critics, tracing life. Leaves
reveals W's personality, emphasizes sympathy and immortality, achieves
a vague effect of rhythm and a musical sense like the earliest, most
spontaneous form of poetic expression. He has genius in assimilating
nature. The affection he felt for some man (rather than some woman)
was fortunately not acted upon. His frankness is indelicate but not
corrupt. His devotion to America is too extravagant. Poems quoted.
2. Bates, Katharine Lee. American Literature. New York: Macmillan
Co.; London: Macmillan & Co. "Walt Whitman," pp. 199-202.
Shock at W's egotism and perversity is well-founded. "Drum-Taps"
contains his best, serious concerns. Apart from the war, his attitude
toward life is as cheerfully irresponsible as his attitude toward art.
The love of the common man is his best quality.
3. Bucke, Richard Maurice, ed. The Wound Dresser: A Series of Letters
Written from the Hospitals in Washington during the War of
Rebellion. Boston: Small, Maynard & Co. Preface, pp. vii-viii.
Describes the letters; not literature, they do not have to be.
4. Carpenter, Edward. Angels' Wings: A Series of Essays on Art and
Its Relation to Life. London: George Allen & Unwin. "Art and
Democracy (Wagner, Millet, and Whitman)," pp. 1-24.
Reprint of 1896.39 with introductory paragraph added.
5. Carpenter, George Rice. American Prose: Selections with Critical
Writers and a General Introduction. New York: Macmillan Co.;
London: Macmillan & Co., p. 383.
314
Slightly inaccurate biographical sketch, noting W's unequalled
knowledge of his ordinary countrymen and his "equally penetrating and
all-embracing", sympathy. See also 1898.12.
6. Chapman, John Jay. Emerson and Other Essays. New York: Charles
Scribner’s Sons. "Walt Whitman," pp. 111-28.
Reprint of 1897.79 with minor changes. Extracts reprinted:
Miller, Hindus.
7. Higginson, Thomas Wentworth. Cheerful Yesterdays. Boston and New
York: Houghton Mifflin Co., pp. 230-31; also 289.
Reprint of 1897.54.
8. Howe, M. A. DeWolfe. American Bookmen: Sketches, Chiefly
Biographical, of Certain Writers of the Nineteenth Century. New
York: Dodd, Mead and Co. "Walt Whitman," pp. 222-41.
Reprint of 1898.19.
9. Johnston, John. Diary Notes Of a Visit to Walt Whitman and Some
of His Friends in 1890. Manchester: The Labour Press Ltd.;
London: The "Clarion" Office, 151 pp. No index.
Reprint of 1890.6, adding chapter titles and photographs taken by
the author. Revised: 1917.4; 1918.8.
10. Noble, Charles. Studies in American Literature: A Text-book
for Academies and High Schools. New York: Macmillan Co.;
London: Macmillan & Co., pp. 253-58.
Brief life; list of works. Discussion of "Man-of-War Bird" and
"Captain" as examples of W's best work, securing his place in
literature. BUt his occasional "crudities of form and grossness of
expression," though without immoral intention, hinder acceptance.
11. Pancoast, Henry S. An Introduction to American Literature.
New York: Henry Holt & Co. "Walt Whitman," pp. 294-302; Study
List, pp. 302-304.
Describes unsettled controversy over W; his life, suiting such a
"poet of our people." Despite defects in language and style, his work
has the power of a "strong if often wilfully eccentric personality."
315
Many passages are beautiful, others prosaic or incoherent. His work
is "utterly removed from the people," most highly valued by the
cultured. Study List points out his significant works, biographies.
12. Santayana, George. Critical introduction to Whitman in
Carpenter (.1898.3), pp. 383-88.
W's prose reveals the man and his ideas, and supplements the
poetry "with eloquence, clearness, and evident sincerity." W perceives
and describes only the surface, not the underlying structure of things,
and fails to organize his material as a trained writer would do. "Full
of sympathy and receptivity, with a wonderful gift of graphic
characterization and an occasional rare grandeur of diction, he fills
us with a sense of the individuality and the universality of what he
describes." His notion of an absolute democracy similarly ignores all
distinctions and extraordinary qualities, unrepresentatively looking
to the past and the primitive rather than the future. But his ideas
are expressed with the same passion and intuition admired in his poems,
as he appeals to more than a national ideal, in a fresh escape from
convention and mere intellect.
13. Toke, Leslie A. St. L. "Walt Whitman." In Prophets of the
Century. Ed. Arthur Rickett. London: Ward Lock and Co., n. d.,
pp. 227-49; Chronology and Bibliography, pp. 333-34.
W's works, which reveal his rich and varied life (summarized),
display "a wealth of detail, a daring realism, a tender sympathy, and a
spiritual insight, unequalled in literature since the sixteenth
century." W is above all "the poet of Health," "physical, moral,
political, and spiritual," advocating a Greek-like balance, with an
attitude toward sex to be praised, not blamed. His controversial
316
adhesiveness is based, like all forms of affection, on the sexual
nature (although its manifestation is not necessarily sexual). His
notion of Democracy does not contradict his "militant individualism"
because he regarded these not as political but as social and spiritual
matters. His religious philosophy was evolutionary, "a healthy
optimism based on a sane mysticism." His prose style is "irritating
and obscure" with an American vernacular difficult for the English, but
his poems have beauty, a distinctive music, sound contributing to their
sense, and meanings beyond those perceived at first reading.
14. Triggs, Oscar Lovell, ed. Selections from the Prose and Poetry
Of Walt Whitman. Boston: Small, Maynard & Co. Introduction,
pp. xiii-xliii; A Selected Bibliography, pp. 251-57 (revised:
1902.16).
W was a seer, to be defined not by external experience but by
spiritual experience, as revealed through his work. Leaves came to w
through some inspiration,,and is autobiographic in a larger sense.
His life is traced from Bucke (1883.2), emphasizing the qualities
gained during his poetic apprenticeship and what contributed to making
him "poet of the Soul." W connects America's two great eras— that of
independence and that of love and union. Discussion of what past
literature and thought contributed to his poetry; his favorite works;
the importance of sympathy to his character and work.
15. Whitman, Walt. Walt Whitman at Home, By Himself. Critic
Pamphlet, No. 2. New York: The Critic Co.
Reprint of 1885.3, identifying its author as W, and of 1891.28.
16. Wolfe, Theodore F. Literary Haunts and Homes: American Authors.
Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Co., pp. 44, 51, 68-69, 129-30,
134-36, 143-47.
312
Describes places: on Manhattan, and Long Island associated with. W's
life and compositions, with occasional biographical anecdotes.
PERIODICALS
17. Anon. "Personality in Whitman." Poet-Lore, 10 (First Quarter),
113-14.
Presents the program for the current session (November to March)
of the Boston Whitman Fellowship, listing readings and discussion topic
themes for meetings concerned with, respectively, physical, emotional,
moral, intellectual, and aesthetic personality.
18. Porter, Charlotte. "New Editions. The New Whitman." Poet-Lore,
10 (First Quarter), 140-42.
Review of 1897 Leaves. The setting is worthy of this "historic
landmark in the literary life of the New World," of which each leaf is
"a radiation from a central nucleus of life," with themes expanding
from the opening poems "to pursue still wider-sweeping orbits of
meaning concerning Life and Death, the Soul and Evolution."
19. Howe, M. A. DeWolfe. "American Bookmen. X.— Walt Whitman."
New York Bookman, 6 (January), 427-38. Illustrated.
Reprinted: 1898.8.
Popular survey, relating W's life experiences to his work, which
reveals him in a double personality, as an individual and "in his
imagined life of 'the average man.'" His care in revising and finding
the right word disproves charges of "offhand work." The range of
criticism was to be expected by one introducing a new art form. It is
not true that W must be accepted either entirely or not at all, or read
to the exclusion of other poets. His enthusiasm for mankind, his
national spirit, his faith, hope and love will appeal to most readers.
_________________________________________________________________________ 318
20. Bucke, Richard Maurice. "Notes on the Text of Leaves of Grass,
VI." Conservator, 8 (February), 183-84.
Describes and presents notes for "Broad-Axe."
21. Gilchrist, Grace. "Chats with Walt Whitman." Temple Bar, 113
(February), 200-12.
Reprinted: 1898.32.
An "appreciation from the human, and not the literary point of
view." Quotes W's conversation, largely from her brother's
transcriptions, when W was fifty-eight: comments on Shakespeare, Sand,
Scott, Carlyle, Bulwer-Lytton, Tennyson, Hugo, Heine, Symonds, beauty,
education. "He liked reading critiques on himself."
22. Kennedy, William Sloane. "Notes on the Text of Leaves of Grass,
VII." Conservator, 8 (February), 184-85.
Notes Oriental traits in W's poems.
23. Perry, Jennette Barbour. "Whitmania: Defend me from my friends."
New York Critic, 29 (26 February), 137-38.
W's admirers go to extremes in poetry that seems more a parody
than an imitation. W would scarcely approve, having asked that no one
found a school on him. The Whitmanites, as well as the Anti-
Whitmanites, often appear ridiculous, as W himself never did.
24. Greene, Henry Copley. "A Satyr Aspires." New World, 7 (March),
54-67.
W's idealist theories, developed out of contemporary influences
(Hegel, Transcendentalism), seem chaotic until viewed as W's rejection
of reason in favor of his joyful faith in intuition. He made God, the
nation, and all other men after his own image. His "mystic
determinism" led to "no torpid toryism" but to "progressive
self-reliance." His catalogues of confusion fail to recast experience
_______________ 319.
harmoniously, but his smaller subjects produced poems like
impressionist pictures. He was brilliantly realistic but revealed high
art in phrases rather than whole pieces. His glorification of lust was
almost justified as a protest against the mentality which came to
persecute him. W is almost more himself in imagined experiences, in
his striving toward mysticism. He shows influences of classic and
modern literature, but "Death Carol," his most beautiful work, is new.
His spirit will triumph in democracy by appeal to a few strong thinkers
who will lead the people on to his ideal.
25. Kennedy, William Sloane. "Whitman in Italy." Conservator, 9
(March),12.
Explains thesis of Jannacone's Italian study of W ’s prosody.
26. Le Gallienne, Richard. "Walt Whitman: An Address." Conservator,
9 (March), 4-5.
Reprinted: 1898.40.
W lays bare the bosom of human nature, generalizing from himself
to all modern men. Fellowship members should be true Whitmanites, not
mere Respectables, for W urged us to bring outdoor air to indoor work.
27. Traubel, Horace L. "Some Notes on the Text of Leaves of Grass,
VIII." Conservator, 9 (March), 9-11.
Notes W's Oriental mysticism.
28. Burroughs, John. "The Secret of Whitman's Following." New York
Critic, 29 (19 March), 189-91.
Response to 1898.18. W is sure now to endure, partly because "he
contains such a world of suggestion, both poetic and philosophical."
He is "full of the yeast and leaven of poetry, but the reader who has
no grist of his own will find him very unsatisfactory." His work is
significant for its focus on W the man. His magnitude overwhelms his
_____________ ^?r>
defects, and he stands independent of, rather than above, art, and
rises above his critics.
29. M., W. E. "Whitman's Wound-Dresser." Poet-Lore, 10 (Second
Quarter), 307-309.
Review of 1898.3, which strengthens the impression of W as a
"big-hearted, wonderfully sympathetic man." Without this war
experience, Leaves might have lacked "that vital and abiding element
pervading every line." W put into action Carlyle's mere ideas about
work. These letters contain "some real bits of literature."
30. Abbey, Charlotte. "Walt Whitman's Unsung Songs." Walt Whitman
Fellowship Papers, 4, No. 3 (April), 7-10.
Reprint of 1897.96.
31. Drake, A. B. "Symmetry in Leaves of Grass." Conservator,
9 (April), 24-25.
Appreciation of W, explaining some of the qualities of Leaves.
32. Gilchrist, Grace. "Chats with Walt Whitman." Eclectic Magazine,
130 (April), 451-59.
Reprint of 1898.21.
33. Guthrie, William Norman. "Walt Whitman as Poetic Artist, I."
Conservator, 9 (April), 22-24.
Reprinted: 1912.5.
Blake and W seek expression in their verse rather than compression
like Shakespeare and Milton. Explanation of the new rhythm's freedom,
the need for prosaic, inferior parts to heighten the great moments.
34. Maynard, Laurens. "Walt Whitman's Comradeship." Walt Whitman
Fellowship Papers, 4, No. 5 (April), 13-19.
Reprint of 1897.62.
35. Tucker, John Foster. "To Walt Whitman." Conservator, 9 (April),
25.
Poem of tribute.
321
36. James, Henry. "American Letter. . . .Walt Whitman’s Letters to
Peter Doyle." Literature, 2 (16 April) , 453.
Reprinted: Hindus.
Review of Calamus, which appeals to the democratic sense, with
"something of the same relation to poetry that may be made out in the
luckiest— few, but fine— -of the writer's other pages," having no "line
with a hint of style— it is all flat, familiar, affectionate,
illiterate colloquy." The voice is American, filled with "many odd and
pleasant harmonies" and ordinary American impressions. The letters
reveal a beautiful nature and "the personal passion."
37. Ball, M. V. "Whitman and Socialism." Conservator, 9 (May),
40-42.
W knew some economics but did not study it, nor did he appreciate
the gravity of the economic crisis. His opposition to systems
prevented his being a socialist. But his contributions were large
enough that he need not be forced into an ism.
38. Brinton, Daniel G. "The Wound Dresser." Conservator, 9 (May),
44.
Review of 1898.3, praising W's "spirit of human love, compassion,
infinite sympathy," which disproves accusations of his degeneracy.
39. Guthrie, William Norman. "Walt Whitman as Poetic Artist, II."
Conservator, 9 (May), 36-37.
Reprinted: 1912.5.
W was not indifferent to rhythmj witness the changes he made when
putting the Preface into poetry. "Warble for Lilac-Time" is explained
as exemplifying W's poetic principle. But the meaning and principle
behind his catalogues remain mysterious to most readers.
40. Le Gallienne, Richard. "Walt Whitman: An Address." Walt Whitman
Fellowship Papers, 4, No. 10 (May), 45-49.
Reprint of 1898.26.
41. Smith, George J. "Whitman: Radical or Conservative?" Walt
Whitman Fellowship Papers, 4, No. 6 (May), 21-37.
For W, equality is of potential being; he recognizes individual
inequalities often. W believes in the inner law, but acknowledges the
need for law and government. W looks for evolution, not revolution,
being dependent on the past but seeking progress. W does not ignore
the distinction between virtue and vice but pities the wrong-doer,
looking for. a right spirit in men. For W, religion was not a creed but
"an emotional attitude toward world and man and God," experienced
everywhere. He is both conservative and radical.
42. Smith, Wayland Hyatt. "Blending of Orient and Occident in
Whitman." Walt Whitman Fellowship Papers, 4, No. 7 (May), 39-40.
W is more Oriental than Occidental in his mysticism and assertion
of the nonphysical significance of being, with more outline than the
East has.
43. Wiksell, Gustav P. "Self-Primacy in Whitman." Walt Whitman
Fellowship Papers, 4, No. 8 (May), 41-42.
Testifies to the many truths W reveals to him; W's divine power.
44. James, Henry. "American Letter. . . .The War and Literature."
Literature, 2 (7 May), 541-42.
Review of Wound-Dresser (1898.3), an "interesting and touching
collection," "not such a document as the recruiting-officer, at the
beginning of a campaign, would rejoice to see in many hands." These
vivid letters convey W's "admirable, original gift of sympathy," his
pity, horror, and helplessness, "without unhappy verbiage or luckless
barbarism." They deserve a place on the shelf of patriotic literature.
45. Elshemus, Louis M. "Comment and Query. Le Gallienne and Some
Others— An American Poet's Protest." New York Times Saturday
Review (28 May), 354.
_ _ _ Z Z Z Z Z _____________________________________________________________3.2 J._
Protests the adulation rendered the British poet Le Gallienne
while American poets, notably W, are recognized only abroad. W's manly
poetry and "courageous hymns to natural strength and beauty" are '
ignored in favor of the "low licentiousness" of Kipling, George Moore,
Hardy, and Le Gallienne. (A full page of responses, with scant mention
of W, appeared on June 4, p. 374 of the Saturday Review.)
46. Bucke, Richard Maurice. "An Open Letter to Edgar Fawcett."
Conservator, 9 (June), 56-58.
Responds to Fawcett's claims that W's friends did not treat him
adequately in his later days by explaining what they really did.
47. Bucke, Richard Maurice. "Walt Whitman, Man and Poet."
Cosmopolis, 10 (June), 687-94.
In W the contrasting temperaments of his two ancestral strains
met, creating in him all four temperaments. No self-indulgent loafer,
he was a Puritan in morality and "a persistent, untiring worker" for
his family and his intellectual pursuits. His "extraordinary moral and
emotional equipment" combined with a great knowledge of his country and
its people to express "an almost superhuman personality." He was a
great poet not in the sense of producing a finished work of art but
rather according to Arnold's criteria: "poetic largeness, freedom,
insight, benignity," and "the high seriousness of the great masters."
He always wrote from a careful observation of reality. His
unparalleled achievement in expressing his soul, which one day will be
understood, will help contribute to the world revolution.
48. Guthrie, William Norman. "Walt Whitman as Poetic Artist, III."
Conservator, 9 (June), 52-55.
Reprinted: 1912.5.
__ • ________ 324
The accents of words in W are determined by the sense, especially
for compound words. Particular passages are analyzed for varying
accents. W only used rhythmic pauses as required by meaning. Passages
are printed with indication of accents and pauses.
49. Anon. "Talks of Walt Whitman— John Swinton Surprises His Hearers
at the Annual Dinner of Fellowship." New York Times (1 June), 7.
Swinton emphasizes W's lack of intellect, seeing him as a natural
man, and attacks W for not helping him in his social work in New York
slums. Other speeches are briefly cited, including a defense of W.
50. Anon. "Walt Whitman. Selections from His Prose and Verse— What
Whitman Stands For." New York Times Saturday Review (18 June),
402.
Review of Triggs (1898.14), explaining W's place in literature. W
was a true poet in the original Greek sense, "a maker of messages
embodying the spirit of his time." Parallels are seen to other
innovations in form from music and literature of the past. W's music
is broad and big, appropriate to his "gigantic, passionate humanity,"
but he also appreciated more polished poetry, and some of .his own
sensuous verse proves him not one-sided but uttering the soul's reaches
from deep within.
51. Kennedy, William Sloane. "To the Editors." Poet-Lore, 10 (Third
Quarter), 451-52.
Points out parallel between Burns's "Scotch Drink" and the
blacksmith passage from "Ejgsosition" with its "strikingly original"
image.
52. Porter, Charlotte. "School of Literature. Human Brotherhood in
Whitman and Browning: A Topical Reading Course." Poet-Lore, 10
(Third Quarter), 421-24.
325
Suggests readings from both poets, with discussion questions for
them separately and in comparison, regarding individualism, love,
leadership, role of the poet, and world-patriotism.
53. Maynard, Laurens. "A Few Notes on Whitman and the New England
Writers." Conservator, 9 (July), 68-71.
Describes, from their published writings, W's relations with
Emerson, Thoreau, Sanborn, Longfellow; the attitudes toward W of
Lowell, Holmes, Whittier, Higginson. The younger New England writers
lack their spirit of hostility; many acknowledge W's influence.
54. Traubel, H. L. "Collect." Conservator, 9 (July), 66-67.
Paragraph on Higginson's antipathy to W and his failure to regard
W as a poet.
55. Sharp, William. "Among my Books." Literature, 2 (2 July),
753-54.
Review of Jannacone's Italian study of W. No translation so far
has conveyed W's dominant characteristic of "poetic virility." His
poetry reveals variously "long sonorous rhythms," "sustained rhythmic
utterances," "immense and undulant harmonies." His "Yankee accent"
appears even in translation, although he loses "the vehement personal
intonation." Compares original and Italian versions of "Youth, Day,
Old Age, and Night," and "Myself." W's poetry raises the question
whether poetic boundaries "should be extended indefinitely."
56. Triggs, Oscar Lovell. "Walt Whitman; A Character Study."
Conservator, 9 (September), 100-102.
Reprinted: 1899.30.
W affects men by his personality. Describes his appearance
through quotations from various writers; his various portraits; his
emotionalism and "fresh strong human nature." Continued 1898.59.
__________________________________________________________________________ 32j6.
57. Hendry, Hamish. "Walt Whitman's Prose." London Saturday Review,
86 (24 September), 414-15.
Review of Complete Prose Works. Apart from the poetry, the prose
suffers, for W meant to eliminate the dividing line, as in some of the
finer pieces from Specimen which frequently end "upon the highest
poetical note in his compass." His portrayal of the Civil War reveals
true "epical strength' and completeness" in presenting the more poignant
aspects. The invalid with his courage yields "a rarer note than the
poet who loafed robustly in the grass." W's approach to books, through
the temperament rather than the mind, is valuable for its "masculine
force," to counteract the current domination of "the prim and the
effeminate." That he has been misunderstood and reviled, though "clean,
wholesome, and cheerful," is "only another indication" of his value.
58. Knorr, Helena. "Selections from the Prose and Poetry of Walt
Whitman." Poet-Lore, 10 (Fourth Quarter), 586-87.
Review of Triggs (1898.14), a fine introduction to W, who must be
approached the right way. His prose as well as his poetry reveals his
"penetrating insight" and "large sympathies."
59. Triggs, Oscar Lovell. "Walt Whitman: A Character Study."
Conservator, 9 (October), 117-19.
Reprinted: 1899.30.
Continues 1898.56. W's ideal egotism is consistent with
fellowship and represents ideal manhood. "He saw but he was not the
'maker-see.'" He followed the nineteenth-century tendency toward
Orientalism. His tolerance and good will eventually overpowered his
fighting qualities. He saw life whole, expressed his deepest passion.
60. Holbrook, M. L. "A Psychic's View of Whitman." Conservator,
9 (November), 136.
, 122_
Quotes lines from W's poetry and records a psychic's answers as
to their truth.
51. Huston, Paul Griswold. "Whitman as a Mystic." Conservator,
9 (November), 133-35.
W had no great symbolic scheme like Blake, Spenser, or Dante, but
ased natural symbolism, going directly to inner reality. Several poems
are examined for mystical analogies, perceptions, and nature worship.
62. Smith, George J. "Whitman and Mannahatta." Conservator, 9
(December), 148-49.
Reprinted: 1899.34.
Manhattan is an appropriate city for W's optimistic attitude. W's
various impressions of Manhattan are quoted, showing his perceptions of
the people as a great spectacle.
328
1899
BOOKS
1. Botta, Anne C. Lynch. Handbook of Universal Literature. Revised
Edition. Boston: Houghton, Mifflin and Co., p. 535.
Revised: 1902.3.
"Walt Whitman (d. 1892) writes with great force, originality, and
sympathy with all forms of struggle and suffering; but with utter
contempt for conventionalities and for the acknowledged limits of true
art." (Entire entry.)
2. Bucke, Richard Maurice, ed. Notes and Fragments: Left by Walt
Whitman. London, Ontario: A. Talbot & Co. Editor's Preface,
pp. v-vi.
Describes contents, W's manner of attaining knowledge; his industry
in learning shows W as not simply a loafer.
3. Darrow, Clarence S. A Persian Pearl: and Other Essays. East
Aurora, New York: Roycroft Shop. "Walt Whitman," pp. 75-109.
Reprinted: 1902.6.
W alone seems natural in this artifical life of the nineteenth
century. His work will live or die because of his philosophy and his
material. Only W has defended the Creator in everything, accepting evil
for the good that may come out of it. He reveres the body, with a
healthier version of love than in most literature. Upon his
fundamental, inclusive democracy, which enthrones natural justice above
the law books and holds women as men's equals, "the regenerated world
will be built." W transcends mere optimism and pessimism to attain a
serene harmony with life and death. W was ahead of his materialistic,
class-conscious, falsely modest time.
________ 329
4. Fisher, Mary. A General Survey of American Literature. Chicago: A.
C. McClurg and Co., pp. 350-64.
Sketch of W's life. W "was wholly indebted to sensory impressions
for his intellectual development." He seems to have broken Leaves into
separate poems only because of Poe's rejection of long poems. His war
work and attitude toward affliction are commendable. Specimen, like
his poetry, lacks a true poet's imagination and power of selection, but
is also free from sentimentalizing. His admirers have turned to him
from an excess of culture. Some of his lines "have a certain rude
vigor and rhythmic swing decidedly fresh and pleasing" ("Captain,"
"Redwood," "Occupations," "Come up from the Fields"), but most are "the
veriest dry bones of prose." He displays flawed diction, cloudy ideas,
mere lists. His teaching is "a step backward."
5. Higginson, Thomas Wentworth. Contemporaries. Boston and New York:
Houghton Mifflin Co. "Walt Whitman," pp. 72-84; also 96-98.
Revision of 1892.35, and reprint of 1887.12. Reprinted in part:
1903.2; Hindus.
Higginson tempers or deletes some of his harsher earlier statements,
admits the increasing acceptance, of W, and acknowledges that W's later
career was purified as his sexual emphasis diminished.
6. James, William. Talks to Teachers on Psychology: and to Students
on Some of Life's Ideals. New York: Henry Holt and Co. "On a
Certain Blindness in Human Beings" (one of three talks to students),
pp. 248-54.
Reprinted: Miller.
W, through quotations from "Brooklyn Ferry" and a letter to Doyle
(from 1897.1), exemplifies "a sort of ideal tramp," practically
unproductive, but taking time out to sense the splendor of the world.
7. Lanier, H. W. and Mrs. Sidney. Letters of Sidney Lanier. New York:
Charles Scribner's Sons, p. 208.
Reprinted: Hindus.
330
Letter to Bayard Taylor of February 3, 1878, praises Leaves as "a
real refreshment" when first read, despite W's "error that a thing is
good because it is natural" and difference from Lanier in his
conception of art.
8. McCarthy, Justin. Reminiscences. New York and London: Harper and
Brothers, Vol. 1, pp. 171-72., 199, 225-28; London: Chatto & Windus,
Vol. 1, pp. 196-97, 228-29, 258-61.
Records conversations in 1871 with Bryant, Emerson, and W. Bryant
professed no great belief in W. Emerson retained his strong faith in
him, although his artistic creed made him "almost an impossibility for
ordinary social life." W's contentment in poverty ib described as
observed on a visit to his garret-like room in Washington. Not anxious
to explain his theories, he seemed "one of nature's gentlemen." W and
all he wrote had "the charm of real manhood."
9. Rossetti, William Michael. Ruskin: Rossetti: Preraphaelitism:
Papers 1854 to 1862. London: George Allen, pp. 134, 147, 159-60.
Prints letters from W. B. Scott to Rossetti of 1856 and 1857 on his
discovery of Leaves, "somewhat like a revelation, although an ungainly
and not a little repulsive one," with flaws and similarity to the Bible.
10. Salter, William Mackintire. Walt Whitman: Two Addresses.
Philadelphia: S. Burns Weston, 46 pp.
Reprint of 1899.40 and 1899.43.
11. Sears, Lorenzo. American Literature in the Colonial and National
Periods. Boston: Little, Brown, and Co. "Walt Whitman,"
pp. 348-59.
W adopted original style after failing at traditional forms; he
incorporated "prosy thought" and naturalistic elements. The virtues of
his work include sympathy and patriotism. He was Oriental in
331
temperament and Occidental in manner, a universal poet. W outgrew many
faults after I860; the reader should study his poems "in reverse order
of their composition" to meet the finer work first.
12. Thayer, William Roscoe. Throne-Makers. Boston and New York:
Houghton Mifflin Co., pp. 314-15.
Foreigners found their expectations of the American spirit
fulfilled when "Witman, with cowboy gait, came swaggering up Parnassus,
shouting nicknames at the Muses and ready to slap Apollo on the back,"
but he deserves attention for reasons other than such extravagances.
PERIODICALS
13. Anon. "Life and Letters." Poet-Lore, 11 (First Quarter), 144-50.
Lines from "Broadway Pageant" have been mistakenly used to support
the establishing of American sovereignty over the Filipinos, for W's
suggestion of an Asian movement westward signified rather an adoption
cf America's democratic ideals. W cannot be considered an imperialist.
14. Anon. Whitmanesque parody of "Hey-Diddle-Diddle." Poet-Lore,
11 (First Quarter), 160.
Reprinted from London Clarion (unlocated). Reprinted: Saunders.
15. Goss, Charles F. "An Ode to Old Chronics." Conservator, 9
(January), 168-69.
Parody.
L6. Sarrazin, Gabriel. "Walt Whitman." Conservator, 9 (January),
164-65.
Translation from French by William Struthers of the Sarrazin essay
Ln 1893.4: W's pantheism, individualism. Continued 1899.18.
L7. Brigham, Johnson. "Walt Whitman and the West." Midland Monthly
Magazine, 11 (February), 139-42.
__122_
W traveled much in the West in his imagination, as is shown in many
quoted allusions to the Prairie States. He "attributed to the average
Western farmer greater breadth, in life as in horizon," than the average
New England farmer enjoys. W appeals to scholars rather than to common
people or Westerners, but must compel the attention of all thoughtful
men and women. Continued 1899.22.
18. Sarrazin, Gabriel. "Walt Whitman." Conservator, 9 (February),
180-82.
Continues 1899.16. W's beliefs in the divinity of all, individual
immortality, the flesh; W as "above art," Leaves a tableau of America.
19. Valentine, Edward A. Uffington. "The Poet of Manhood."
Conservative Review, 1 (February), 140-46.
Review of Calamus (1897.1), Small Maynard Leaves, Wound-Dresser
(1898.3). "Backward Glance" is a fine introduction to W. His greatest
poem was his own personality, knowing which will modify condemnation of
his carnal aspects. He is most impressive as a teacher with a broad
and positive philosophy, but he has much true poetry as well, the
"Miltonic largeness" of "Lilacs," the "exquisite lyrical feeling" of
"Cradle," the "breadth of mentality and fervor of soul" of "Prayer" and
"Trumpeter." W sought to appeal to the common people rather than to
convince the cultivated critic of his artistic merit; the people at
least appreciated "the rugged poem of his manliness," his lasting gift.
20. Hinton, Richard J. "Walt Whitman and His Friend 'Jack.'" New
Voice (4 February).
Recalls walking with W in Boston and confronting a troubled
acquaintance of W, who set him upon the right path.
333
21. Wolfe, Theo. F. "Is It Walt Whitman's?" New York Times Saturday
Review (18 February), 108.
Letter prints stanza from the poem "The Fallen Angel," which a
former pupil of W's believes that W wrote; asks for further
information, since it has not been located in the periodicals.
22. Brigham, Johnson. "Walt Whitman's Verse." Midland Monthly
Magazine, 11 (March), 249-55.
Continues 1899.17. Whitcomb Riley, in conversation with Brigham,
called W a fraud. W's ideas and worth are represented essentially in
about seventy poems. His egotism is a means for conveying his
altruism. His sexual philosophy has been misinterpreted because
breaking up "Adam" into separate poems invited consideration of each
one individually. Burroughs has personally assured Brigham of W's
lack of impurity in thought and life. Analysis of the "Autumn Rivulets1 '
section, with "To a Common Prostitute." W's catalogues sometimes group
meaninglessly, sometimes suggestively. His love of nature is vividly
displayed; his poetry is more suitable than Tennyson's for
declamation in natural settings. Concluded 1899.26.
23. Bucke, Richard Maurice. "Portraits of Walt Whitman." New England
Magazine, 20 (March), 33-50.
Surveys drawings and photographs of W, with brief biography. W
was not a student, caring little for literature; he could not read
Tennyson and Browning, probably read little Carlyle. His main concern
was living. Description of W's spiritual awakening, and his own as
corroborating W's message. W is a Christ-figure, looking to a new race.
24. Sarrazin, Gabriel. "Walt Whitman." Conservator, 10 (March), 4-6.
334
Continues 1899.18. From consideration of the simplest object W
invokes an infinite sequence of images and ideas, as in "Broad-Axe."
All European speculation is focused on America where the democratic
ideal shall be realized. Continued 1899.29.
25. Brigham, Johnson. "Walt Whitman's Verse." Midland Monthly
Magazine, 11 (April) , 371-76.
Concludes 1899.22. W's democratic creed sought America's
possibilities for all humanity. W rejoiced in the courage but not the
bloodshed of war; "Drum-Taps" reveals a feminine gentleness in this
virile soul. He extended comradeship to women and men. Greater than
the universally accepted "Captain" is "Lilacs" (explicated). W
emphasizes the soul’s progress and a glad acceptance of death
unparalleled in literature.
26. Maynard, Laurens. "A Few Notes on Whitman and the New England
Writers." Walt Whitman Fellowship Papers, 5, No. 5 (April),
25-34.
Reprint of 1898.53.
27. North, Ernest Dressel. "Notes on Rare Books." Book Buyer,
18 (April), 228.
Only recently has there been interest in collecting first editions
of W, who merits such attention "if he is our only truly original
American poet." A careful bibliography of W's work is needed; a
checklist is provided as a start.
28. Rockell, Frederick. "Three Anarchists of American Literature."
University Magazine and Free Review, 11 (April), 176-91.
W, Emerson, and Thoreau, "representing the Himalaya peaks of
American literature, were each, more or less openly, declared
Anarchists." W's view of life synthesized spiritualism and materialism.
________________________________________________ 335
Admirable are his "beautiful word-music" and humanitarian sentiments.
An Anarchist rather than a Socialist, W puts the individual first, not
the government. W does not deserve Nordau's charges of morbidity
(1895.5). "He was the Columbus of a new world of poetry."
29. Sarrazin, Gabriel. "Walt Whitman." Conservator, 10 (April),
20-21.
Continues 1899.24. Leaves conveys "an almost physical freshness."
W was "a free American citizen," "democrat," "patriot," "truly
evangelical Christian," "superior genius." Concluded 1899.33.
30. Triggs, Oscar Lovell. "Walt Whitman: A Character Study." Walt
Whitman Fellowship Papers, 5, No. 3 (April), 7-22.
Reprint of 1898.56, 1898.59, 1896.38.
31. *0'Dowd, Bernard. "Walt Whitman: His Meaning to Victorians—
Democracy v. Feudalism. (Excerpts from a Recent Lecture by 'Gavah
the Blacksmith.')" Melbourne Tocsin (13 April), 2.
Reprinted: McLeod.
W differs from the great poets of the past in singing the heroism
of the average man. His democratic spirit and rejection of the past's
tyranny must be taken up by Australians, on whom the article focuses.
32. Harned, Thomas B. "Whitman and Physique." Walt Whitman
Fe1lows hip Papers, 5, No. 8 (May), 43-53.
Reprinted: 1899.36 and 1899.38; 1902.8; 1902.9.
Largely a transcription and summary of W's various notes on
health, which suggest W's hopes for the mental and spiritual health of
the perfect man, according to which standards he lived his life.
33. Sarrazin, Gabriel. "Walt Whitman." Conservator, 10 (May), 37-39.
Concludes 1899.29. Biographical summary; W as the perfect man.
34. Smith, George J. "Whitman and Mannahatta." Walt Whitman
Fellowship Papers, 5, No. 6 (May), 35-40.
Reprint of 1898.62.
_________ a a s .
35. Clarke, Helen A. "An Ideal of Character Drawn from Whitman's
Poetry." Conservator, 10 (June), 56-58.
W's morality avoids indifference and fatalism to achieve a
Godlike love, although his strength of character may have made him
unaware of the struggle of some souls who want to follow evil. His
poetry emphasizes the ultra-human rather than the human will.
36. Hamed, Thomas B. "Whitman and Physique." Conservator, 10 (June),
53-54.
Reprint of 1899.32 (concluded 1899.38).
37. Sanborn, F. B. "Whitman's Example in American Society."
Conservator, 10 (June), 55-56.
W set an example by his sincere political activity, defense of
manual labor, advocacy of brotherhood and women's rights. He contrasts
with the "Oriental submission to fictitious Destiny" of modem
materialistic Americans.
38. Harned, Thomas B. "Whitman and Physique, II." Conservator, 10
(July), 68-70.
Reprint of 1899.32 (concludes 1899.36).
39. Traubel, H. L. "Whitman in a Summer Novel." Conservator, 10
(August), 93.
Arthur Stanwood Pier's The Pedagogues (unlocated) has a passage
relating to W, which is quoted here.
40. Salter, Wm. M. "The Great Side of Walt Whitman." Ethical
Addresses, Series 6, No. 7 (September), 121-44.
Reprinted: 1899.10. Abridged: 1919.51.
W's style is flawed, but "Captain," through which most people know
W, does not reveal the imaginative levels and the range of thought that
are his best claims to distinction. His catalogues reveal diversified
brotherhood. He emphasizes individual significance, the body's
337
sacredness, women's equality, the.dignity of labor, true democracy, 1
love for country, and progress, especially of souls. "Passage"
culminates his thought as "a holy scripture of the new world."
41. Traubel, H. L. "Notes and Fragments." Conservator, 10
(September), 108-109.
Review of 1899.1. These papers ."throw more light upon Whitman's
background, philosophy and faith than any other book except Leaves of
Grass itself," and demonstrate W's breadth of knowledge.
42. Born, Helena. "Whitman's Ideal Democracy." Poet-Lore, 11
(Fourth Quarter), 569-82.
Reprinted: 1902.2.
Our society is deficient in soul. W provides the seeds for an
ideal democracy based on Liberty, Equality, and Love (in its two
aspects, which W ennobles alike). W dislikes authority, anticipates
contemporary notions of socialism and women's equality. He is poet of
egotism and altruism equally; he would include all politics and faiths.
43. Salter, Wm. M. "The Questionable Side of Walt Whitman." Ethical
Addresses, Series 6, No. 8 (October), 145-66.
Reprinted: 1899.10.
W's celebration of the body and sex is inoffensive but not so his
celebration of sexual lawlessness and his apparent denial of moral
standards, which is due to his Christ-like sympathy for all, even the
sinner (although he fails to reject the sin), to his unmoral way of
optimistically looking at the universe, and to his view of the poet's
function as uttering all. But W also believed in the struggle for
greatness in each individual. He will produce more good than evil.
44. Copeland, Arthur. "Will Walt Whitman's Work Survive?" Self
Culture, 10 (November), 250-52.
338
"Backward Glance" is W's "passionless defence" of his work.
Leaves "is the greatest incarnation since the Gospel of St. John," the
life of a "strong, healthy, cosmopolitan soul," a hero. W's poetry is
evident in his titles and prose as well. He gives a sense of real
being, not imitation. He will survive because of his personality,-
unique yet representative, his deep piety, his faith in man and good.
45. MacCulloch, J. A. "Walt Whitman: The Poet of Brotherhood."
Westminster Review, 152 (November), 548-64.
W is precursor of a new era in poetry which embodies the best of
the past while providing a fresh treatment of subjects and "a new if
somewhat crude style." The influence of W's experience, reading, and
Transcendental thought is explained. W's style is discussed: its
flaws of diction, impropriety, and humorlessness, its convincing
rhythm and music. W's range of vision is unsurpassed even by
Shakespeare; he has a sympathetic imagination, vivid portrayals of
nature, optimism, brotherhood joined with belief in individual genius
and character. His prophetic vision should appeal to all who love
nature and life.
46. Morse, Lucius Daniel. "Dr. Daniel G. Brinton on Walt Whitman."
Conservator, 10 (November), 132-35.
Recounts conversation with Brinton, who describes his meeting and
acquaintance with W, W's "perennial cheerfulness," personality,
opinions (opposition to war, orthodox view of immortality), careful
revisions.
339.
1900
BOOKS
1. Bronson, Walter C. A Short History of American Literature.
Boston: D. C. Heath & Co. "Walt Whitman," pp. 265-73.
W's basic themes are Democracy (or comradeship) and Science (pri
marily evolution). His errors are intellectual and aesthetic rather
than moral. His diction is usually dramatic and strong but he lacks
structural power, his longer poems being "mere heaps." He was not a
great poet but had "some of the bones of one."
2. Carpenter, George R. Chapters on American literature in English
Literature by Stopford A. Brooke. New York: Macmillan Co.;
London: Macmillan & Co., pp. 319-21.
W's works have been thought typical of democracy because he "knew
the life of the people." But they have not understood him due to his
"uncouth words and rough thoughts." "The grandeur of his conception
and the majestic sweep of his verse entitle him to a place among our
poets." He pushed to an extreme the methods of Emerson and Thoreau.
Though without prominent disciples, he has led our verse toward sim
plicity and disregard for formal conventions.
3. Cooke, George Willis. Ralph Waldo Emerson: His Life, Writings,
and Philosophy. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., n. d.,
pp. 233-34, 387, 404.
Revision of 1881.3.
Two chapters are added as an updating since Emerson's death. W
is quoted regarding his visit to Emerson in September 1881 and his
1860 talk with Emerson, which largely clears up their relations. The
bibliography lists three articles by W.
340
4. Genung, John Franklin. The Working Principles of Rhetoric.
Boston, New York, Chicago, London: Ginn & Co., p. 217.
W's adoption of rhythmical Hebrew parallelism might have been more
successful "if he had had a better ear for rhythm of the constituent
phrase." "Open Road" is quoted to exemplify W's "jumble rhythm."
5. Gould, Elizabeth Porter. Anne Gilchrist and Walt Whitman.
Philadelphia: David McKay, 89 pp. No index. Illustrated.
Primarily biographical of Gilchrist and her relationship with W,
based on 1870.3, 1887.3, 1898.21, with quotations from and commentary
on George Eliot, Joaquin Miller, Rossetti, O'Connor, Carpenter,
Burroughs, all in relation to W. Gould recalls her own acquaintance
with W. Reprints 1885.4.
6. Hodgson, Geraldine. Walt Whitman: Poet and Thinker. Manchester:
Co-operative Newspaper Society, 88 pp. No index.
I. "Whitman's Personal Appeal": W may be guilty of artistic
blunders, as in his sex poems, because he wrote not for art's sake but
for a moral message. He relied on direct personal appeal. His audi
ence will grow because of his breadth, sympathy, and keen attention
to detail.
II. "Whitman as a Literary Man": W was influenced by nature
rather than literature, and by cultures other than English. The
greatest of his lines could only be changed for the worse. From his
vast vocabulary he often chooses inappropriate words, although en
tirely capable "of melodious phrasing, of apt description, of felici
tous epithet."
III. "Whitman's Democracy": W's democratic ideal in Vistas is an
attitude of mind rather than a political state. Collectivism and in-
341
dividualism are not reduced to synonymity, but one serves and produces
the other. Such may be the wave of the future, but W's esteem for
business energy and materialism is slightly inconsistent with his
moral emphasis.
IV. "Whitman's Sense of Nature": Notes similarities to
Wordsworth.
V. "Whitman's War Poetry": W falls short of inspiring men to acts
of courage but succeeds in portraying the pathos and actions of war.
VI. "Whitman's Philosophy": Explanation of the influence of
Hegel in W's political philosophy and optimistic moral system.
VII. "Whitman in Various Lights": Defense of W's egotism and no
tion of human divinity. W often failed to express his thoughts
appropriately. His faults are those of the American race, whose vir
tues he shares as well. Behind all his work are "his soaring indefa
tigable energy" and the charm of a "self-sufficing soul."
7. Howells, W. D. Literary Friends and Acquaintance: A Personal
Retrospect of American Authorship. New York and London: Harper
& Brothers. "First Impressions of Literary New York," pp. 67-90.
Reprint of 1895.28.
8. Johnson, Charles F. Outline History of English and American
Literature. New York, Cincinnati, Chicago: American Book Co.,
pp. 522-25.
W lacks art and skill but "has broad, inchoate conceptions of his
own," making readers see death, nature, and the democracy of labor in
new ways. Even critics who find his verse chaotic "cannot deny the
power of 'When last the Lilacs Bloomed' and the "Mocking Bird' and the
'Man of War Bird,'" though only "Captain" (here reprinted) has popu
lar acceptance.
342
9. Pond, Major J. B. Eccentricities of Genius. (Memories of Famous
Men and Women of the Platform and Stage.) New York: G. W. Dilling--
ham, pp. 386-88, 497-501.
Describes Sir Edwin Arnold's visit to W, at which Pond and John
Russell Young were also present (see 1891.2, 1892.17). Recalls W
giving readings under his management. Mistakenly mentions a visit to
W by Matthew Arnold. Reprints 1892.5.
10. Santayana, George. Interpretations of Poetry and Religion.
New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. "The Poetry of Barbarism,"
pp. 166-216, primarily pp. 177-87.
Reprinted in part: Miller; Hindus.
Today's poetry, exemplified by the admirable but limited W and
Browning, is a poetry of barbarism because it lacks beauty, ideals,
and a "grasp of the whole reality," depicting sensations and transi
tive emotions without the ordering reason. For W, the surface is all,
though presented "with a wonderful gift of graphic characterization
and an occasional rare grandeur of diction." His democracy was not
merely constitutional, but social and moral, with actual equality
among men. W foreshadows a new literature of democracy which will
ignore all distinctions, including those of genius or virtue, thus
looking to the past rather than to the future with its Spencerian
evolution toward differentiation and organization. Hence W's desired
audience rejects him, but he is welcome at times.
11. Stedman, Edmund Clarence, ed. An American Anthology 1787-1900.
Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Co. Introduction, pp. xix,
xxiii-iv, xxv; 15 poems printed, pp. 221-32; Biographical Notes
by A[rthur] s[tedman], pp. 830-31.
W shares with Bryant an "elemental quality," but differs in style
and awareness of the heterogeneity of recent America. Emerson, Poe,
____________________________________________________________J41
and W are now the most alive of our poets, offering the most for the
Old World to learn from, because they were the most individual.
12. Stevenson, Robert Louis. The Essay on Walt Whitman. With a
Little Journey to the House of Whitman by Elbert Hubbard. [East
Aurora]: Roycroft Shop,91 pp.Frontispiece: bas-relief of W
profile by St. Gerome Roycroft.
Reprint of 1882.6 (with changes in wording at the beginning of
each section) and 1896.4 (with minor deletions).
13. Wendell, Barrett. A Literary History of America. New York:
Charles Scribner's Sons. "Walt Whitman," pp. 465-79; bibliogra
phy, p. 553.
Revised: 1904.12. Abridged: Miller.
W has "remarkable individuality and power" but his eccentricity
produced controversy. His democracy emphasizes equality rather than
simple liberty. W errs in denying inferiority and evil. He creates
"literary anarchy" by juxtaposing beautiful phrases with jargon. His
experience is strictly American, being confined to New York's lower
classes; this atmosphere pervades his work, including "his most nearly
beautiful" poem, "Brooklyn Ferry." "At most he leaves you with a
sense of new realities concerning which you must do your thinking for
yourself." His style suggests decline. "Myself" and "Brooklyn Ferry"
are "recklessly misshapen," yet we are fortunate that he did not re
main silent but made attempts at utterance. His lack of literary con
sciousness is foreign to the American spirit, but his poetry's sub
stance is wholly American.
PERIODICALS
14. c[arus], p[aul]. Review of Salter (1899.10). Open Court, 14
(January), 59-60.
Salter's "impassionate" praise of W's "natural nobility" is more
convincing than the enthusiasm of W's admirers. Objects not to W's
344
innovations or immoral tendencies but to "his lack of poetical
strength and genuine sentiment." W is psychologically interesting but
lacks beauty. Praises W's "scorn for traditional rules," Most of his
lines "are mere talk," pleasant, thoughtful, or trivial.
15. Kennedy, William Sloane. "On W. W." Conservator, 10 (February),
188.
Review of Salter (1899.10). "The confounding of good and evil"
in Leaves is explained by reference to Hegel; but W's true being was
always "profoundly moral," as his life gives evidence.
16. Salter, William M., and William Sloane Kennedy. "Good and Evil
in Whitman." Conservator, 11 (March), 6-7.
In response to 1900.15, Salter asks how to justify the "false
notes" in W on moral questions. Kennedy responds that W seems to
"condone licentiousness" but his general atmosphere is "nobly moral,"
usually looking beyond the "petty moral adjustments" of society, al
though sometimes speaking from its sphere.
17. Struthers, William. "An Italian Writer on Whitman." Conserva
tor , 11 (April), 21-22.
Explains Jannacone's discussion of prosody, which divides W's
poems according to whether they have "distinctive rhyme and rhythm,"
"clear rhythmic design but no rhyme," or "rhythmic vagueness." Con
tinued 1900.19.
18. Beardshear, W. M. "The Charge of a Brother Walt." Philistine,
10 (May), 161-67.
Proclaims W's philosophy using only w's words or a close para
phrase, as addressed to a potential disciple.
______________ 345
19. Struthers, William. "An Italian Writer on Whitman, II." Con
servator , 11 (May), 38-40.
Continues 1900.17. Examines "Pioneers" as example of second
type, showing W's deliberate variation of rhythm; "Eidolons" and
"Dirge" as examples of third type. Continued 1900.21.
20. Clarke, Helen A. "The Awakening of the Soul: Whitman and Maeter
linck." Conservator, 11 (June), 58-60.
Maeterlinck must be recognized as a successor to W because "the
democratic inclusion of all souls" pervades his poetry.
21. Struthers, William. "An Italian Writer on Whitman, III." Con
servator , 11 (June), 53-54.
Continues 1900.19. Continues examination of "Eidolons" and
"Dirge." Such forms, "because of the dissatisfaction they instill in
to the senses and the psyche, more efficaciously express intimate com
motions, profound anguish, and the sweetness of sorrow." Explains
Jannacone's reconstruction of "Weave in, Weave in, My Hardy Life"
after an orthodox pattern to "show how much less forcible, how much
less adequate, is the regulated revision than the irregular original."
Continued 1900.28.
22. Trimble, W. H. "The Open Court and 'Leaves of Grass.'" Open
Court, 14 (July), 439-40.
Response to 1900.14. "Adam" is not immoral or "written for the
sake of mere obscenity." W's poetic strength and sentiment may be
seen in "Open Road," "This Compost," "Drum-Taps." His fame is not due
to the questionable passages, for many admirers are familiar only with
expurgated versions, which America perhaps needs; list of W's admirers.
346
23. Williams, Francis Howard. "Individuality as Whitman's Primary
Motive." Conservator, 11 (July), 71-73.
W's primary message is not, as the Fellowship believes, comrade
ship, but rather "individuality." Socialism is not yet ripe; W calls
each of us to perfect ourselves.
24. Davenport, W. E. "Walt Whitman in Brooklyn— W. E. Davenport Re
calls Some Interesting Facts About the Poet's Residence Here.
Father and Son Printers. Anxious to Become a Platform Orator.
Text of an Address Before Brooklyn Art Union in 1851." Brooklyn
Daily Eagle (14 July), 18.
Generally biographical information, including religious and per
sonal habits.
25. Mead, Leon. "Walt Whitman." Conservator, 11 (August), 90-92.
W was suited to his age, his egotism being "merely the objective
expression of the universal man." Recalls conversation during his
visit to W with Joaquin Miller, W being moved to hear of Longfellow's
praise. Recalls other casual visits.
26. Anon. "Anne Gilchrist and Walt Whitman." New York Times
Saturday Review (8 September), 595.
Favorable review of Gould (1900.5); summarizes the relationship.
27. [Hubbard, Elbert]. "Heart to Heart Talks with Philistines by
the Pastor of His Flock." Philistine, 11 (October), 142-47.
Prints letter to him from Dr. George M. Gould rejecting W as "an
old sponge and tramp." Comments ironically on the letter.
28. Struthers, William. "An Italian Writer on Whitman, IV." Con
servator , 11 (October), 120-21.
Continues 1900.21. Summarizes Jannacone, with translated ex
tracts: W's use of parallelism in "Myself," "phonic rhythms" in "Li
lacs"; comparison to traditional rhythms. "W's most marked character-
347
istic is a psychic constitution of rhythm" and "the formation of groups
through homogeneity of ideas." Continued 1900.29.
29. Struthers, William. "An Italian Writer on Whitman, V." Conser
vator , 11 (November), 135.
Continues 1900.28. Jannacone compares Greek syntonic prose with
W's patterns of "stress upon segments of thought in parallels." The
"struggle between the logical and rhythmic elements" produces enjamb-
ment and continuity of thought from verse to verse. W's work is rep
resentative of the evolution of rhythmic patterns from ancient to
modern poetry. Concluded 1901.15.
30. Benton, Joel. "Walt Whitman. The New and Enlarged Variorum
Edition of his 'Leaves of Grass.'" New York Times Saturday
Review (10 November), 772.
Emphasizes the suggestiveness of W's poetry; his egotism as uni
versal; his all-inclusiveness, depicted well in his catalogues. W's
work must be viewed as a whole rather than as separate lyrics. Re
grets omission of "Locomotive"; prints "Spider" as a brief example of
W's poetic excellence; notes unparalleled pathos of "Captain" and
"Lilacs."
348
1901
BOOKS
1. Bucke, Richard Maurice. Cosmic Consciousness: A Study in the Evo
lution of the Human Mind. Philadelphia: Innes & Sons. "Walt
Whitman," pp. 178-96; also passim. No index.
Excerpt reprinted: Miller.
His works and life (described, largely from 1883.2) show W as "the
best, most perfect, example the world has so far had of the Cosmic
Sense," for in him "the new faculty has been, probably, most perfectly
developed," and he wrote from the point of view of Cosmic Conscious
ness. "Myself" 5 depicts the moment of illumination; passages from
Vistas illustrate W's emphasis of "the All," and "the equal grandeur
and eternity of the individual soul." W's refusal to abase the old
physical self to the new indicates full mastery of the Cosmic Con
sciousness. W's writings are used throughout the book to explain the
experiences of others, to suggest similarities (as in the section on
Shakespeare's sonnets), and to reveal his influence. This material is
based on 1894.14 and 1894.16.
2. Courthope, William John. Life in Poetry: Law in Taste. London:
Macmillan and Co.; New York: Macmillan Co., p. 79.
Reprinted: 1904.1.
Response to lines quoted from W: "if you had anything of univer
sal interest to say about yourself, you could say it in a way natural
to one of the metres, or metrical movements, established in the Eng
lish language."
__________________________________________________________________________ M a
3. Ellis, Havelock. Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Vol. 2: Sexual
Inversion. Philadelphia: F. A. Davis Co., pp. 24-26, 202.
Revised: 1915.7.
W's notion of friendship has a strong physical content. But W
must be treated not merely as an invert, but as "the prophet-poet of
Democracy." W apparently did not see a connection between his desire
for physical contact with men and the actual sexual act, according to
his letter to Symonds. Letter from "Q" is quoted presenting argu
ments against W's claims of paternity. W's notion of "manly love"
furnishes a wholesome and robust ideal to the invert who is sensitive
to normal ideals."
4. Halsey, Francis Whiting, ed. American Authors and Their Homes:
Personal Descriptions and Interviews. New York: James Pott and
Co., pp. 108-109.
Quotes Howells' conversation on W, comparing W to Columbus ("He
discovered an island, instead of the continent."), criticizing his
lack of form except when "at a sublime height."
5. Herringshaw, Thomas William. Herringshaw* s Encyclopedia of Ameri
can Biography of the Nineteenth Century. Chicago: American Pub
lishers' Association, p. 1004.
Brief biography, list of works. "Captain" is his most popular
poem.
6. Newcomer, Alphonso G. American Literature. Chicago: Scott,
Foresman and Co., pp. 252-64; also Suggestions for Reading and
Study, pp. 351-52, with questions on selected poems and suggestions
for comparison with other poets.
W's message is "only a more emphatic declaration of what was al
ready in the prose of Emerson and the verse of Whittier and Lowell."
His purpose was to depict an entire personality and suggest the indi
vidual's evolution, using himself as a typical American. W "fills a
350
large place in the hearts of many lovers of English poetry"; his "vi
rile, stimulating personality" cannot be omitted from American litera
ture. His prose is valuable for depicting war and for helping to un
derstand his poetry. His strange vocabulary is sometimes saved by "a
humorous intent," but his formlessness does not seem capable of "the
final poem even of Democracy." He needs more artistry but has "pointed
the way for a future and more able bard." He was "the truest laureate
of the War, and of Lincoln." His poetry frequently has true melody anc.
harmony, but he was less concerned with being poetic than with arous
ing the reader.
7. Onderdonk, James L. History of American Verse (1610-1897).
Chicago: A. C. McClurg & Co., pp. 323-39.
In 1855 W represented a familiar quest for Americanism, familiar
also in his themes and such characteristics as his rhythm and cata
loguings. He seemed to affect vulgarisms artifically, since "music
and melody were inherent in his soul." His individuality is most true
when he forgets his self-imposed mission and gives rein to his fancy,
as in "Trumpeter." "Broad-Axe" reveals his "elemental grandeur." He
presents "the very words of nature." Because he is greater as a cos
mic than as a national poet, "Passage" is nobler than "Exposition" as
a poem of modern science. W represents the republic, no particular
section. His victories outnumber his defeats.
8. Young, John Russell. Men and Memories: Personal Reminiscences,
edited by his wife, May D. Russell Young. New York: F. Tennyson
Neely. "Walt Whitman," Vol. 1, pp. 76-109.
Reprints of 1892.16 and 1892.17.
Includes two W poems and a parody by Young from 1888.
351
PERIODICALS
9. Triggs, Oscar Lovell. "A Century of American Poetry." Forum, 30
(January), 630-40, passim.
Review of Stedman (1900.11). W exemplifies "heroic realism." Poe
and W are "conspicuous among American poets for their striking origi
nality and intensive force," conveying unique experiences, creating
distinctive styles, founding schools (W's being in greater evidence in
this book).
10. Carlill, H. F. "A Plea for a Consideration of Walt Whitman."
London Literature, 8 (12 January), 25-26.
W's significant "influence on the vocabulary and syntax of Eng
lish prose" demands serious criticism. "He is the most sensuous, the
most realistic writer in the history of literature," unmatched in "giv
ing the bare immediate impression." His intention is "the very denial
of art," but his poetic instincts are often just right. Whatever the
faults of his truly expressive and "practically perfect" style, they
are part of this whole character and outlook, for his work is "intel
lectually one and organic."
11. Cauldwell, William. "Walt Whitman as a Young Man." New York
Times Saturday Review (26 January), 59.
Recalls being "quite chummy" with W when he was about seventeen,
working in the same building in which W (about twenty-five) was work
ing on the Aurora. Describes W's appearance, activities, political
disagreements.
12. Ratcliffe, S. K. "On the Alleged Importance of Walt Whitman."
London Literature, 8 (16 February), 113-14.
Responds to 1901.10. W's influence on prose is doubtful, for he
is more a personal than a literary force. His form is not invented,
being similar to most primitive literatures. Primarily young people
respond to him. His language is often absurd, except when "his imagi
nation triumphs over his theory" and permits him to endow common words
with fresh significance and beauty, like any master of speech. His
one idea is merely American individualism. He has no poetical off
spring. "Captain" shows that he could not work in traditional forms.
His work will endure for expressing his personal spirit of fellowship.
W's poetic temperament is more than protoplasmic only when moulded by
creative imagination, and then it meets the canons of poetry.
13. +Ives, Ella Gilbert. "The Gospel of the Open. Studies of Some
of Its Preachers. Walt Whitman.” Boston Evening Transcript
(27 February).
Describes poetically W's identity with nature, with extracts.
"Cradle" conveys brilliantly the feeling of the sea, the moment of "the
boy's baptism into the poet's rapture." W conveys the ethical as well
as physical aspect of a scene. He knew nature well, if not scienti
fically.
14. Mountain, William. "Whitman's Gift of Joy." Conservator, 12
(March), 5-6.
W conveys gladness "through a knowledge of one's own soul" and
"the perception of the beauty and value of all other things." Not
even Buddha or Christ had this unique gift.
15. Struthers, William. "An Italian Writer on Whitman, VI." Con
servator , 12 (March), 7-9.
353
Concludes 1900.29. Jannacone examines the poetry in W's prefaces
an^ Specimen. Summary of W's psychical rhythmics; W's return to prim
itive forms makes the logical element prevail, but his rhythmics are
distinguished from the primitive. His aesthetic effects and content
are interdependent.
16. Woodhull, Mary G. "Walt Whitman— A Memory Picture." Literary
Era, NS 8 (March), 159-60.
Butterfly portrait. Recalls W from childhood acquaintance in
Camden.
17. Platt, Isaac Hull. "Whitman and Cosmic Emotion." Conservator,
12 (June), 57-59.
Cosmic emotion, the "awe which arises from viewing the universe
as cosmos or order," is expressed in W's poems as "the great uplifting
power ennobling the human soul and thereby regenerating society,"
leading to love.
18. Struthers, William. "Walt Whitman: 1901." Conservator, 12
(June), 52-53.
Reprinted: 1916.5.
Sonnet.
19. Anon. "Walt Whitman. The Organization Named After Him Holds
Its Convention in This City." New York Times Saturday Review
(8 June), 411.
Describes speeches at the Walt Whitman Fellowship by I. H. Platt,
Edwin Markham, John Swinton, Alma Calder Johnson [sic], Mrs. Richard
Hovey, Mayor Samuel M. Jones, Charlotte Perkins Gilman; notes briefly
other speakers and readers. Notes preponderance of women present, the
tendency of the speakers to establish a w cult.
354
20. Benton, Joel. "Whitman in Literature." New York Times Saturday
Review (8 June), 411.
W was shocking when he first appeared, but he came to be recog
nized as a poet with grace and beauty beneath the "chestnut burr,"
with meaning in his "amorphous lines." Praise for W's titles, break
from tradition, vicarious egotism, faith in his own standard, power of
suggestion.
21. "D., N. G." "Why is Walt Whitman Unappreciated?" New York Times
Saturday Review (8 June), 411.
Notes never having seen a volume of W in ordinary homes among
many volumes of popular poets, major and minor. Perhaps then he is
not a true poet.
22. Crosby, Ernest. "The Whitman Cipher." Conservator, 12 (July),
73-74.
Comic essay ascribing the authorship of Leaves to Bucke.
23. Anon. "Whitman's Lincoln. His 'When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard
Bloomed' Superbly Issued in England." New York Times Saturday
Review (24 August), 598.
Review of Essex House Press edition. W wrote of Lincoln from
personal knowledge and observations set down promptly. Specimen re
veals war's aspects "far more convincingly and vividly" than Red
Badge of Courage, without attracting half the attention.
24. Kelley, William V. "The Deification of 'One of the Roughs.'"
Homiletic Review, 42 (September), 202-208.
Attacks W's violations of decency, which even his admirers ac
knowledge; scoffs at foreign tributes. It is fitting that a "profes
sional blasphemer" (Ingersoll) spoke at his funeral. W is comparable
to Nietzsche in lunacy and imposture.
. ___________________________ 355
25. Scholes, C. W. "Walt Whitman, His Poetry and Philosophy."
Pacific Monthly, 6 (September), 141-43.
Recalls meeting W and Bucke in Ontario. W is a titan in his
work. W's philosophy emphasizes the priority of personality and the
harmony of universal law. His poetry, though dissociated from rhyme
and measure, is responsive to cosmic laws.
26. Watson, E. H. Lacon. "Literature Portraits.— XVII. Walt Whit
man." London Literature, 9 (7 September), 219-26.
W's poetry is "intolerable rant" at first sight, juxtaposing
eloquent with ludicrous passages. W, "essentially simple-minded," was
most concerned with democratic messages, secondarily with exploiting
his own personality. Summary of W's early life (from Bucke, 1883.2).
His best work is Specimen, his worst Vistas; his lack of method is
less disturbing in the poetry.
27. Anon. "An English View of Whitman." Current Literature, 31
(October), 482.
Excerpted from London Guardian (unlocated). W is American lit
erature 's single "great original force." Objections to Wendell
(1900.13). W's way of looking at things is new, American, and his
own. His faults (saying whatever comes into his head without editing
or planning) are on the surface. He is the greatest original force
since Wordsworth, finding poetry where even Wordsworth did not, in
the seething life of modern cities.
28. Williams, Francis Howard. "The Whitman Cult." Conservator, 12
(October), 119.
Responds to an extract reprinted from Kelley (1901.24): such
critics have never understood the Gospel itself.
356
29. Anon. "Walt Whitman. His Early Work as Reviewer, Poet, and
Editor Before His 'Leaves of Grass' Was Published." New York
Times Saturday Review (.5 October) , 704-705.
Corrects Wendell's statement (1900.13) regarding W's vagrant
youth by showing his keen political concerns while writing for the
newspapers, through extensive quotations.
30. [Hubbard, Elbert]. "Heart to Heart Talks with Philistines by
the Pastor of His Flock." Philistine, 13 (November), 178-83.
This discussion of Burroughs includes comments on W. W did not
join the army because of his charitable instincts and horror of war.
Burroughs has made W's "fragmentary philosophy" a "practical working
gospel."
31. Anon. "Primal Sanities." Academy, 61 (30 November), 511-12.
Review of Holmes (1902.11). Critics should be concerned about W
as a spiritual force, not whether his works are poems. Holmes per
ceives W's Hegelianism, "gusto of life." W is a single-minded, rather
than myriad-minded, man. He often finds "large and classical utter
ance for essential human moods."
32. Diack, William. "Edward Carpenter: The Walt Whitman of England."
Westminster Review, 156 (December), 655-63.
W stamped his individuality on his age, producing such disciples
as Carpenter, whom some regard as even greater. Incidental compari
sons of Carpenter with W, whose music Carpenter surpasses in sweetness
although he cannot reach "the lofty grandeur" of "Lilacs" or "the
breadth and vigour and boundless freedom" of "Open Road." As a mo
dern teacher, Carpenter stands a little below W, who is "a perennial
fount of life."
357
33. W. "Walt Whitman— A Sketch." Universal Brotherhood Path, 16
(December), 502-11.
As a Universalist, W perceived the Spirit of Nature throughout the
Universe. His concern was to express his thought, not to make it
poetic. His style, "full of the music of nature," needed no metre or
rhyme. His descriptions are graphic. He does not wholly ignore
sentimental love but emphasizes "the broader less personal side." His
poetry suggests a new literature and will live to inspire the charac
ter; he must be read for oneself. His prophecies in "Redwood" and
"Exposition" (quoted) are fulfilled by the [Theosophical] Society in
Point Loma, California.
_3£8
1902
BOOKS
1. Abernethy, Julian W. American Literature. New York: Maynard,
Merrill, and Co. "Walt Whitman," pp. 426-34.
W's rhythms are not really those of nature. His strengths include
"his intense Americanism," "his all-embracing faith in the future of
democracy," "his contention for individualism," and his notion of
comradeship uniting all classes. The war produced "his nearest
approaches to poetic feeling and expression of the highest order," but
his ideas are few and his sentences often unconnected. He lacks humor
and emphasizes realism at the expense of ideality. "His ignorance
and uncouthness must not be mistaken for primordial simplicity and
hirsute strength." Yet he cannot be ignored. Reading list.
2. Born, Helena. Whitman's Ideal Democracy and Other Writings.
Boston: Everett Press.
Reprints of 1899.42; 1896.12, 1896.17, and 1896.20; 1895.42.
Biographical sketch of Born by the editor, Helen Tufts, describes
the strong impact W had on Born.
3. Botta, Anne C. Lynch. Handbook of Universal Literature. Second
Revised Edition. New York and Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., p.
523.
Revision of 1899.1.
Discussion of W is expanded. W was the poet of democracy, pro
ducing little verse but rather "an amorphous hybrid medium" which
forcibly expressed his individualism, a rebellion provoked by "the
359
insipid 'Correctness'" of the Knickerbocker School poets, whom W will
long outlive as a power.
4. Bucke, Richard Maurice, ed. Calamus. In The Complete Writings of
Walt Whitman, Vol. 8. New York and London: G. P. Putnam's Sons.
Reprint of 1897.1.
5. Carpenter, Edward. Iolaus: An Anthology of Friendship. London:
Swan Sonnenschein & Co.; Boston: Charles E. Goodspeed, pp. 177-81.
Reprinted: 1917.2.
Headnote to an extract from Vistas and three "Calamus" poems: the
most intimate part of W's message is the love of comrades, largely
ignored since the Greek age but potentially part of the new era W seeks
to inaugurate "by his great power, originality and initiative, as well
as by his deep insight and wide vision."
6. Darrow, Clarence S. A Persian Pearl and Other Essays. Chicago:
C. L. Ricketts. "Walt Whitman," pp. 43-74.
Reprint of 1899.3.
7. Halsey, Francis Whiting, ed. Authors of Our Day in Their Homes:
Personal Descriptions and Interviews. New York: James Pott and
Co., pp. 93-94. See also 1902.18.
Interview with Laurence Hutton describes his cast of W's hand and
his inscribed portrait of W.
8. Harned, Thomas B., ed. Letters Written by Walt Whitman to His
Mother from 1866 to 1872. New York and London: G.'P. Putnam's
Sons, 132 pp.
Reprinted: 1902.9.
Prefatory Note describes W's character, which these letters re
veal. Included in this volume are reprints of 1895.61, 1896.10, and
1899.32, and a new essay, "Walt Whitman and Oratory," presenting W's
comments on oratory and suggesting their application to his writing.
360
9. Harned, Thomas B. "Letters Written by Walt Whitman to His Mother";
"Walt Whitman and Oratory"; "Walt Whitman and Physique"; "Walt
Whitman and His Second Boston Publishers." In The Complete Writ
ings of Walt Whitman, Vol. 8. New York and London: G. P. Putnam's
Sons.
Reprint of 1902.8.
10. Harned, Thomas B., and Horace L. Traubel. Introduction in The
Complete Writings of Walt Whitman, Vol. 1. New York and London:
G. P. Putnam's Sons, pp. xiii-xcvi.
Primarily biographical. W gained his education mostly from life
itself, with great knowledge of men. Quotations from Burroughs
(1871.1), to which W contributed much advice and revision, as he did
to Bucke (1883.2). W's error in dating his New Orleans trip is cor
rected. W was not indolent but preferred the human spirit to money
making. Leaves is a picture of America in the nineteenth century, its
substance W himself, each reader must become its author. He is inclu
sive, not limited. Description of W's mystical qualities, humanistic
philosophy. Recollections are quoted from 1881 of a person who knew W
in the early fifties. The war offered reaffirmation of his earlier
prophecy and thus served to complete Leaves. W appeals not to the
brain or the literary imagination but to emotion. His admirers are
often radical. His personality and life in Camden are described; his
carnival-like funeral; his confidence that he would be heard.
11. Holmes, Edmond. Walt Whitman's Poetry. A Study and a Selection.
London and New York: John Lane, 132 pp. "Walt Whitman's Poetry,"
pp. 1-76.
W is emotional, self-conscious, optimistic, and American. De
scription of his democratic purpose, messages of emancipation of self
and importance of love, flawed materialist emphasis (particularly re
garding women), equating of good and evil. His soul is aware of
_________________ , ______ „_________________________________________________ SJiL
Nature's beauty but he lacks the patience and self-forgetfulness of
the true artist. His anatomical descriptions have a theoretical, not
an emotional purpose. His affirmation of death is inconsistent and
unintelligible to his desired audience. But W is the poet of the ideal
in spite of himself, and he recognizes injustice and misery. Poems on
death and the sea reveal his questionings, but do not reveal reverence
or humility. He is "the poet of democratic equality,— and therefore
of chaos," failing to lead to spiritual perfection through upward
growth.
12. James, William. The Varieties of Religious Experience. New
York: Longmans, Green, and Co., pp. 84-87; 395-96, 506.
Reprinted in part: Miller.
W is "the supreme contemporary example of the inability to feel
evil." Through using the first-person W expresses expansive sentiments
for all men. He restores natural religion, but is not a true pagan,
having a conscious pride in his freedom and "a touch of bravado." He
has a "vague expansive impulse" in the faith-state.
13. Lawton, William Cranston. Introduction to the Study of American
Literature. New York and Chicago: Globe School Book Co., pp.
249-51, 343-44, 349, 352.
Brief estimate focusing on Emerson's strange but consistent ap
preciation of W. His later work, especially his prose, "often expres
ses in inspiring fashion the exultant vigor, the generous humanity, of
our national life." But he appeals to neither masses nor the critical
few, because of his formlessness and violation of good manners.
14. Liddell, Mark H. An Introduction to the Scientific Study of
English Poetry. New York: Doubleday, Page & Co., pp. 95-96, 155-
59, 161, 165.
________________________________________________________________________________ 362
Two brief passages from "Cradle," examined as typical of W's
poems which are essentially poetic, display rhythm through their
"arrangement of thought-moments punctuated into definite sequences by
emotional pulses," rather than metrical ones.
15. Selwyn, George [Walt Whitman]. "Walt Whitman in Camden." In
Authors at Home; Personal and Biographical Sketches of Well-
Known American Writers. Ed. J. L. and J. B. Gilder. New York:
A. Wessels Co., pp. 335-42.
Revision of 1888.4.
Revisions merely acknowledge the fact of W's death.
16. Triggs, Oscar Lovell. Bibliography. In The Complete Writings of
Walt Whitman, Vol. 10. New York and London: G. P. Putman's Sons,
pp. 139-233.
Includes descriptive bibliography of W's writings; biographical
and critical (including items with incidental discussion); poems
(listing of other titles).
17. Triggs, Oscar Lovell. "The Growth of 'Leaves of Grass.'" In
The Complete Writings of Walt Whitman, Vol. 10. New York and
London: G. P. Putnam's Sons, pp. 101-34.
Revision of 1897.84.
Besides minor additions or deletions of quotations, a final sec
tion is added on "Method of Composition," praising W's careful mechan
ics, typographical correctness, selection of titles. Examines notes
for some poems and different versions of "Grand is the Seen" and "Come,
said my Soul." Includes facsimiles.
18. Whitelock, William Wallace. "Edwin Markham." In Halsey (1902.7),
pp. 77-78.
Quotes Markham: W "formulated many great truths," but should not
be over-praised "as the greatest man of the Christian era," America's
prophet. Despite occasional puerilities, he sometimes thrills.
______ 363
PERIODICALS
19. *Carpenter, Edward. "Walt Whitman's Children." Reformer
(February).
Abridged: 1906.4.
W's sexual statements in Leaves need not be taken literally, but
he apparently did have affairs with women, and of more than casual
duration. He was later equally attracted to men and women, a possible
indication of "a higher development of humanity" or just "a personal
peculiarity." The evidence seems contradictory, however, though we
may read some poems (e.g. "Once I Pass'd") as actual experiences.
20. Trowbridge, John Townsend. "Reminiscences of Walt Whitman."
Atlantic Monthly, 89 (February), 163-75.
Revised: 1903.10.
Recalls his impressions of Leaves in 1855; his first acquaintance
with W in Boston in 1860. W told him then that he was first struck by
Emerson in 1854 (although later friends have claimed no early influ
ence from Emerson). Records conversations with W and O'Connor in
Washington, and W's reading of his war pieces to him, inferior to the
greatly moving passages in the earlier Leaves, because more refined.
Emerson's and Lowell's reactions to W are described. His prose, like
his poetry, is uneven, but generally "he produces the effect of an art
beyond art."
21. Hubbard, Elbert. "Walt Whitman and John Burroughs." Cosmopoli
tan, 33 (May), 110-11.
Anecdote of W being robbed of money Doyle had given him, while
W was rooming with Burroughs, and Doyle and Bucke lived in the garret.
Describes Doyle and Burroughs at the present time.
364
22. Mcllwraith, Jean N. "A Dialogue in Hades. Omar Khayyam and
Walt Whitman." Atlantic Monthly, 89 (June), 808-12.
Comic dialogue between the established poet and the newcomer.
Omar has trouble understanding Walt, who shows that many of his lines
echo the older poet's verses and themes. W is perhaps provincial, with
contradictions, but his poetry represents joy and confidence, and not
merely in the present life as Omar's does.
23. Platt, Isaac Hull. "The Silence of Walt Whitman." Conservator,
13 (June), 56-57.
W "conveys a meaning even by what he refrains from saying," with
emotion deeper than the apparent meaning of the words.
24. Anon. "Walt Whitman as a Conservative." New York Times Saturday
Review (7 June), 381.
Describes Fellowship meeting, primarily quoting Eldridge's letter
recalling conversations with W and the O'Connors in Washington,
describing W's evolutionary attitude toward reforms, disapproval of
some radical movements.
25. Halsey, Francis W. "Walt Whitman and the Elemental in Books."
Conservator, 13 (July), 71-72.
W belongs among the writers who forever deal with elemental and
eternal things. Primarily comments on other immortal writers.
26. Leighton, Walter. "Whitman's Note of Democracy." Arena, 28
(July), 61-65.
W has absorbed America's landscape and humanity. He was the "foe
of artificiality," and disdainful of political and social demands.
27. Traubel, Horace. "Walt Whitman as Both Radical and Conservative."
New York Times Saturday Review (12 July), 470.
■365
Responds to 1902.24, recording his own understanding of W's be
liefs. W "was not conservative because he was not radical, but be
cause he was radical." W did not wish to be associated with any par
ticular movement but sought to accept all, and contained both opinions.
28. Smith, George J. "A Harvard View of Whitman." Conservator, 13
(August), 85-87.
Wendell (1900.13) is inaccurate about W's growth and employment,
and misunderstands W's democratic ideal as celebration of the average
rather than as equality of possibility. Continued 1902.29.
29. Smith, George J. "A Harvard View of Whitman, II." Conservator,
13 (September), 102-104.
Continues 1902.28. Denies Wendell's claims (1900.13) that W
records without evaluating, that his poetry is entirely descriptive;
he fails to understand W.
30. Anon. "The Matter with 'Walt.'" New York Tribune, Illustrated
Supplement (7 September), 13.
Humorous account of a conversation regarding W's merits among
young men from various colleges. They chide his egotism and lack of
form, and note his difference from Emerson, who was conventional and
well-bred in his writing and life, in contrast to the impression
(though erroneous) given by W's writing.
31. +[Kent, Charles A.]. "Summer Pilgrimage to the Home of 'the
Good Gray Poet.'" Chicago Sunday Record-Herald (28 September).
Illustrated. Primarily biographical. Contrasts W with Lowell.
Emphasizes W as prophet not poet. He gave "the first real expression
of the strong, self-conscious, aggressive young manhood of our cities
and towns." Quotes W's "greatest tribute," "Captain."
366
32. Bucke, R. M. , Thomas B. Harned, and Horace Traubel. "Leaves
from Whitman's Later Life." .New York Critic, 41 (October),
319-27.
Extract from 1902.10. (Bucke, as one of the Putnam edition's
editors, is listed as a co-author, but 1902.10 mentions that his death
prevented his having a share in writing the Introduction.)
33. Darrow, Clarence. "Walt Whitman." Goose-Quill, 2 (October),
7-20.
W's style is like "the wild chanting of the primitive bards."
"Adam" is consistent with histvtotal plan; examines "Woman Waits."
Narrow morality has stifled English and American art. W goes further
than all. His universal democracy embraces all nations, classes,
stages of vice and virtue. W is honest about sin and crime, recogniz
ing the role of nature and heredity in determining human behavior. W
represents Darrow's own values of tolerance, equality, and love.
34. Platt, Isaac Hull. "Wendell on Whitman: Criticism or Libel?"
Conservator, 13 (October), 118-19.
Corrects Wendell's account (1900.13) of W's early life; notes his
worthy associates. Wendell fails as a historian.
35. Hunt, Theodore W. "A Visit to 'Walt' Whitman." Book Lover, 3
(November-December), 423.
Recalls visit to W shortly before his death. W indicated amaze
ment and pain at the inability of some to understand his thought,
though grateful to those who spoke in his favor (including Lowell).
Despite W's emphasis, his prose rather than his poetry represents his
best work, offering astute remarks on books and authors.
367
36. Abbott, Leonard. "The Democracy of Whitman and the Democracy
of Socialism." Conservator, 13 (November), 136-37.
W is the most democratic of men, but failed to appreciate the
need for socialism; W could emancipate himself as a wage-slave is not
able to.
37. Dyer, Louville H. "Walt Whitman." Wilshire's Magazine, No. 52
(November), 76-83.
Extended appreciation of W. W's writing represents "perfect
sanity." Leaves is "the flowering of mature manhood." W is compared
to Tolstoy in work and life. Leaves is an influence for life rather
than a work of art.
38. +Anon. "The Good Grey Poet." Boston Evening Transcript (26
November).
Favorable review of Putnam edition. Extracts show W as a hard
worker, an intelligent critic of literature and America. His domi
nating weakness was lack of humor, although humor would have been de
structive of his purpose.
39. Anon. Review of Complete Writings. New York Outlook, 72
(20 December), 948.
This edition presents adequately for the first time the work
of "one of the most original and widely discussed American writers."
The introduction should have made a more judicial appraisal. "An in
terpreter of the brawniest democratic ideas," "a lover of life in its
completeness" without distinctions, W has appealed more to intellec
tuals than to those he sought to interpret. W needs to be represented
only by his work of genius, rather than by work that reveals merely
his temperament and point of view.
_________________________________________________________________________ 368
1903
BOOKS
1. Burton, Richard. Literary Leaders of America. New York:
Chautauqua Press. "Whitman," pp. 264-95.
W is coming to be recognized as "a force of real significance in
our national development, and the study of our democratic ideals." W
was "a kind of inspired reporter and tramp, whose notebook jottings
turned out to be poems." Summary of W's life and democratic minglings.
His purpose was to depict fully an individual within the American en
vironment, a task involving "an intense egoism,— not egotism." De
spite failures in taste and selectivity, W is a great poet, with "vi
sion and voice." W "approaches nearest to artistic form," avoiding
"prosy banalities," in such poems as "Cradle" and "lilacs" (here re
printed, ranking with Lowell's "Commemoration Ode" as an American
threnody). Leaves is best approached through a selected edition; his
prose merits attention also.
2. Higginson, Thomas Wentworth, and Henry Walcott Boynton. A Reader's;
History of American Literature. Boston, New York and Chicago:
Houghton, Mifflin and Co., pp. 227-34; 220-23, 264, 308, 315.
Reprint in part of 1899.5, with additions.
W is hardly a poet in the strict sense. Several poems record the
excitement he found in the metropolis of New York, though "he was,
indeed, a person and a poet singularly detached from place." Includes
brief bibliography.
369
3. Law, James D. Here and There in Two Hemispheres. First Series.
Lancaster, Pennsylvania: Home Publishing Co. "Walt Whitman,"
pp. 441-42.
Reminiscence from his time of residence in Camden, whose citizens
loved W, although most had not read him. Recalls visit to W in 1890,
W's deafness, strong language, reading.
4. Mabie, Hamilton Wright. Backgrounds of Literature. New York:
Outlook Co.; New York and London: Macmillan and Co. "America in
Whitman's Poetry," pp. 194-243. Illustrated.
Reprint of 1903.27.
5. Maynard, Mila Tupper. Walt Whitman: The Poet of the Wider Self
hood. Chicago: Charles H. Kerr & Co., 145 pp. No index.
I. "A Glimpse of the Man": Sketch of W's life and character, with
comments on studies by Burroughs (1896.1) and Symonds (1893.3).
II. "The Copious Personal Self": W's stress on man's divinity
fulfills Emerson's idea of self-reliance.
III. "The Cosmic Self": W's ecstatic use of science and evolu
tion.
IV. "The Eternal Self": Death is "the guarantee of eternal
meaning."
V. "'Even These Least'": W's identification with sinners does
not indicate depravity or inability to distinguish good from evil;
rather, he believes in perfectibility.
VI. "The Larger Woman": W favors in woman not feminine, but
"great human qualities"; W emphasizes motherhood, not "romantic senti
ment. "
VII. "The Larger Man": W emphasizes, the physical man before
honoring the intellectual or spiritual man, rejecting refinement.
370
VIII. "Youth, Maturity, Age": W praises these ages for sponta
neity, aspiration, and sublimity, respectively.
IX. "Unity with Nature": W may be best when describing and in
terpreting nature, but he keeps the human soul central. "Lilacs" de
mands hard study to yield ever richer returns, like all "deeply wrought
art. "
X. "Democracy": It is to be found in the future, beyond govern
ments.
XI. "America": His ideas of America, tested in the war, gained
reality for his later poetry. He unites individuality and social
unity.
XII. "Comradeship": W's love poems are addressed "to anyone and
everyone," with a passionate, actual fervor.
6. Pattee, Fred Lewis. A History of American Literature. New Edi
tion, Revised and Enlarged. Boston and New York: Silver, Bur-
dett and Co. "Walt Whitman." pp. 376-84.
W takes on every subject, produces grand lines, startling realis
tic touches, sweeping pictures, much that is genuinely poetic as well
as much that exhausts the enthusiasm. His extreme democracy was new
to Europe. His personality must not be equated with his work, being
neither egotistic nor immoral. His "truest poetry is outside of
Leaves of Grass" (Drum-Taps, the Lincoln poems, "Man-of-War-Bird,"
"among the treasures of American literature"). Praises "Captain"
highly. Includes bibliography, biographical sketch, reading list.
7. Rossetti, William Michael. Rossetti Papers 1862 to 1870. New
York: Charles Scribner's Sons, passim, per index.
Extracts reprinted: Hindus.
______________________________________________________________3 J J _
W is critically discussed and the backgrounds and reception of
Rossetti's Selection (1868.2) and Gilchrist's article (1870.3) are
traced through extracts from Rossetti's diary and various letters
(mostly to Rossetti) from W, Gilchrist, Burroughs, O'Connor, Horace
Scudder, Thomas Dixon, Hotten, Dowden, Symonds (who recalls Tennyson's
angry first response to Leaves), W. J. Stillman (describing a visit to
W in 1869), Kenningale Cook. Prints part of O'Connor's proposed "In
troduction to the London Edition." Rossetti notes that Conway said
that Emerson still admired W and got Lincoln to approve W's hospital
visits, describes Prof. Norton's comments on W during an 1869 visit.
8. Sprague, Leslie Willis. Syllabus of a Course of Six Lectures on
Social Messages of Some Nineteenth Century Prophets. Philadel
phia: American Society for the Extension of University Teaching,
No. 219 (1903-1904). "Lecture VI. Walt Whitman (1819-1892) and
the Hope of Democracy," pp. 19-22.
Lecture outline. W should be studied in relation to the major
movements of his time rather than in relation to merely external as
pects of nineteenth-century life. Notes on W's ideas, organization,
themes. W's flaws are part of his experimentation. Topics for dis
cussion or writing; significant primary and secondary readings.
9. Trent, William P. A History of American Literature, 1607-1865.
New York: D. Appleton and Co. "Walt Whitman," pp. 480-96; also
passim per index.
W's Transcendentalism was distinctive, being based on his absorp
tion of actual American life, which led to his poetic independence.
His sexual frankness, though open to misconstruction, must have shaken
the hold of prudery. The popularity of "Captain" makes one regret
that W "did not oftener utter himself spontaneously," although it is
_____________________________________________ 372
less impressive than "Man-of-War Bird" and several extracts. The
modern attack on "Whitmanism as a specially virulent form of modern
decadence seems somewhat beside the mark." W's "elemental force" is
characteristic' of great Americans. Leaves has contributed to the re
cent "increased devotion to sport and open-air existence." W recon
ciles his poetry with modern science. His rhythm "has its hypnotic
effects"; such earlier defects as his jargon disappear in his later
work, often purely descriptive poems which will "most attract the nor
mal reader." His idealism transcends the description of him as "a
mere realist or naturalist." "America has not enough genuine poets to
be able to reject Whitman," whatever his defects.
10. Trowbridge, John Townsend. My Own Story: with Recollections of
Noted Persons. Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Co.
"Walt Whitman--with Glimpses of Chase and O'Connor," pp. 360-401.
Revision of 1902.20.
Additions to the earlier article mostly concern Secretary Chase
and O'Connor. Passages from Emerson and W are compared. Burroughs
and O'Connor are contrasted as champions of W.
11. Williamson, George M[illar]. Catalogue of A Collection of Books
Letters and Manuscripts Written by Walt Whitman In the Library
of George M Williamson. Jamaica: Marion Press; New York: Dodd
Mead & Co.
Introductory Note describes editions and facsimiles. A descrip
tive bibliography of W's published work, with facsimiles of title
pages, manuscript poems and letters, other W items.
12. Woodberry, George Edward. America in Literature. New York:
Harper and Brothers, pp. 239-43.
373
W, an idealist, appeals because of "pure primitiveness" of his
ideas and his "boldness of outline." But he distorts what Americans
are, except in "a few fine lyrics."
PERIODICALS
13. +Anon. "Influence of the South." Boston Evening Transcript
(23 January).
Reports Higginson's lecture the previous day on non-Boston
writers. Quotes his comments on W: breaking from the tyranny of form
does not constitute greatness; W cannot be accepted because his poetry
gives no place to ideal love between the sexes. Repeats remarks on
W's gift for phrases from 1892.35.
14. Benton, Joel. "John Burroughs and Walt Whitman." Wilshire1s
Magazine (February), 64-67.
Recalls meeting W in Washington in 1868 and hearing his Lincoln
speech in New York, at which Lowell noted W's aged appearance. De
plores the use of W, who had no system, to support "all the pitiable
little philosophies afloat." After reading Burroughs's discussion of
W, followed by the Lincoln poems and other brief lyrics, one will
come to find new horizons and illuminations.
15. Davenport, William E. "Identity of Whitman's Work and Charac
ter." Conservator, 13 (February), 181-84.
Leaves derives its truths straight from W's broad experience.
W did not need religious aids but attained religious force in his work
and its mission, applying his philosophy to his own life, "a moral
triumph."
_________________________ 374
16. Kempe, Edward. "A Book and Its Writer. III.— Walt Whitman's
'Drum-taps,' and Notes of the War." New Zealand Illustrated
(February), 37 7-84.
Reprinted: McLeod.
W looked beyond the political and social viewpoint to see the war
as: "America's heroic opportunity." W's work used his own identity as a
microcosm, much like Thoreau. W's character combines "womanly tender
ness" with "Yankee push and shrewdness." His rhapsodies reveal a
power near madness. But his war poems and prose, though without form,
effectively handle living facts with a mastery inspired by intense
feeling, far different from "the false realism of recent war litera
ture. "
17. G[ould?], E. P. "Milnes to Hawthorne about Whitman." Conserva
tor, 14 (March), 12.
Prints comments from Lord Houghton's letter to Hawthorne praising
Leaves for its vigorous vitality although "destitute of art."
18. Platt, Isaac Hull. "Whitman's Executors Defended." Conservator,
14 (March), 6-7.
Defends W's executors from charges of the Philadelphia Ledger
(unlocated) that they are "too worshipful to produce anything of
critical value" by citing their various papers.
19. Ende, A. von. "Whitman's Following in Germany." Conservator,
14 (April), 23-25.
W's high esteem in modern Germany, his introduction there, var
ious critics, his influence on contemporary poems and poets (symbolists,
realists, Nietzscheans).
20. Anon. "Reviews of Unwritten Books. VII. Walt Whitman's 'Grandee
Spain Succumbing.'" London Monthly Review, 11 (May), 151-57.•
375
Satirical mock-review of an imaginary annex to Leaves with parody
passages focusing on the Spanish-American war.
21. Muzzey, David Saville. "The Ethical Message of Walt Whitman."
Ethical Record, 4 (May), 147-51.
W's assertiveness is not egoism but an expression of his unselfish
devotion to the mass of Americans. He is the best representative
American poet, "the poet of Ethical Culture," first a preacher (as in
"Thou Mother"). Explanation of W's significant terms as related to
his doctrines.
22. Smith, George J. "Emerson and Whitman." Conservator, 14 (June)
53-55.
Reprinted: 1904.23.
W must have absorbed Emerson's gospel before publishing Leaves,
but W's faith in self-reliance and democracy is more passionate than
Emerson's. His life and art carry out Emerson's theory, but W was in
debted to no one for "his power of vision, his fusion of thought with
generous emotion," being American literature's most distinctive figure.
23. Traubel, Horace L. "Walt Whitman at Fifty Dollars a Volume, and
How He Came to It." Era, NS 11 (June), 523-29. Illustrated.
Describes W in his old age; habits, interests, feelings.
24. *Green, H. M. "First Impressions of Walt Whitman." University
of Sydney Hermes (31 July), 14-16.
Reprinted: McLeod.
W's earnestness and love of humanity often redeem him from poor
taste in form and content. He was capable of a sweet lyric like
"Cradle," reminiscent of Shelley. W unfortunately revolts from art as
well as artificiality, descending into license. Along with much truth,
________________________________________________________________________ 3.Z6,
W says much that is insignificant or "hysterically over-emphasized."
He is "'another good man gone wrong."'
25. Woodward, F. L. "Walt Whitman: A Prophet of the Coming Race."
Theosophical Review, 32 (August), 508-15.
W's message, embracing Love, Democracy, and Religion, harmonizes
with the Wisdom religion, filled with joy and equanimity. He has been
wrongly accused of indecency, having immense influence for good. He
represents the true spirit in which to live and to face death.
26. Traubel, Horace. "Walt Whitman's Respect for the Body." Physi
cal Culture, 10 (September), 246-50.
W "objected to formal medicine" and "contended for the whole man,"
opposing asceticism, practicing moderation in exercise and diet. Sum
mary of W's fight against censorship and prudery.
27. Mabie, Hamilton W. "American Life in Whitman's Poetry." New
York Outlook, 75 (5 September), 67-78.
Reprinted: 1903.4.
W may not reach "the heights of spiritual vision" but reveals
"the most inclusive human sympathy." He is primitive as well as modern
in "his resolute acceptance of the democratic order in all its logical
sequences."- His defects include egotism and lack of reticence, selec
tion, and self-criticism. His original contribution is the use of the
America of active life, which a greater poet may treat "with a clearer
discernment of spiritual degrees and orders." In imagination W sur
passes the New England poets, though with much "uninspired dullness."
He reacted against artifice, not art, for his effective arrangements
reveal artistry. He treats the intimate relation between men and women
"as if it were a public function." His tenderness is most notable "in
__________________________________________________________________________377
his striking and original treatment of death." His control of form was
not equal to his material/ and his democratic equalitarianism failed to
include "the more highly developed types" of humanity.
28. Baxter, Sylvester. "Whitman and Emerson." Conservator, 14
(October), 120-21.
Greeting to the Fellowship. W and Emerson are the "only two
great poets in nineteenth-century America."
29. Anon. "English Appreciation of Walt Whitman." Atlantic Monthly,
92 (November), 714-16.
The English respond to W's depiction of the newness of his coun
try, of which Americans may almost be ashamed; his out-door feeling
appeals "to men of an extremely sensitive temperament." W's name will
eventually rank in the pantheon of literature in English.
30. Skinner, Charles M. "Walt Whitman as an Editor." Atlantic
Monthly, 92 (November), 679-86.
Description of W's newspaper experience, editorials (extensively
quoted, revealing his reform-minded and democratic ideas). This work
may have confirmed W "in his frank, ungilded style, his homely fig
ures, his avoidance of buncombe and fustian."
31. Lacey, Margaret. "Hamilton Mabie on Whitman." Conservator, 14
(December), 153-54.
Criticizes Mabie's summary of W's philosophy (1903.27). W's
"striking individuality of expression" did inaugurate a new era in
literature, but he shared much with saints and seers of all time.
378
1904
BOOKS
1. Alden, Raymond Macdonald. English Verse; Specimens Illustrating
Its Principles and History. New York: Henry Holt & Co., p. 431.
Reprint of 1901.2, with an extract from Swinburne (1887.18) in a
footnote.
2. Conway, Moncure Daniel. Autobiography: Memories and Experiences
of Moncure Daniel Conway. Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin
and Co., Vol. 1, pp. 215-19, 356; Vol. 2, p. 416.
Recalls his first reading of Leaves on Emerson's recommendation;
prints his letter to Emerson of September 17, 1855, reporting his
first visit to W. Records a second visit, in summer 1857. Recalls
comments on W of Emerson, Carlyle, Swinburne.
3. Findlater, Jane Helen. Stones from a Glass House. London: James
Nisbet & Co. "Walt Whitman," pp. 251-90.
General appreciative estimate, describing his ideas, all stemming
from "his belief in the spiritual nature of the universe." His method
expresses his "rugged, uncompromising nature," but "Adam" somewhat de
feated his purpose. W is modern in portraying the "wonder and beauty"
in the ordinary. His poems about America and the Ideal Democracy are
least appealing to English readers. W's treatment of war is unsur
passed.
4. Platt, Isaac Hull. Walt Whitman. Beacon Biographies of Eminent
Americans. Boston: Small, Maynard & Co., 147 pp., with Chronology,
pp. xi-xxii. No index.
379
The purpose of this biography is "to bring into brief compass the
salient features of the life," whether for those curious about W or
for those already familiar with him, drawing from critics, prior bio
graphies, reminiscences. Platt is largely concerned with defending W
from various accusations. W's failure to win "instant applause" for
Drum-Taps (unsurpassed in war literature) and "Lilacs" (his master
piece, here explicated) indicates "how the public often forms its opin
ions of literary work from hack critics." The last chapter explains
W's purposes in Leaves and corrects the common misconstructions regard
ing egotism, sex, comradeship, composing process. W does not preach
but presents an ethics of the spirit, bristling with tangents, rather
than "a formulated system of philosophy." Bibliography of standard
editions of W and some important secondary sources.
5. Powys., J. C. Syllabus of a Course of Six Lectures on Representa
tive American Writers. Philadelphia: American Society for the
Extension of University Teaching, No. 241 (1904-1905). "Lecture
V. Walt Whitman," pp. 11-13.
Summarizes W's pantheism and Cosmic Emotion, which were antici
pated by Rabelais and Goethe. W is superior to Wordsworth and Browning,
his value depending not on art but on vision and scope. His democra
cy and sympathy are unique, his philosophy Hegelian in its acceptance
of all. The underlying secret of the universe for W is Love.
6. Roberts, Harry. Prefatory Note. In Leaves of Grass-(Selected).
London: Anthony Traherne & Co., pp. ix-xii.
Printing selections allows the deletion of the "ridiculous or
tiresome." W's form suits "his great blocks of thought." He is to
be valued for his optimism, his treatment of sex and comradeship
________________________________________________________________ 2 L 8 _ Q _
(though "an even nobler conception" would have blended the two), his
unique views of death and immortality, his open-air spirit, his belief
in individuality.
7. Saintsbury, George. A History of Criticism and Literary Taste
in Europe, Vol. 3. New York: Dodd, Mead, and Co.; Edinburgh and
London: William Blackwood and Sons. "Whitman and the 'Democratic
Ideal,’" p. 670.
W's criticism is in some ways more influential than Poe's, but his
premise is wrong, denying greatness to English literature because it
is anti-Democratic and Feudal. But his temper is "wholesome and
generous," with admirable expression, as throughout his work.
8. Traubel, Horace, ed. Foreword. In An American Primer by Walt
Whitman. Boston: Small, Maynard & Co., pp. v-ix.
Revision of 1904.17.
Expands headnote for 1904.17, adding quotations from W's conversa
tion and more commentary on the circumstances of the writing and W's
ideas about language. The manuscript is printed without the deletions
made in 1904.17.
9. Trent, William P. A Brief History of American Literature. New
York: D. Appleton and Co., pp. 183-89; brief bibliography, p. 197.
W gave voice to the aspirations of the nation, yet was "suffi
ciently separated from the masses to form and promulgate a philosophy
of democracy and a religion of blended egoism and socialism." "If the
outcry had been less great against his entire work, he might possibly
have seen the futility, if not the impropriety, of his offences against
public taste," for certain passages were at worst "only disgustingly
coarse." His post-war writings were "less eccentric in form and sub
381
stance," but his strengths as well as weaknesses become less evident.
Vistas and Specimen reveal "a depth and range of thought and a command
of impassioned language rare in any period of literature." His prose
and such strong poems as "Cradle" and "Passage" merit him "a high
place among American authors."
10. Wallace, Henry. Walt Whitman: Seer. A Brief Study. London and
Newcastle-on-Tyne: Walter Scott Publishing Co., 55 pp.
Despite its form, W's work is poetic, the product of his per
sonality. He believes himself "the great characteristic product of
America," and his work "the indicative fingerprint of the new and
glorious future." W's message is simplified Hegel; comradeship is his
solution to all problems. He views life as struggle and pilgrimage,
with comradeship not immediately achieved. He assumes God's existence,
is optimistic about the universe as a whole. He celebrated life to
the end. Extensive quotations from the poetry.
11. Wells, Caroly, ed. A Parody Anthology. New York: Blue Ribbon
Books; New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, pp. 219-28, 341-45,
363-65.
Includes eight parodies of W: 1876.1; 1881.10; 1884.17, and
others (unlocated). Most are reprinted in Saunders.
12. Wendell, Barrett, and Chester Noyes Greenough. A History of
Literature in America. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. "Walt
Whitman," pp. 371-78.
Revision of 1900.13.
This version is abridged and revised for students, omitting
"needless or debatable matter" and "expressions of opinion obviously
332.
unsuitable for schools" (according to the Preface). Chapter opens
with a list of references.
PERIODICALS
13. Ende, Amelia von. "Walt Whitman in German, I." Conservator, 14
(January), 167-69.
W is "a spiritual power" to the younger Germans, a corrective to
militant German nationalism. Notes early criticism. Continued
1904.15.
14. Miller, Florence Hardiman. "Some Unpublished Letters of Walt
Whitman's Written to a Solder Boy." Overland Monthly, 43
(January), 61-63.
Describes and quotes from a bundle of W's letters to an unidenti
fied recipient; the source for this collection is unacknowledged.
These letters reveal a loneliness which suggests that W's ideal of com
radeship was fading, perhaps having met with some rebuff. Of major
American poets, W "most lived his poetic fancies."
15. Ende, Amelia von. "Walt Whitman in Germany, II." Conservator,
14 (February), 183-85.
Continues 1904.13. Notes tributes of Schlaf and Federn. W's
democracy is identical with the ideal society heralded by Goethe and
others. He represents healthy religious ideals to German youth.
16. Collins, Churton. "The Poetry and Poets of America.— III."
North American Review, 178 (March), 444-49, 453.
Reprinted: 1905.3.
Despite acclaim by various intelligent readers, a natural reaction
against conventionality and familiar forms, W has much in him of the
charlatan, using ideas from others, though supposedly original. His
383
genius is evident on rare occasions such as "Lilacs" and "Cradle," his
proclamation of an American future is moving, but he probably will not
la,st, since he "does not respect himself" and "is not true to art."
17. Traubel, Horace. "An American Primer." Atlantic Monthly, 93
(April), 460-70.
Revised: 1904.8.
Headnote introduces W's notes as "a challenge rather than a
finished fight," not planned for publication in their present state but
intended first as a lecture whenhhe worked on them in the fifties.
While parts of W's important message here expressed found their way
into his poetry and prose, "the momentum gathered and brought to bear
upon the subject in the manuscript now under view was nowhere else
repeated."
18. Anon. "Posthumous Whitman." New York Times Saturday Review (2
April), 226.
"Primer" (1904.17) is certainly characteristic of W but of doubt
ful value. W's lack of form is due to laziness, a poor artistic prac
tice.
19. Barker, Elsa. "To Walt Whitman." Walt Whitman Fellowship Papers,
10, No. 5 (May), 27-34.
Long poem.
20. Knapp, Adeline. "A Whitman Coincidence." New York Critic, 44
(May), 467-68.
Notes source for "Man-of-War Bird" in a description by Jules
Michelet, suggesting how little-educated W may have found much of his
amazing knowledge of Nature.
2 M
21. Monahan, Michael. "Some Remarks to the Whitman Fellowship."
Philadelphia Walt Whitman Fellowship Papers, 10, No. 6 (May),
35-38.
Emphasizes the value of the spirit of fellowship, which is a
truer means of emulating W than merely dressing like him.
22. Scovel, Colonel James Matlack. "Walt Whitman As I Knew Him."
Boston National Magazine, 20 (May), 165-69.
Recalls twenty-five-year acquaintance with W; W's character,
response to the attempted suppression, refusal to write tribute poem/ ?
for Garfield under the pressure of money; various anecdotes, including
dinners and drinks at his house with W; a Boston lady's offer of love
and aid.
23. Smith, George J. "Emerson and Whitman." Walt Whitman Fellowship
Papers, 10, No. 3 (May), 13-22.
Reprint of 1903.22.
24. Herron, George D. "whitman as a Spiritual Liberator." Conserva
tor , 15 (July), 71-72.
Testifies to W's power over him, teaching the meaning of freedom,
the way to "serve a cause, or a brother," the way to realize spiritual
potential. But W is less a teacher than a spirit.
25. Monahan, Michael. "The Whitmanites." Papyrus, 3 (July), 1-4.
Recounts experience of attending Fellowship meetings, with
sarcasm.
26. Gamberale, Luigi. "The Life and Works of Walt Whitman, trans
lated by William E. Davenport from an article in Revista d'
Italia." Conservator, 15 (September), 103-106.
_______________________________________________________ 33.5 .
The identity of W's life and works; his absorption of nature and
city life; his vision of humanity as one, carried out during the war.
His vague democratic ideal shows little faith in the reader's intelli
gence. His artistic defects are the absence of the individual person
in his poetry and his incapacity for the artistic delicacy Tennyson
embodies. "He is not always a great artist yet often a great poet and
unfailingly a great heart."
27. Crosby, Ernest. "Whitman the Lover." Conservator, 15 (October).,
121.
Emerson left the lover out of his Representative Men, but should
have recognized that quality in W. Leaves is "one long love letter
to mankind."
386
1905
300KS
1. Binns, Henry Bryan. A Life of Walt Whitman. London: Methuen &
Co., 369 pp. Index. Illustrated.
Beyond published material, sources include unpublished manuscripts
and information from W's personal acquaintances, as acknowledged in
footnotes. Throughout the book, describes the contemporary American
scene and spirit, necessary for understanding. Notes an early tinge of
Puritanism in W's character. Conjectures a romance in New Orleans
from various evidence (cited), including "Once I Pass'd" and W's letter
to Symonds. W recognized science and philosophy as "essential, not
hostile, to poetry." Describes his progressive integration of character
and mystical experience; his message "rather of self-assertion, than of
self-surrender." W is compared with Emerson and Thoreau. W's various
works are ejqplained as they appear, with his unique religious emotion,
self-reviews, perception of everything as symbolic, notion of comrades,
Quaker traits, ambivalence toward war, friendship. After its
culmination in the 1860 Leaves, W replaced his self-assertion with
"helpful love." Vistas is discussed as "a scathing attack upon Americar
complacency," with a contrasting faith in "the heroic character of the
people." The poems of the "Passage" period reveal an interest in
formal perfection, although they are less elemental than the earlier
poems. W is related to literary and philosophical predecessors and
387
contemporaries, especially Carlyle, Mazzini, Emerson, Browning,
Tolstoi, William Morris, Nietzsche, George Fox. W was neither
Socialist nor Individualist, but sought a "society of comrades" which
required simultaneous development of social consciousness'and individual
independence. Of the two orders of poetry, "the song of the
Nightingale" and "the flight of the Eagle," W lacks the allusive grace
of the former; only the very greatest of poets of all time can unite
and reconcile the two. Describes the funeral through Doyle's responses
Appendices present information on W's maternal grandmother's family and
Traubel's letter to Carpenter regarding W's allusions to his paternity.
2. Burroughs, John. Introduction. In Lafayette in Brooklyn, by
Whitman. New York; George D. Smith. (5 short unnumbered pages.)
Recalls W telling the incident described in the article, which is
printed from an undated manuscript, unpublished though prepared for
the printer. When Lafayette embraced W, "the French democrat of the
eighteenth century, as exemplified by the life and character of one of
its most noted'-representatives, embraced and caressed the heir of the
new democracy of the nineteenth century— its future poet and most
complete and composite embodiment"; hence W’s warm feeling toward
France. The volume's last page has brief explanatory notes for
article.
3. Collins, John Churton. Studies in Poetry and Criticism. London;
George Bell & Sons. "The Poet and Poetry of America," p v,63-71,
77, passim per index.
Reprint of 1904.16, with minor changes.
388
4. Hutton, Laurence. Talks in a Library with Laurence Hutton.
Recorded by Isabel Moore. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, pp.'
214-15, 223-24.
Recalls W?s personal magnetism, "his wonderful physical beauty" as
if embodying Michelangelo's Moses, as more appealing than his verse.
Recognized W, riding an omnibus before the war, as "a unique figure in
American life." Notes first visit to W in 1877.
5. Irwin, Mabel MacCoy. Whitman, The Poet-Liberator of Woman. New
York: Published by the Author, 77 pp.
One must be reborn "into the life of conscious unity with the race"
before understanding W; readers should turn to Leaves. W perceived
woman's subordinate position in his time, so extended his message of
freedom to women~ahd men. W regards love of the sexes and love of
comrades as distinct, equally supreme, necessary to human fulfillment.
W heathily perceives both sexes as equal in sexual fulfillment, and
never dissociates sex-function from parenthood. W believed sex
problems should be dealt with openly. Mabie (1903.27) was wrong about
W lacking chivalry. "Adam" praises the beauty of the body and
translates it "into the substance of the soul." "Woman Waits"
justifies itself, in portraying the woman that should someday appear.
Woman must have full freedom.
6. Macphail, Andrew. Essays in Puritanism. Boston and New York;
Houghton, Mifflin and Co. "Walt Whitman," pp. 223-73.
Held as unclean, W's poetry transgressed the rules of New England
_________________________________ : _: _ 7ftQ
but not those of New York. He revolted against false conventions,
seeking to give total freedom to his partially free countrymen: His
adverse critics misunderstood him, though W" d i d r err in being too open
about private matters. W did not see clearly to resolve his intuitions
consistently into adequate words, except in such poems as "Tears" and
the Lincoln pieces; like all poets he wrote much bad poetry. Many of
his memorable phrases "appeal instantly by their wonderful clearness
and perfection," as do some "whole composition of sustained beauty and
splendour," where no other style seems possible for expressing these
things. W produces a sense of the Cosmos in sympathetic readers. He
"spoke for that large class which cannot speak for itself, and, indeed,
is not conscious that it has anything to say." Reprints 1892.68.
7. Moulton, Charles Wells, ed. The Library of Literary Criticism
of English and American Authors. Buffalo: Moulton Publishing Co.,
Vol. 8, pp. 129-53.
Biographical outline with lists of works, followed by compendium
of short extracts of critical commentary under the categories
"Personal," "Leaves of Grass 1855,” and "General," from a wide range
of sources.
8. Page Curtis Hidden, ed. The Chief American Poets: Selected Poems,
Boston, New York, and Chicago: Houghton Mifflin Co., Poems, pp.
532-610; Bibliography, pp. 647-50; Biographical Sketch, pp. 685-91.
Poems are arranged chronologically; extensive notes explain W's
purpose, present earlier versions of prose analogues. Bibliography
lists editions, biographies and reminiscences, criticism, and tributes
in verse. Biographical sketch relates W's life to his works,
------------- 390
explaining W's themes and increasing recognition as a "typical American
poet" expressing our whole life and character, even the cultured aspect
typical of Longfellow and Lowell. Like no other poet, W embraces the
American ideals of freedom and independence, individualism, and
equality.
9. Smiley James B. A Manual Of American Literature. New York,
Cincinnatti, Chicago: American Book Co. "Walt Whitman," pp.239-
45; 255.
W1s two most important works, "quite dissimilar in form and
character," are Leaves (with vigor;,’ freshness o:£C thought, and
coarseness) and Drum-Taps (which proves W the singer of the Civil
War"). Praises Lincoln poems, "Brooklyn Ferry," "City Dead-House,"
"Cradle," "Come Up from the Fields." His poetry expresses his love
for the sea, nature, the common people. "He was gifted with feeling
and imagination," and a surprising tenderness. Suggests poems for
reading.
10. Traubel, Horace. "Preface: Being an introductory note more or
less in Whitman's own words." in The Book of Heavenly Death by
Walt Whitman Complied from leaves of Grass by Horace Traubel.
Portland: Thomas B. Mosher, pp. xvii-xxiii.
An explanation, largely through w's words from various sources,
of W's vision of individual immortality and attitudes toward death.
11. Triggs, Oscar Lovell. The Order: A Studyof. Democracy. Chicago:
Oscar L. Triggs Publishing Co. "Philosophic and Religious
Ground: Walt Whitman," pp.262-78; passim, especially 295-300.
No index.
_________________________________________________________________________ 391
Leaves represents a modern theology with a positive, democratic,
and unifying rather than negative, feudal, and alienating basis,
emphasizing "monism, or the unitary nature of the'universe," and
seeking to establish man in undisputed mastery over himself." W
balances Eastern and Western thought. Description of W's affinities
with George Inness, W's primordial rhythms.
12. Trimble, W. H. Walt Whitman and Leaves of Grass; An Introduction.
London: Watts & Co., 100 pp. No index.
I. "Early Years": Notes W's acquaintance with labourers.
II. "'Leaves of Grass'": Through his appropriate rhythm, W's
poems "breathe a sentiment of subdued melancholy." His egotism is
vicarious. His weak points are exceeded by his excellent qualities,
including breadth of view, treatment of the commonplace. Rossetti's
titles (1868.2) are preferable to W's unfortunate ones. W's themes
are Human Freedom, Human Brotherhood, and Death and Immortality.
Explanation of W's sections and beliefs: "Song of Myself" (W's most
important poem); "Children of Adam" (his start of changing common
attitudes toward sex); "Religion" (emphasizing the love of man, often
seemingly blasphemous); "Prudence, Charity, and Personal Force" (W's
redefinitions); "Death and Immortality" (W's "gateway to a fuller
life").
III. "'Drum-Taps'": W’s war experience and its influence on his
work.
IV. "Whitman and Lincoln": Quotations show W's admiration for
Lincoln.
------------------------------ _----------------3.9-2.
V. "Whitman's Reception": The charges of critics are usually true,
but W remains uninjured. He has become recognized "as a real, vital
and permanent force in literature," influencing most recent American
verse.
VI. "Conclusion": His later life and.work.
Appendix I: W's titles and Rossetti's titles (1868.2).
Appendix II: Bibliography of W's works and secondary material,
including articles and incidental discussion.
PERIODICALS
13. Cunningham, Clarence. "A Defence of W. Whitmans's 'Leaves of
Grass.’" Arena, 33 (January), 168-70.
Defends W against Frank McAlpine (source unspecified and unlocated).
W's audience of "superior men and women" is shifting attitudes on
proper themes for literature. Candor in literature is necessary.
14. Noyes, Carlton. "Walt Whitman's Message to a Young Man."
Conservator, 15 (January), 168-70.
W affords the best education, teaching the worth of the ’ .individual,
and self-realization as success in life. Wi introduces one to true
beauty, the power of comradeship, and serene and vigorous optimism and
joy in life.
15. Ttraubel, H. L.]. "An Early Whitman Poem." Conservator, 15
(January), 172.
Reprints poem from Brother Jonathan, 1843, on acceptance on Death.
16. Garrison, Charles G. "Walt Whitman, Christian Science and the
Vendanta. Conservator, 15 (February), 182-85.
________________ 393
W's philosophy, his egotism, is that of the Hindu Vedanta. The C '
One Self is expressed in individual men; man realizes his identity
by complete identification with this Self. This is the antithesis of >
Pantheism. W's teachings are compared with Christian Science.
17. Bruere, Robert W. "Walt Whitman." Reader Magazine,
5 (March) , 490-94.
W did not want his poems to support theories, seeking rather to
fill the reader "vigorous and clean manliness and religiousness."
The first four lines of "Myself" 48 epitomize all W wrote. "Adam"
appears increasingly valid. “ W's-expression of human sympathy is
unsurpassed. He looked ahead to an ideal democracy. "Cradle" and
"Lilacs" are "among the half dozen superlative threnodies in the
language." W's prose provides an excellent introduction with its
"transcripts from nature more minutely faithful than the painstaking
descriptions of Thoreau" and its evidence of his cultivated mind and
penetrating criticism.
18. Norton, Alfred. "The Man Walt." Conservator, 16 (April), 21-22.
Praises W, whom he loves, from personal acquaintance and whose work
has inspired him through its religious qualities.
19. T[raubel, H. L.]. "The Book of Heavenly Death." Conservator, 16
(April), 27.
Impressionistic interpretation of W's attitude toward death, based
:>n Mosher's compilation (1905.10). All of Leaves is about death,
394
because it is about life.
20. Traubel, Horace. "The Good Gray Poet at Home: His Familiar Talks
of Men, Letters and Events. Saturday Evening Post, 177 (13 May),
1-2. Illustrated.
Pre-publication extracts of 1906.15. Continued 1905.23.
21. Platt, William, "Wordsworth, Borrow, Whitman, and Beethoven."
Conservator, 16 (Jule), 53-54.
Personal account of his own progressing enthusiams. W regarded
every fellowman as a star, every star as a fellowman. In comparison
with Wordsworth, W has much greater power and emotional sympathy.
22. "Some New Letters About Whitman." Conservator, 16 (June), 54-57.
Letters adressed to Fellowship from Bazalgette, Walter Walsh
(praises 1905.10, calls W second only to Jesus as singer of Man's
Perfectness), Minot Savage, Eugene Debs, Bliss Perry, William Jennings
Bryan ("Whitman's writings show great intellect, but they show a still
greater heart"), F. B. Sanborn, Samuel Crothers, W. H. Smith, F. H.
Williams, Philip Hale (on W, Poe, and Melville), Lucius D. Morse.
23. Traubel, Horace. "The Good Gray Poet at Home: His Intimate Talk
of Men, Letters, and Events." Saturday Evening Post, 177 (3 June),
8-9. Illustrated.
Continues 1905.20, continued 1905.26.
24. Ende, Amelia von. "Walt Whitman and Arno Holz." Poet-Lore, 16
(Third Quarter), 61-65.
W's distinctive point of genius is his view of life, not his form.
______________ 3 . 9 . 5 .
Holz approaches W in form and his goal for German poetry, as reviewers
have noted. Holz's tribute to W (quoted) recognizes that "'although
he broke the old forms, he did not give us new ones.'" W sought rather
"to give us new values of life," being "a poet for mankind," not for
poets.
25. Wentworth, Franklin. "The Breaker of the Seals." Conservator, 16
(July), 69-71.
W "breaks seals," emancipates like Christ; he will help us grow -
and open our minds to "a new morality, a new reverence for life, a new
and nobler human religion."
26. Traubel, Horace. "The Good Gray Poet at Home: His Intimate Talks
of Men, Letters and Events." Saturday Evening Post, 178 (19
August), 14-15.
Continues 1905.20.
27. Traubel, Horace. "With Walt Whitman in Camden." Century Magazine
71 (November), 82-98. Illustrated.
Pre-publication extracts of 1906.15. (There are occasional -
changes in the book version, blanks filled in or merely elimated; W's
words are not changed.)
396
1906
BOOKS
1. Alexander, Hartley Burr. Poetry and the Individual: An Analysis
of the Imaginative Life in Relation to the Creative Spirit'in
Man and Nature. New York and London: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, pp.
12,35.
W is noted "for expansive freedom and full breath," the "true index to
the poetic expression of the new era," with "no ulcerous self-
analysis, but a quick susceptibility to all impressions."
2. Balfour, Lady Betty, ed. Personal and Literary Letters of Robert
First Earl Of Lytton. London: Longmans, Green, and Co., Vol. 2,
p. 373.
Letter of 1888 to Nichol regarding his Book (1882.4): "Your
condemnation of Walt Whitman is well deserved," but too merciful for
"an impudent, blatant imposter, who deserves no serious consideration."
3. Bisland, Elizabeth, ed. The Life and Letters of Lafcadio Hearn.
Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin and Co.,Vol. 1, pp.271-74,
292, 320, 432, 433; Vol. 2, pp. 432, 512.
Letters to O'Connor remark on the impossibility of praising W
"unreservedly in the ordinary newspaper" as Hearn would have liked to
do, although W Titanic voice, praiseworthy for his "antique pantheism,"
earthiness and "human animalism," remained only half articulated. W
has something of Dionysus; also a repelent uncouthness- W’s demicratic
ideal is "a generous dream" which is past.
397
4. Carpenter, Edward. Days with Walt Whitman, With Some Notes on His
Life and Work. London: George Allen & Unwin, 187 pp. Six Essays.
Illustrated.
Reprints of 1897.27, 1897.45, and 1902.19,(abridged with
introductory note).
"Whitman as Prophet" : W'.is a part of an ongoing tradition of
prophecy,unique in his universatality and democratic scope. W avoids
the abstract, mental appeal, seeking rather to reach the soul through
the senses. The Appendix quotes passages from early prophetic
writings for purposes of comparison with Leaves, as coming from the
same root.
5. Coyne, James H. "Richard Maurice Bucke— A Sketch." In
proceedings and Transactions of the Royal Society of Canada, 2nd
Series, Vol. 12, Section 2, pp. ]59-96. References to W, pp. 159,
175-76, 177-85, 190.
Reprinted in part: 1908.15.
Biography of Bucke with bibliography of his writings; describes
impact of W on Bucke, Bucke's efforts on W's behalf, their
relationship.
6 . More, Paul Elmer. Shelburne Essays, Fourth Series. New York:
G. P. Putnam's Sons. "Walt Whitman," pp. 180-211.
After reviewing, briefly but favorably, Traubel and Binns
(1906.15), discusses W's flaws. But a comparison of "Whispers" with
poems of death by Browning and Tennyson shows W standing with the
great and not the minor poets, revealing less egotism in the presence
of death than the other two. His poetry is a poetry of movement, with
a sensitivity to rhythm and the currents of life, unlike other poets
of his day. The war provided him with additional exalted vision. His
398
concern was not with prescriptions for the problems of American
democracy, but with a "fraternal anarchy" of camaraderie (although the
ordinary themes of exclusive love or friendship scarcely appear in W).
"He lacked the rare and unique elevation of Emerson from whom so much
of his vision was unwittingly derived, but as a compensation his
temperament is richer" and "his verbal felicity at its best more
striking." Americans should accept him as one of their most original
and characteristic poets.
7. Pennell, Elizabeth Robins... Charles Godfrey Leland, A Biography.
Boston and New York: Houghton, Mifflin and Co., Vol. 1, pp. 410-
11; Vol. 2, pp. 109-12, 191-95, 335.
Leland.Vs niece includes her memories of W, George Boker, and her
uncle; quotes from Leland's journal on an 1881 meeting with W; recalls
other visits and memories, including William Wetmore Story's lack of
admiration for W.
8. Perry, Bliss. Walt Whitman. Boston and New York; Houghton,
Mifflin and Co., 318 pp. Index.
Revised: 1908.9.
Genealogy, personal development (with some evidences of a neurotic
tendency), unstructured movement toward literary expression, exuberant
activity and interest in the city, probable sexual experience in New
Orleans. Amid the social and intellectual' ferment of the forties W
"seemed to be prolonging his childhood indefinitely." In Leaves he
undertook to become America's representative poet. As a poet's
dissertation on poetry, the 1855 Preface is unsurpassed for vigor and
passion. Explication of "Myself," the following pieces being variations
399
on its themes. W failed in wishing to be prophet and philosopher as
well as poet. Letters, some previously unprinted, depict W's hospital
work-and Washington days. Drum-Taps embodies "the very spirit of the
civil conflict, picturing war with a poignant realism, a terrible and
tender beauty, such as only the great masters have been able to
compass." Description of W's various friends. With Lowell's
"Commemoration Ode," "Lilacs" is "the finest imaginative product of the
Civil War period." Letters to O'Connor (regarding his book (1866.2))
from literary figures (including Matthew Arnold). W's reputation.
Extracts from Gilchrist's letters to Rossetti, somewhat different from
the printed versions (1870.3); other letters to, from, or about W.
Charles F. Richardson explains that W's visit to Dartmouth was the
result of a joke students wished to play on'.the faculty. W's -
manuscript account of the visit, intended for publication, is printed.
Description of W's personality, talk, "critical tact" and perception,
attitudes toward various writers and subjects. W was "a Mystic by
temperament and a Romanticist by literary kinship," with affinities to
Rousseau and debts to Transcendentalism. His international acceptance
testifies to his largeness, power, communicative emotion. His work is
not erotic but "immodest" at worst. His exaltation of the athletic
appealed to "nervous invalids," not real athletes. He regards human
beings only in terms of the individual and the mass, not in the
intermediate groupings such as Whittier portrays. His desire to
glorify everything equally is touching but futile, but his "grandiose
phrases and deep-heaving rhythms" suit his depiction of the ideal life
of America. His positive political teachings are unaffected by his
400
literary deficiencies or personal faults. He is "the most original, and
suggestive poetic figure since Wordsworth." "No American poet now
seems more sure to be read, by the fit persons, after one hundred or
five hundred years."
9. Rickett, Arthur, The Vagabond in Literature. London: J. M. Dent
and Co. "Walt Whitman," pp. 169-205; passim. Woodcut portrait.
W's total unconventionality makes him "the supreme example of. the
Vagabond in literature," "a spiritual native of the woods and heath,"
"in tough with'.the elemental" in nature and in the multitude. In art,
W emphasized sincerity over mere beauty, which he achieves at his best
as in "On the Beach at Night," "Reconciliation," and Lilacs"
(comparable to Shakespeare, Milton, and Shelley). His "sex cycle" has
worthy sentiments but weak art. His belief in "absolute social
equality" makes him "the first genuine Poet oi! the People." W lacks
profundity and an organized philosophy but proclaims good health and
sanity.
10. Riethmueller, Richard. Walt Whitman and the Germans.
Philadelphia: Americana Germanica Press, 45 pp.
Reprint of 1906.18, 1906.23, and 1906.27.
11. Rossetti, William Michael. Some Reminiscences. New York:
Charles Scribner's Sons, pp. 400-406; 219, 300, 378, 484.
Traces his dealings with and for W and his work, which was not
unassailable in taste or form but praiseworthy for its "majestic and
all-brotherly spirit, an untrammelled outlook on the multiplex aspects
of life, and many magnificent bursts of sympathetic intuition allied
401
to, and strenuously embodying, the innermost spirit of poetry."
Explanation of his brother's opinion of W; W's extremist admirers;
Wa-ts-Dunton's incorrect prediction in 1887 that W would be ignored in
ten years.
12. Stoker, Bram. Personal Reminiscences of Henry Irving. New York:
Macmillan Co.; London: Macmillan and Co., Vol. 1, p. 214; Vol. 2
"Walt Whitman," pp. 92-111.
Recalls his acquaintance with W and his works, beginning at the
university shortly after Rossetti's Selections (1868.2) were published.
Stoker first met W in company with Irving at Donaldson's Philadelphia
home, when Irving noticed W's resemblance to Tennyson. Description of
W's character and subsequent visits to Camden in 1886 and 1887; W's
reminiscences of theinight of Lincoln's assassination; the unfulfilled
plan of St. Gaudens to do a bust of W.
13. Tappan, Eva March. A Short History of American Literature. New
York, Chicago: Houghton, Mifflin and Co., pp. 116-18.
Praises W's hospital work. Though W disregards conventions, he
tends to use poetic rhythm in his best work. Much of his verse is
prose, but when swept away by a poetic thought he is a "poet of lofty
rank."
14. Traubel, Anne Montgomerie. A Little Book of Nature Thoughts.
Portland, Maine: Thomas B. Mosher. Preface, pp. yii-viii.
In the prose extracts comprising this volume, W writes of
objective Nature but perceives its identity with human life.
402
15. Traubel, Horace. With Walt Whitman in Camden (March 28-July 14,
1888). Boston: Small, Maynard & Co., 473 pp. Index.
Illustrated.
Reprinted: 1915.14.
Diary of conversations with W transcribed by Traubel, noting
visitors, W's comments on writers, his critics, other people, and his
past; printing letters to W from various people; noting his literary
efforts throughout this period. Continued 1908.11.
16. Vincent, Leon H. American Literary Masters. Boston and New York:
Houghton, Mifflin and Co. "Walt Whitman," pp. 485-506; 250-51.
Contents: "His Life"; "The Growth of a Reputation"; "The Writer"
(W's creation of his own laws, actual cadence, inimitable catalogues);
"Leaves of Grass" (W counters brutality with benevolence and serene
honesty; explanation of several extracts to represent W's ideas;
Drum-Taps and Sequel as his best gift to American literature, "Lilacs"
representing "his supreme height"); "Specimen Days and Collect"
(revealing W's character); "Whitman's Character" (some unpleasant words
and ideas, e.' g. his images of comradeship, although one cannot help
but like him.’ ; behind his poetry' s.-intensely personal element is true
unselfishness).
PERIODICALS
17. Harned, Thomas B. "Walt Whitman in the Present Crisis of Our
Democracy." Conservator, 16 (January), 167-68.
W's optimism about democracy will stand every test, because it is
through the common man that our civilization is to advance.
403
18. Riethmueller, Richard. "Walt Whitman and the Germans." German
American Annals, NS 4 (January), 3-15.
Reprinted: 1906.10.
W, uniquely American, created an indigenous American literature.
Enumeration of W's German references, acquaintances, interests.
Continued 1906.23.
19. Anon. "Walt Whitman." Living Age, 248 (6 January), 45-50.,
Reprinted from London Times (unlocated). *
Review of Binns (1905.1), which is informative but long.
Whatever W's faults in speech or thinking, "it is clear that he speaks
and thinks out of his own experience"; hence, "his words have so much
weight and consolation for us." Because W can communicate .the feeling
of real life, he is a good writer, convincing as someone who has lived,
not merely written. Praise for his mysticism, wonder at life. W
always speaks to our own case, urging each to follow his or her own way.
Although much is not polished, W occasionally produced true poetry, but
his true and unique art is conveying fully himself.
20. Anon. "New Light on Walt Whitman— Extracts from Horace L.
Traubel's Diary of Conversations and Opinions of 'the Good Gray
Poet.'" Philadelphia Public Ledger (21 January), 4.
Reprinted in part: 1906.21.
Description of Traubel's work, probably "the mostlvtruthful
biography in the"language," actually W's "unconscious autobiography."
Most of the page is covered withiillustrations and pre-publication
excerpts of 1906.15 under various subject headings.
404
21. Anon. "With Walt Whitman in Camden." Conservator, 16 (February),
189.
Reprint of editorial remarks in 1906.20.
22. Platt, Isaac Hull. "Whitman's Superman." Conservator, 16
(February), 182-83.
W was not a faddist, although different groups find their own
ideas in him. Shaw's notion of the Superman is not original; W
preceded him.
23. Riethmueller, Richard. "Walt Whitman and the Germans, II."
German American Annals, NS 4 (February), 35-49.
Reprinted: 1906.10.
Continued 1906.18. W's interest in Goethe and similar ideas;
comparison of W's poetic and philosophical ideas with those of Herder,
Schiller, Heine. W's personal acquaintance with Bertz; his small
interest in the plastic arts but love for music. Concluded 1906.27.
24. Rittenhouse, Jessie B. "Walt Whitman. Horace Traubel's New
Revelations of the Poet's Personality in a Diary— A Biography by
H. Bryan Binns." New York Times Saturday Review (24 February),
109-110.
Review of 1906.15 and 1905.1. W's conversation displays a richly
furnished mind and an acute critical sense that penetrated tothe heart
of a writer's works. The whole of W's liberating message "was lost
sight of by the Puritan vision." The beauty of W's spirit apparent in
Traubel's book may make converts. Binns over-emphasizes the political
and historical context, for W was engrossed by "the universal and not
the particular aspect of things."
_________ 405
25. Herring, Alice. "Whitman the Revealer." Conservator, 17 (March),
8-9.
Like Shakespeare, W gives both the universal, cosmic view and the
minutest detail of life; unlike Shakespeare, W addressed himself "to-a
new, and greater, humanity to come."
26. Irwin, Mabel MacCoy. "The Monism of Walt Whitman." Triggs
Magazine, 2 (March), 8-13.
W rejected the dualistic view of life, believing in the unity of
all things, soul*and body, even God and Satan. Leaves is thus "the one
superb symphony of literature, its different poem-parts contributing to
the resplendent beauty of the whole."
27. Riethmueller, Richard. "Walt Whitman and the Germans, III."
German American Annals, NS 4 (March), 78-92.
Reprinted: 19O67T0”
Concludes 1906.22. Explanation*of some of W's ideas, extent of
his acquaintance with Kantian and Post-Kantian idealistic school of
philosophy. William Ellery Leonard’s sonnet on W is reprinted.
28. Williams, Francis Howard. "What Walt Whitman Means for Us All."
Conservator, 17 (March), 9-10.
W impresses his personality on different minds, radical or
conservative. He embodies an ultimate ideal yet to be realized.
29. Bicknell, Percy,F. "The Real and the Ideal Whitman." Chicago
Dial, 40 (1 March), 144-46.
Review of Traubel (1906.15) and Binns (1905.1). Traubel conveys
a realistic impression of the poet and the man. ' W's'justifications for
406
his poetry's occasional "priapism" cannot hold, for it cannot be
harmless to people in our fallen world. Binns provides the best study
of W's life and works yet, although excessively ascribing W's
development to the influence of a too shadowy, unknown Southern woman.
30. Aynard, M. Joseph. "Walt Whitman: As Reflected in Recent French
Criticism." Conservator, 17 (April), 21—23.
Translated and excerpted by William Struthers from an essay on
Binns (1905.1) in Demain (Lyons). W, a great poet, "composed a kind of
poetic prose, rhythmic and fashioned according to the flight of
thought"; his themes, Liberty, Love, and Personality, form the musical
tissue of his book. His optimism is absolute. Though without abstract
terminology or symbolism, Leaves is "a great metaphysical poem."
Concluded 1906.34.
31. Platt, Isaac Hull. "The Poet Who Could Wait: Contemporary
Appreciations of Walt Whitman." Book News, 24 (April), 545-49.
Illustrated
Review of Binns (1905.1), Trimble (1905.12), Riethmueller
(1906.10), Traubel (1906.15). W was a prophet without honor in his
own country. Binns omits the picturesqueness and vigor his subject
calls for. Traubel*s record of W's correspondence and frank
criticism is excellent. Despite limited schooling, W acquired much
knowledge of literature and contemporary events, though not "an
omnivorous reader." His interest in applause was not inordinate,
but indicative of his desire to know that his work was being
accomplished.
407
32. Wright, David Henry. "Whitman" the Inner Light of Quakerism."
Conservator, 17 (April), 24-25.
The "secrets" of Leaves and the Quaker inner light both reveal
the secrets of the universe.
33. Anon. "A Poet of the Cosmic Consciousness." Brotherhood, 19
(14 April), 142-48.
Review of Binns (1905.1) , which presents W as I ’a full-blooded
sinner, with strong passions." "Myself" dramatizes a spiritual
experience, but not an evangelical conversion. W's "passion for souls"
led to his war service.
34. Aynard, Joseph. "Walt Whitman: As Reflected in Recent-French
Criticism, II." Conservator, 17 (May), 37-39.
Concludes 1906.30. The Civil War brought W a conflict of
interests, doctrines and principles, but’his Quaker nonresistance led
him to be a nurse. W recovered his moral equilibrium after the war and
became accepted as a writer. Dressing like a workingman, he chose his
friends from the working class. He has unwittingly founded an almost
religious cult.
35. Calder, Ellen O'Connor. "William O'Connor and Walt Whitman."
Conservator, 17 (May), 42.
Corrects notions of Binns (1905.1) regarding W's relationship with
O'Connor; criticizes his over-explanation of some poems, v.
36. Huger, A. M. "Poetry, Prose and Whitman." New York Times Saturday
Review (12 May), 312.
____________________________________________________________
Letter. W's verse must be regarded as strictly prose. In
rejecting form, W's mind was "distinctly immature, his ideas
rudimentary."
37. Harboe, Paul. "Johannes Schlaf on Walt Whitman." Conservator,
17 (June), 58-59.
Review of Schlaf's monograph hailing W as leading Germany to "a
new, great modern religious sentiment." Contrasts W's high regard in
Europe with "the inanity of most American popular literature."
38. T[raubel, H. L.]. "Walt Whitman." Conservator, 17 (June), 59-60.
Review of Binns (1905.1), the first conclusive life of W in
English, though speculating to little point on W's romances.
39. Anon. "The 'Feminine Soul' in Whitman." New York Current
Literature, 41 (July), 53-56.
Summarizes and comments on Bertz's notion of W as homosexual (in
"Jahrbuch fur sexuelle Zwischenstufen"), which he and others have
overstated. The feminine trait of embracing sympathy was W's means of
reconciling all contradictions; discussion of W's other feminine
traits, citing Schlaf's response to Bertz's arguments: refusal to see
the abnormal in W, denial of W's asserted femininity, assertion of his
virile manhood. Bertz discusses, as important to know, "to what extent
his demands are normal and healthy or abnormal'and unhealthy."
40. Anon. "Walt Whitman. Records and Reminiscences by Two -t:rs
Followers." New York Tribune (22 July), II, 6. Illustrated.
409
Review of Traubel (1906.15) and Carpenter (1906.4). Traubel does
W a disservice in presenting the ailing old man's conversation with all
its egotism and questionable opinions. W's theory that modern poetry
depends on thought more than on the lilt of the oral tradition,
because of the increased importance of printing, is not worth disputing.
Carpenter is another admirer reciting the seldom-varying litany.
41. Crosby, Ernest. "Walt Whitman's 'Children of Adam.'" Philistine,
23 (August), 65-68.
Defends "Adam" poems against charge of obscenity and public
exhibitionism. W was ahead of his time in portraying sexuality
unromantically.
42. Gilder," Jeannette L. "Whitman and His Boswell." New York Critic,
49 .(August), 185-87.
Review of Traubel (1906.15). Recalls her visits to W's home;
the litter seemed "something of a pose, for Whitman was aewelleordefed,
methodical man." As one of W's early admirers;,"I think he was a
great poet— one of the greatest of his time— but I„did”not always take
his poses seriously." Traubel is valuable for presenting W's
immediate words, but W would not have liked some of his careless
comments on friends and contemporaries printed.
43. Morgan, May. "To Walt Whitman." New York Critic, 49 (August),
148.
Reprinted: 1916.5.
Poem in two rhymed quatrains.
___________________________________________________________ at n
44. Willcox, Louise Collier. "Walt Whitman." North American Review,
183 (August), 281-96.
Describes W's personality, non-partisanship, democratic beliefs,
faith in humanity, insistence on following the inner voice. W shifted
emphasis from the perceived to ;the perceiver, seeking the .hidden
reality behind appearances. Analysis of. W's portraits. W was co
concerned with his prophetic message, not with mere art, but his use of
the colloquial may grow in dignity, significance, and power by distance
in time. Despite vast sympathy and selflessness, W does not reach the
exalted level of the great religious leaders with whom his friends rank
him, for his earlier life does not seem to have been above reproach.
45. Anon. "What Edward Carpenter Says About Walt Whitman in His
Latest Book." Craftsman, 10 (September), 737-46.
Review of Carpenter (1906.4), quoting extensively with favorable
commentary. Carpenter "of all living men is perhaps best qualified to
write with full understanding of the American prophet." Notes W's
interest in reform, his tremendousness, the importance of his mission
to the world.
46. Shipley, Maynard. "Walt Whitman's Message." Conservator, 17
(September), 102-105.
Leaves represents W's prophetic visions for humanity and "will
abide through all time." His message appeals to the truly religious
temperament, bridging the material and the spiritual, perceiving the
divine in man. His religion is "based upon the needs and aspirations
of an enlightened intelligence; upon the cravings of the human heart
______________________________________________________________ 411
itself." W has optimism and faith in the purpose of the universe.
47. Smith, George J. "Whitman's Reading of Life." Poet-Lore, 17
(Fourth Quarter), 79-94.
W's world is orderly, evolving, beautiful. He is no mere
materialist or sensualist, for all is spiritual to him. Explanation of
W's idea of equality, glorification of the average, all-embracing love,
although W does not seem to have understood romantic love in its
highest reaches. W reacts against Puritanism but still recognizes evil
as evil. He views life as struggle and progress, believing fully in
the individual's development. W's views are "ampler, clearer, saner,
more satisfying" than those of other significant poets.
48. *Mackay, Jessie. "Two Poets of the People's Cause." Dunedin
Otago Witness (24 October, 31 October, 7 November).
Reprinted without separation of the three dates: McLeod.
Compares W and Bernard O'Dowd as democrats sharing "an all-
penetrating pity, a burning, leveling zeal for right"; contrasts their
national and social conditions, temperaments (W's acceptance of all
song-material, optimism, objectivity). W's thought still inspires
America with "a purer life and a grander joy."
49. Cary, Elisabeth Luther. "Mr. Perry's Whitman. A New Study of
the. Eccentric Poet's Life aid Work by the Editor of the Atlantic
Monthly." New York Times Saturday Review (3 November), 717-18.
Perry's common sense (1906.8) is preferable to ther > .spirit of
rhapsody or of depreciation usually offered W. Perry minimizes "the
heroic aspect"vof W- arid explains the contradiction "between the
412
outspokenness of his verse and the secretiveness of his mind." W
failed as an artist because, unlike Blake, he did not divide the
essential from the inessential. Similarities to Tupper and Warren
cannot detract from his essential originality. He placed a clear value
on form.
50. Simonds, W. E. "Walt Whitman, Fifty Years After." Chicago Dial,
41 (16 November), 317-20.
Review of Perry (1906.8). Critical concern about W has shifted
from morality to technique. Perry's judgment is sane and
discriminating, always friendly, but avoiding the excessive enthusiasm
of the W cult which so adversely affected W in his bid age. Perry
gives a vivid impression of "this free-hearted warm-biooded caresser of
life."
51. Anon. "Whitman After Fifty Years." Current Literature, 41
(December), 640-41.
Review of Perry (1906.8). Perry views W as a*true child of his
age, a Mystic, a Romanticist, and an American. Changes over the years
have brought greater acceptance of W's form and "gospel of nudity."
52. Howe, M. A. DeWolfe. "The Spell of Whitman." Atlantic Monthly,
98 (December), 849-55.
Review of Binns (1905.1), Perry (1906.8), Carpenter (1906.4),
Traubel (1906.15), which reveal less pleasant aspects of W, his
children and his egotism, which differs in real life from that in
Leaves. The W literature keeps expanding, but his spell is not
_____________________________________________________________ 413
universal, remaining largely with the scholar class he least expected
to reach.
53. Anon. Review of Perry (1906.8). Boston Christian Register, 85
(27 December), 1443.
Perry presents a just view. W's form, "that wonderful congeries
of noble ideas,— some of the loftiest to be found in the writings of
any American poet," is mixed with much that is tedious and trivial,
sometimes prose-like, sometimes rhythmic.
414
1907
BOOKS
1. Adams, Henry. The Education of Henry Adams. Washington:
privately published, p. 336.
Reprint: 1918.1.
Among American writers, only W had insisted on sex as powerful
rahter than merely sentimental.
2. Michael Helen Abbot. Studies in Plant and Organic Chemistry and
Literary Papers. Cambridge; Mass.: Riverside Press. Woman and
Freedom in Whitman," pp. 370-92.
Reprint of 1897.43.
PERIODICALS
3. '.E., C. "Some Random Thoughts about Walt Whitman," Ye Crank, 1
(January), 48-52.
Impressionistic appreciation. W'.is.;of the out-of-doors. "His
sanity and breadth of vision, his glorious optimism and exultant joy in
living, and above all his^’ universality" seize those not put off by his
rhythm. He has succeeded "in exactly and minutely portraying a man,"
a friend, with both good and evil, "attraction and repulsion." His
mystic sense is not cosmic consciousness in the sense of "comprehension
of the whold cosmos."
4. Fern, Elizabeth Burns. "The Democracy of Walt Whitman." Mother
Earth-,’ 1 (January) , 23-31.
415
W's democracy is a spiritual concept only grasped by those who
spiritually receive it. He calls us to introspection," the evolution
of a race consciousness." Concluded 1907.9.
5. Platt, Isaac Hull. "The Ethics of Biography." Conservator, 17
(January), 173.
Perry (1906.8) would merit charges of libel if his claims about
W's finances were made about a living man. His book "has done
incalculable harm." Complains of a statement in More's otherwise fine
essay (1906.6).
6. Traubel, Horace. "The Code of the Gentleman Referred to Bliss
Perry." Conservator, 17 (January), 168-72.
Traces his unsuccessful efforts to discover from Perry the source
for his statements made against W (1906.8).
7. *[Trimble, W. H.?]. "The Message of Walt Whitman." Melbourne
Australian Herald (1 January), 176-79.
Reprinted: McLeod.
Impressionistic view of the feelings W produces and his principal
messages. W seems intoxicated by nature and man. His message is the
central importance of Man in the universe, the significance of
personality, evolution, faith intthe'future of the Race, the religious
basis of Democracy. But "his optimism fails to take full account of
what we call 'evil.'"
8. +Denison, Flora MacD. "Burns and Whitman." Toronto Sunday World
(27 January).
Emphasizes the universal love and acceptance between Burns and W,
their common opposotion to the curse of prejudice and priviledge.
Burns wrote litling verse but W's verse was flat; yet his thoughts were
exalting and properly insperational, to inprove scioal conditions.
9. Fern, Elizabeth Burns. "The Democracy of Walt Whitman." Mother
Earth, l((Febuary), 15-21. Concludes 1907.4.
Quotes W to support her exhortations regarding the need for
wome n's equali ty.
10. Kenedy, William Sloane. "On the Trail of the Good Gray Poet."
Conservator, 17 (Febuary), 182-85.
Perry (1906.8) gives evidence of "hard work," but he is hot
qualified for his task,being a spokesman for the genteel class. He
errs in tracing W's literary influences, not recognizing when W is
original. Actual sources includerDickens, Plato, Montaigne, Sand,
Emerson, as shown in quotations, and Rousseau as a negative influence.
11. Montgomery, Alberta. "Walt Whitman and William Blake."
Conservator, 17 (Febuary),185-86.
Blake and W share "Titanic energy," positive spiritual optimism,
affirmation of life, and biographical circumstances ("obscurity,
poverty, neglect, often accute suffering").
12. Anon. "Mr. Perry's 'Whitman.'" New York Outlook, 85 (2
February), 278-80.
Perry's book (1906.8) is welcome after "overheated accounts" by
417
W's friends. W's strength and originality stem from his expression
being so much a part of himself. He could not "see beyond the limits
of his own horizons," due to^his "colossal egotism." His highest
inspirations, "Lilacs"; and "Cradle," are American poetry's high-water
mark. W was not the poet he thought himself to be, neither of the
first order of creative genius nor the ultimate poet of democracy; but
he is a vital force in our literature, "an original and native voice."
13. Anon. "Books of the Day." Arena, 37 (March), 325-27.
Review of Traubel (1906.15), with extracts, valuable and
interesting for the correspondence of the famous and the obscure, whom
W's "vigorous and unhackneyed thought" had helped, and for intimate
revelation of W, although its presentation might be improved.
14. Lee, Gerald Stanley. "An Order for the Next Poet. For Outline:
Walt Whitman. Details to be filled in, please,.'by Samuel
Johnson and William Shakespeare." Putnam's Monthly, 1 (March),
697-703.
Poetry is best when read not merely as poetry: "A man who reads
Walt Whitman for two hours feels like a poet. If he reads Tennyson for
two hours, he feels that Tennyson is a-poet." W "best expresses the
modern age because he is the first poet who has ever::.been matter-of-
fact with a compost heap," even making it beautiful. He conceives of
poetry as "working things through to their infinity" yet looking to
even greater work, while Tennyson often looks to what has been done
before. W is a master of symbolism. Objections may be-praised over,
and he will eventually reach the reader. Concluded 1907.6.
418
15. E[nde], A. von. "Whitman in Germany; Edward Bertz now and
Apostate from the Whitman Cult— A bitter Arraignment of the
G . Camden Poet." New York Times Saturday Review (9 March), 146.
Summary of W's reputation in Germany. Review of Bertz book on W,
which follows the new Physcological school and regards W as a
degenerate.
16. Lee, Gerald Stanley. "An Order for the Next Poet. Details to be
filled in please by Samuel Johnson and William Shakespeare."
Putnams Monthly, 2 (April), 99-107. Concludes 1907.14.
Shakespeare is of all moods, W-oflonly:-one; he could not laugh or
cry, although he embraced the world more fully than Shakespeare, hence
he is second-rate beside Shakespeare, though greater than any other:/ cr-
poet in modern life. W is "the ground-plan'for the world's great
modern poet, instead of the poet himself." His lack of humor was due
to his largeness, his perception of sameness rather than difference.
He lacked Johnson's skill of discrimination, seeing in each man the
universal rather than particular. W is "a street poet" rather than a
"private, personal poet." We await a combination of W and
Shakespeare.
17. Platt, Isaac Hull. "Bliss Perry Whitman." Conservator, 18/
(April), 23-24.
Perry's book is misleading in facts.-and in conclusions about;
and evaluations of W and his friends and followers.
18. Putnam, Frank. "Whitman and Traubel." Conservator, 18(April), 25
-26.
___________________________________________________________________________419
Review of Traubel (1906.15) reprinted from National Magazine
(unlocated): it "furnishes a background" for Leaves, and a key to W’s
philosophy.
19. Willcox, Louise Collier. "Mr. Bliss Perry's WalthWhitman."
Conservator, 18 (May), 41-42
Reprints of 1907.20.
20. Willcox, Louise Collier. "Mr. Bliss Perry's 'Walt Whitman.'"
North American Review, 185 (17 May), 221-23
Reprinted: 1907.19.
Complains of Perry's tone and attitude toward W (1906.8).
Contrary to Perry's suggestions, W lived effectively, being "practical
enough to hew out his own path, to live free and untrammelled, with
plenty of leisure, and in full communion with himself," a great-souled
man.
21. Calder, Ellen M. "Personal Recollections of Walt Whitman."
Atlantic Monthly, 99 (June), 825-34.
O'Connor's widow recalls her acquaintance with W beginning in
1862, his hospital work, conversations at the O'Connor home, habits,
personality, opinions (on book reviews, Emerson, "Free Love," marriage,
the institution of the father, hatred of war, unfitness of negroes to
vote); various anecdotes. As a protest against the double standard,
W proclaimed the goodness and purity of all in nature. His tremendous
optimism was uplifting, with faith in the triumph of right and justice.
22. Ende, Amelia von. "Whitman and the Germans Today." Conservator,
18 (June), 55-57.
_____________
Favourable description of the work of Lessing, Schlaf; W's a
effect on German free verse and young poets. Bertz's work is .re
unrepresentative, unscholarly.
23. Anon. "A Precursor of Whitman." North American Review, 185 (21
June), 463-64.
Thomas Traherne, whose‘ .poems have only been found and published
in the last six years, foreshadows W in his beliefs the splendor and
beauty of the universe, the sanctity of the body, the soul as a
complete unity prevading the universe, the inseperability of essence
and manisfestation. Both have the cataloguing habit." Quotes
passages from each.
24. Swan, Tom. "Walt Whitman: The Man." Open Road, NS 1 (July),
26-32.
Biographical sketch; (using quotations from W) W's early rapport
with Nature. Quotes description of W from O'Conner (1866.2), Ellis
(1892.4). Continued 1907.26.
25. Traubel, Horace. "Talks with Walt Whitman." American Magazine,
64 (July), 281-88.
Pre-publication extracts from 1908.11. Introduction briefly
recounts W's years in Camden, his impression on visitors.
26. Swan. Tom. "Walt Whitman II. His Book." Open Road, NS 1
.(August) , 99-105. Continues 1907.24.
W avoids the usual niceties of expression not because he lacked
literary culture "but because he believed they would stand as barriers
__________________________________________________________________________ 421
between him and his readers." Had he adopted the usual method, the 1
loss would have outweighted the gain in fame. He was "too staunch a
democrat to be dominated by the past," although he did not ignore his
debt to his::predecessors. His work is "frankly didactic" but includes
true poetry. Concluded 1907.36.
27. Traubel, Horace. "Whitman in Old Age, from Horace Traubel's
Record." Century, 74 (September), 740-55.
Pre-publication extracts from 1908.11. Continued 1907.30.
28. Wiksell, Percival. "Pete Doyle." Conservator, 18 (September),
103-104.
Reminiscences of W's friend Doyle, by a friend of his.
29. Platt, Isaac Hull. "Wounded in the. House of Friends."
Conservator, 18 (October), 121-22.
Response to Perry's implications (1906.8) of W's dishonesty and
duplicity.
30. Traubel, Horace. "Whitman in Old Age: Third Paper from Horace
Traubel's Record." Century, 74 (October), 911-22.
Continues 1907.27"
31. De Casseres, Benjamin, "Enter Walt Whitman." Philistine, 25
(November), 161-72.
Revised in his Forty Immortals, 1926.
Impressionistic appreciation. W is about to be discovered as
America's most^significant figure, great because he was a rebel, was
sincere, lived sublimely and naturally, embodied his philosophy. He
---------------: ------------------ 42.2
believed in immortality'-through evolution, the soul of man as center
of the universe, the democracy of the spirit, the wonder of life.
"His thirty years of composition on Leaves of Grass' was one long
majestic gesture, which translated a knowable universe into an
unknowable fourth dimension that must forevermore claim our amaze."
34. *Anon. "Walt Whitman as a Veteran Saw Him.” Sand-Burr Magazine
(December).
Reported in CHAL.
35. Harned, Thomas B. "Slanderers of Whitman." Conservator, 18
(December), 151-54.
Responds to attack by James H. Ecob in Philadelphia Outlook
(unlocated) regarding W's illegitimate children. Cites tributes to
W's character.
36. Swan, Tom. "Walt Whitman: III. His Message." Open Road, NS 1
(December), 290-98.
Concludes 1907.26. Explains W's message of Religion, Love, and
Democracy, and the quality recognizing our relation to the Infinite"
and "shaping our life in accordance." His optimism sees even evil as
potentially producing good. Democracy can only be achieved by building
up "grand individuals" and applying the principles of liberty and
equality. W's greatest glory is that his own life and person embodied
his philosophy.
42 3
1908
BOOKS
1. Alden, Henry Mills. Magazine Writing and the New Literature.
New York and London: Harper and Brothers, pp. 48-49.
One-paragraph summary of W’s- journalist career.
2. Bowen, Edwin W. Makers of American Literature: A Case-Book on
American Literature. New 'York and Washington: Neale Publishing
Co. "Walt Whitman," pp. 371-89; Selections 390-404; Bibliography
409-10.
W's reputation has suffered because "he divided the critics into
two hostile schools." His style is unattractive, due to lack of
adequate culture and a rich intellectualidevelopment, and he was found
indecent, although his flaws are aesthetic rather than moral.
Drum-Taps, lacking such faults, found "a more cordial reception"■than
Leaves, being inspired by his "abiding sympathy" and "absolute
self-abandonment." Without "the art instinct" and any "grand and
inspiring poem of sustained interest," W still is a poet for his
"imagination, passion, insight, faith and the gift of utterance," being
best in brief descriptive poems'1 and some extracts.
3. Carpenter, Edward. The Intermediate Sex. London: George Allen
& Unwin, pp. 47, 75-77, 117.
Describes W as exemplar of the love of comrades, in poetry and
life. W insists ontthe social function of this love, presumably aware
r>
_______________________________________________________ 424
of such passion as alive around him. Answers Bertz’s objections that
W's democracy is founded on a false basis.
4. Greenslet, Ferris. The Life of Thomas Bailey Aldrich. Boston
and New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., pp. 38, 138-39, 140.
Quotes letters to Stedman in response to his article (1880.15):
"Whitman's manner is a hollow affectation, and represents neither the
man nor the time. As the voice of the nineteenth century, he will have
little significance in the twenty-first," although outlasting most of
his contemporaries. "Writing newspaper puffs of himself" was
despicable. His occasionally admirable bits of "color and epithets
and lyrical outbreaks" are not enough to make a poet.
5. Hartley, L. Conrad. The'Spirit of Walt Whitman (A Psychological
Study in Blank Verse). Manchester: J. E. Cornish, 36 pp.
Introduction terms W the incarnation of sympathy. This blank-
verse poem presents the progress of W's soul toward his poetic mission;
he';emerges from a dramatic temptation by Science, philosophy, aid
Poetry to teach Love, without which all is insignificant.
6. James, Henry. Views and Reviews. Boston: Ball Publishing Co.
"Mr. Walt Whitman,," pp. 101-110.
Reprint of 1865.4. Reprinted: Miller; Hindus.
7. Maynard, Laurens, ed. The Wisdom of Walt Whitman. New York:
Brentano * s. Introduction, pp. xii-xvi.
This collection of passages selected to reveal "the deep
significance and rare wisdom of Whitman's pregnant sentences" is
A25.
intended for readers unacquainted with "this compelling master of the
minds of men.” His' main ideas. Religion and Democracy, are "subtly
interdependent." The individual is central. His attitude toward Death
is noble and original. Includes an index of topics of the selections.
8. Mayne, Xavier [Edward Irenaeus Prime Stevenson]. The Intersexes:
A History of Similisexualism as a Problem in Social Life.
Privately Printed. "Walt Whitman," pp. 377-82.
Reprinted: Arno Press, New York, 1975.
W's poetry reveals him as "one of the prophets and priests of
homosexuality," which is evident in various aspects of his work and
life. Convinced of its purity and naturalness, he idealizes (but
sensually) man-to-man love, psychic and physical, and translates this
into a Socratic mission and a Platonic notion of democracy.
9. Perry, Bliss. Walt Whitman. Boston and New York: Houghton
Mifflin Co., 334 pp. Appendix and index.
Revision of 1906.8.
Changes wording regarding several controversial matters. Notes
in the Appendix explain the changes from the original version, quoting
letters and other papers from various people responding to his earlier
statements.
10. Ruskin, John. The Works of John Ruskin, Vol. 34. London:
George Allen; New York: Longmans, Green, and Co., p. 727.
Reprint, of 1880.5, with slight changes.
11. Traubel, Horace. With Walt Whitman in Camden, II (July 16),
1888-October 31, 1888). New York: D. Appleton, 570 pp.
Continues 1906.15.
426
PERIODICALS
12. Johnston, J. H. "Half-Hours with Walt Whitman." Everywhere, 21
(January), 212-14.
Reminiscences of his acquaintance with W. He only understood
Leaves years after first reading it, then writing W and visiting him in
Camden, the start of many mutual visits. Description of the Lincoln
lecture of 1887, Lowell's moved response to it. W was "the purest
minded man I ever met," "the cleanest personality."
13. *Jepson, Edgar. "Walt Whitman." Fabian News (February).
Reported in CHAL, but not located in this issue.
14. Anon. "Whitman and His Boswell--Horace Traubel's New Volume of
Recollections of the Good Grey Poet an Interesting Illustration
of Adoring Discipleship." New York Times Saturday Review (15
February),81.
Review of 1908.11. W appears as "a monstrous (but amiable)
egotist," with "naive self-complacency" due to his lack of a liberal
education.
15. Coyne, James H. "Richard Maurice Bucke VI." Conservator, 19
(March), 5-7.
Reprints in part of 1906.5.
16. Scott, Fred Newton. "A Note on Walt Whitman's Prosody." Journal
of English and Germanic Philology, 7 (Second Quarter), 134-53.
W has been regarded as either "falling below the standards of
traditional art," a narrow-minded view, or rising above-them and
approximating nature, a false view. Tracing the development of ' : :
427
particular poems reveals W's artistry. W turned from the rhythm of
heats to the prose rhythm of "pitch-glides," which "seemed nearer to
the uncramped spirit of: nature," particularly to "natural free motions"
and "certain sequences of sounds." His wavelike lines are new to
poetry, although akin to the Bible, Ossian, and Blake. Only W of
American poets can compare with the greatest British poets in his sense
of artistry, but his beautiful passages, upon rereading, begin to sound
commonplace, unlike Shakespeare's.
17. Marsh, Edward Clark. "Mr. Traubel's 'With Walt Whitman in
Camden.'" New York Bookman, 27 (April), 164-67.
Review of 1908.11 which transcribes "the daily life and talk of
a man— and a man great enough, with all reservations made, to be
representative." "The most unliterary of writers, Whitman-was .a
catholic reader, and his judgments of men and books are often
illuminating," although of W more than of their subjects. His egotism
is usually that of a big man, conscious of himself and the importance
of his work.
18. Platt, Isaac Hull. "Mr. Bliss Perry and Walt Whitman. Dr. Platt
Defends Poet's Memory from Animadversions in His 'Life' by
Atlantic's Editor." New York Times Saturday Review (18 April),
232. :
"The second edition repeats and emphasizes the offenses of the
first," failing to cite authorities for many statements.
19. Cronyn, George W. "The Idealism of the Real: Claude Monet and
Walt Whitman." Columbia Monthly, 5 (May), 237-51.
428
Monet and W exemplify the idealist of the real, reconciling
materialism and pure idealism, science and imagination, being similar
in temperament and philosophy. W displays true, not excessive,
refinement, through his sympathy, affection, and spirituality. Though
sometimes ridiculous, he splendidly adapts his means to his ends in
"Brooklyn Ferry," "Lilacs," "Man-of-War-Bird,"■ and "Cradle." He shares
qualities with Chaucer, Wordsworth, Goethe, Emerson, Stevenson. The
poet of equality and human activity, he depicts the national life that
other American poets have merely suggested.
20. Williams, Francis H. "An Appreciation of Whitman." Columbia
Monthly, 5 (May), 254.' '
Recalls the increasing sense W gave of "the enormous power of
his personality and the originality of his genius." W, "coarse only
as Nature is coarse," is America's "only really cosmic poet."
21. Hartt, George M. "Whitman" An Inspiration to Democracy."
Conservator, 19 (August), 87-88.
W's message is democracy, meaning love-urgings toward humanity,
which would solve social problems. W is related to socialist ideals.
22. Meyer, Annie Nathan. "Two Portraits of Whitman." Putnam1s
Monthly, 4 (September), 707-710.
The Eakins arid Elexander portraits, both reproduced, are
analyzed. Eakins presented the real W because "he jLs more of Whitman
than any other painter." Commentary on Eakins is quoted as equally
applicable to W.
429
23. Anon. "New England Nature Studies" Thoreau, Burroughs,
Whitman." Edinburgh Review, 208 (October), 343-66.
These writers bring new vitality to the romantic return to
nature, viewing the earth not as a veil or mirror but "in itself and
for itself." Thoreau and W are contrasted as intellect versus emotion,
narrowness versus breadth. W's "emotional mysticism" transcends even
Lanier. W shows rather than tells, rarely allowing "reflexions" to
intrude. He does not provide the close studies of Thoreau and
Burroughs, but his artistic prose reveals his skilled ear.
24. "Letters of Walt Whitman to His Mother and an Old Friend."
Putnam's Monthly, 5 (November), 163-69. Illustrated
Helen Price presents these letters of the 1870's to W's mother
and her mother, Abby Price (whose biography is sketched). She says
that nowhere in print has W been shown "'in so winning and attractive
a light.'" Editorial comment notes nothing egotistical in these
letters, for his amiable egotism came only later. He was not a
"'sponge'" as peole have claimed. Mrs. Whitman's character is
described.
43.0.
1909
BOOKS
1. Carpenter, George Rice. Walt Whitman. English Men of Letters
Series. New York: Macmillan Co., 175 pp. Index No footnotes or
bibliography.
Emphasizes W's personal development, relating it to his work.
Perry (1906.8) is the uncredited source for much of the information.
Characterizes W's early personality, intellectual development, early
writing (which lagged behind his "keenness of sensation and
perception"), valuable and stimulation criticism. Rather than to the
usually cited sources (except for the Bible), W's form is indebted to
the speaking voice, as apparent in the style of his 1851 Brooklyn Art
Union lecture. His matter was unfamiliar to the upper-class background
of other American literary men. His distinctive, "extraordinary mood"
derives from mystical experience, which provides the explanation for
his catalogues which suffuse particulars with an "impression of
totality." Descriptions of the poems of 1855 (concentrating on
"Myself" as providing the doctrine which the following poems merely
reinforce) and 1856 (with its diminished egoism and clearer altruism).
W evolved for himself his ideas regarding the language of the people
as appropriate for poetry, since they were not then current in New
York. The comradeship of 1860 is "no abnormality or perversion of
feeling" but a latent and natural yearning and love between friends
"that would be among the highest manifestations of the divinity within
431
us." Drum-Taps, presenting the war in connection with past and future,
offers "a subject-matter more simple and unified" and "a purified
singer." W’s letters to Doyle reveal an amazing ability to lower "his
threshold of consciousness." W is "at his highest level of
composition" in the "Passage" group of 1871. The formlessness, sex,
and egotism once considered so objectionable in W are now accepted
because of changed perspectives. W may be the forerunner of poets who
will reveal the unities of the universe in "a medium less mystical,
more intellectual." W is to be compared less to other writers than to
"great personalities" like St. Francis, George Fox, and Oriental
teachers, "the great accepters and unifiers of life."
2. Cooper, Lane. "The Poets." In A Manual of American Literature.
Ed. Theodore Stanton. New York: G. P. Putnam's pp. 307-13? also
245, 292, 297.
W's belief in immortality and the value of each individual person
and thing constitutes his main permanent quality. Compares Rousseau
and W. W is more poetic than many "conventional versifiers." He is a
great poet, perhaps America's greatest, when he expresses what is true
for all or many men, or for representative and typical men. He is
most successful in regular metrical form, as in "Captain." He has been
overpraised as the poet of modern democracy, for its literature does
not require lack of restraint.
3. Heydrick, Benjamin A. One Year Course in English and American
Literature. New York: Hinds, Noble & Eldredge, pp. 221-25, 227,
271.
W's unevenness leaves one in doubt "as to whether he is one of our
_______________________________________________________________________432
greatest poets or merely a writer of "incoherent prose with flashes of
true poetry." Explanation of W's democratic spirit in life and
writings, comradeship in place of love, hopeful spirit. Reading list.
4. Moody, William Vaughn, Robert Morss Lovett, and Percy H. Boynton.
A First View of English and American Literature. New York:
Charles Scribner's Sons, pp. 451, 456-61, 463-65.
W is contrasted with Poe, both isolated from the literary
community, W more talked of than read. W was interested in "a great
social idea." He displays too little selectivity or argument. His
individual style was "a result of frequent and painstaking revision."
His meaning should be of more concern than whether or not his work is
poetry. W follows Transcendentalist thought but lacks Emerson's
balance. He lacks the features of popular literature.
5. Simonds, William Edward. A Student's History of American
Literature. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., pp. 295-302.
"A man of rich vitality, lustily greeting life in all its phases,
emphasizing, perhaps needlessly, the physical side of life," W was an
innovator, violating conventionalities. His egotism and verse-form are
becoming understood. His catalogues are "often picturesque, often
musical, but often, too, unorganized and bewildering." The war led him
to some of his finest compositions; universally admired are "Captain"
(his poetical power at its best) and "Lilacs." W grows upon the
reader, who overlooks his flaws and responds to his spirit of
comradeship. Reading him, preferably aloud, is "wholesome and
invigorating."
_________________________________: _________________________________________ 413.
6. Winter, William. Old Friends: Being Literary Recollections of
Other Days. New York: Moffat, Yard and Co., pp. 29-31, 64, 88-92,
140-42, 154, 292-93.
Reminiscences and critical comments about W. "That auctioneer's
list of topics and appetites, intertwisted with a formless proclamation
of carnal propensities and universal democracy," is not original in
style or thought. Correction of Howell's recollections of his meeting
with W at Pfaff's (1900.7). W seemed only "a commonplace, uncouth,
and sometimes obnoxiously corase writer."
PERIODICALS
7. Noguchi, Yone. "With Walt Whitman in Camden." Conservator, 19
(January), 166-68.
Compares W with Japanese poet Saigyo; comments on W's statements
regarding emigration laws.
8. Steell, Willis. "Walt Whitman's Early Life on Long Island."
Munsey's Magazine, 49 (January), 497-502. Illustrated.
Describes W's boyhood, young manhood, affectionate friendships;
various incidents; recollections from old acquaintances.
9. Snyder, John Edwin. "Walt Whitman's Woman." Socialist Woman, 2
(February), 7.
W "demanded not equality for woman but simply recognized it as her
right and not in man's province to give." He caters to no preconceived
social codes regarding women. He was a Socialist, a universal lover,
celebrating love, not lust. "Occupations" is his most revolutionary
poem, placing the workman on top. Leaves still contribute to woman's
emancipation.
______________________________________________; ____________________________ 434
10. T[raubel, H. L.]. "Walt Whitman." Conservator, 19 (February),
188-89.
Favorable review of Carpenter (1909.1).
11. De Casseres, Benjamin. "Walt Whitman." Fra, 2 (March), 93-94.
W liberates us, urging us to find our own directions and follow
our highest impulse. He is "the great poet of youth." He returns us
"to a sane, healthy egoism" so that we may love others, and urges us to
love our bodies. He was "the most significant man who has yet walked
the earth."
12. Eaton, Charlotte. "What Walt Whitman Is to Me." Conservator, 20
(April), 23-26.
Recollection of meeting W in New York; appreciation of his
influence.
13. Anon. "Whitman Cult in France." New York Times Saturday Review
(17 April), 237.
Bazalgette's efforts to bring W to working people in France are
meeting with "rather doubtful success," according to reports.
14. Keller, Elizabeth Leavitt. "Walt Whitman; The Last Phase."
Putnam's Monthly, 6 (June), 331-37.
W's nurse during his last months recalls meeting W and Mrs. Davis,
describes house and its disorder, W's physical condition, manner of
speaking, other habits, his last message, their leave-taking. (Much
of this material is used, rewritten, in her book Walt Whitman in Mickle
Street, 1921.)
__________________________________________________________________________ 4-36
15. Simonds, W. E. "The Individuality of Walt Whitman." Chicago Dial,
46 (16 June), 404-405.
Review of Carpenter (1909.1), which leaves W "somehow a more
tangible personality and a bigger man." The significance of one of
America's most picturesque writers, is being increasingly recognized.
16. +L., Rose. "Walt Whitman." Chicago Post (18 June).
An interpretation of W's beautiful personality, his ability to
find beauty in the commonplace, maintaining his joy and love throughout
the war, finding the men's deaths not depressing but bracing.
17. Hamilton, Clayton. "Walt Whitman as a Religious Seer." Forum,
42 (July), 80-85.
Review of Carpenter (1909.1), W's most satisfying biobraphy yet.
Like the great religious masters, W came to be tolerated by the world at
Large only after his death. Carpenter realizes that "W must be
considered primarily as a religious seer."
L8. Johnston, Bertha. "Walt Whitman and the American Teacher, I."
Conservator, 20 (July), 70-73.
W's concept of individualism may be the key to education in a
democracy. Education must cultivate initiative and individuality, but
aever forget the words "en masse." Continued 1909.19.
L9. Johnston, Bertha. "Walt Whitman and the American Teacher, II."
Conservator, 29 (August), 85-87.
Continues 1909.18. Explores "pedagogical significance" of W's
writings. W's concept of America as incorporating all races and
; ; _____________________________
cultures is also a message to the educational establishment. W
presents respect for laborers and all nationalities. Concluded 1909.
20.
20. Johnston, Bertha. "Walt Whitman and the American Teacher, III."
Conservator, 20 (September), 102-104.
Concludes 1909.20. W's prose includes comments (quoted) on
nature, evolution, culture.
21. Trimble, A. E. "Concordance-Making in New Zealand." Atlantic
Monthly, 104 (September), 364-67.
Describes and defends making a concordance for W, which may draw
one nearer his meaning. Notes W's prodigious vocabulary, use of
compound words, use of various animal words.
22. Viollis, Andree and Jean. "Walt Whitman's Works." Conservator,
20 (October), 117-19.
Translated from the French by William Struthers. Consideration of
Bazalgette's translation. Description of W's energy, shocking style,
sensuality. One may be disturbed at his mixed diction and disordered
expression, but gradually becomes dazzled. Sketch of W's background
and appearance. W has the voice of a Titan singing America and the
earth.
23. Smith, William Hawley. "A Visit to Walt Whitman." Conservator,
20 (November), 136-37.
Recalls visiting W with his wife in 1889; describes W's appearance
and conversation, his gift to them of his complete works.
___________ 437
1910
BOOKS
1. Marvin, Frederic.Rowland. The Excursions of a Book-Lover: Being
Perhaps on Literary Themes. Boston: Sherman, French and Co., pp.
171-72, 284-85, 307.
Argues with Nordau's comments on W (1895.5). In discussing modern
attitudes toward death, praises W's wise attitude in "Lilacs," which
"will live in our literature."
2. Noyes, Carleton. An Approach to Walt Whitman. Boston and New
York: Houghton Mifflin Co., 23.1 pp. No index.
I. "The Man": Summary of W's life as related to his work, which
is incidental to his personality and sympathy. He speaks for all; his
poetry becomes our own expression. His preparation as an artist was
haphazard, his greatest influence coming from theater and opera.
II. "Whitman's Art": Difficult at first, his work is poetry
because of its intensity of emotion. Leaves is new in motive, material
and form. W focuses on the average man, represented in himself and
representing the universe; this new theme needed a new form. W is a
poet for his imaginative phrasing and vision and his rhythm (examined
in "Cradle" along with sound values). W is "a true master of form,"
writing with care and deliberateness, not out of laziness. He lacked
selectivity, but Leaves is organic, poems achieving significance in
relation to others. Leaves is uneven but with a suggestiveness that
________________________________________________________________________ 4 38,
makes his poems increasingly wonderful to the reader.
III. "The Human Appeal": W emphasizes a personal relation with
the reader. Nature's processes and universal laws speak through him.
Description of W's attitudes to life, learning, nature, fellow-men,
woman.
IV. "The Soul's Adventure": Spiritual meanings are central to
W, who seeks to find God and succeeds. Comparison of W's religious
thought to other religions. God is a presence, experienced, for W.
W's eidolons are dynamic versions of Plato's Ideas. W emphasizes
cosmic unity, recognition of law, optimistic faith, assertion of
immortality. Like Christ, he is "the simple vehicle of the spirit of
God. "
V. "To You": True understanding of W will reconcile his
contrasting qualities. He must be tested by experience in life. He is
less a poet or teacher than an influence, urging us to follow our own
path. W is contrasted with Emerson and Thoreau regarding
individualism. W's high moral standards are described.
3. Saintsbury, George. A History of English Prosody from the Twelfth
Century to the Present Day, Vol. 3. London: Macmillan and Co.,
pp. 22, 372, 383, 480, 490-92.
W's form is a genuine hybrid between poetry and prose, but some of
his poetry is basically prose. Verse would generally do better, but W
often succeeds in truly matching form to matter.
4. Sharp, Elizabeth A. William Sharp (Fiona Macleod): A Memoir.
New York: Duffield & Co., pp. 2, 193-94.
_____________________________________________________ : ____________________ 4 - 3 . 9 _
Describes Sharp's visit of January 1892 to W, in whose fearless
independence, mental outlook, joy in life, and vigorous verse he found
"incentive and refreshment." Quotes Sharp's .letter =to her describing
the visit and his short poem "In Memoriam" written for W's death.
5. Stedman, Laura, and George M. Gould. Life and Letters of Edmund
Clarence Stedman. New York: Moffat, Yard and-’ Co. , Vol. 1, pp.
308-309, 535; Vol. 2, pp. 98-99, 100, 101, 104-110, 114, 120-22,
202, 461.
Letter of January 1863 notes W's hospital work. The controversy
over Stedman.-' s article (1880.15) is discussed: Steman's defense then
and at other times of W as poet; letters to Howells, Gilder, Curtis,
R. G. White, Aldrich, Kennedy, Thomas S. Hastings, James L. Pennypacker,
W. H. Edwards, regarding the article and response to it. Steman's
critical standards are explained.
6 . Thomson, James. Walt Whitman, the Man and the Poet. London:
Published by the Editor, 106 pp., with'Introduction by Bertram
Dobell, pp. v-xxxv.
Reprints of 1892.10; 1-80.7, 1880.8, 1880.12, 1880.13, 1880.16.
Dobell provides a general estimate of W, who demands judgment by
new standards. He is "a part of ourselves," teaching a wholesome and
much-needed message emphasizing mankind and the present. Notes
similarities to Traherne iniideas, poetics, spirit. Thomson and W are
contrasted in their views of life,.both true, with some^similarities.
PERIODICALS
7. Lessing, O. E. "Whitman and German Critics." Journal of English
and Germanic Philology, 9 (First Quarter), 85-98.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- .... M£L
W's reputation in Germany is traced. His .spiritual qualities,
sympathy, love for nature, and unity with the universe have been
praised. Bertz clarified W's gospel of friendship. W never found the
synthesis of science and religion as he claimed. His religious views
are derivative. Like Nietzsche fails of logical consistency and places
instinct above reason. His form, like Wagner's, is "enervating rather
than invigorating." "Nations that have produced a Goethe and an :
Emerson need not and should not worship a Whitman as one of their
heroes."
8. Atkinson, William Walker. "My Recollections of Walt Whitman."
New Thoughts, 19 (January), 6-9.
Describes meeting with W in Camden, physical description, ferry
ride, W's friendship with all classes, anecdotes.
9. Moeller, Tyge. "Walt Whitman." Conservator, 20 (January),
165-68.
Translated from the French by B. W. Thatcher. Essay by a Belgian
critic Bazalgette's translation of W. Comparison of W's philosophy
with Rousseau's. W's "modernism was tempered by his born savagery on
the one side and his Quaker heritage on the other." His teachings are
affirmative; he is "the most revolutionary of masters."
10. Talbot, Ethel. "Walt Whitman, Individualist." Academy, 78 (22
January), 88-89.
W has the spirit and material of poetry without the final form.
His poetry appeals for its:intense masculinity, open-air virility and
---------------------------------------------------------- 4AL
power. W was an egoist, like any writer, but was honest about it, and
had an intense power of sympathy. He achieves his own cadence.
"Lilacs," "Cradle," and "Last Invocation" are praised. W does not
merely echo other literature but is "the prophet of his land."
11. Struthers, William, trans. "The Life of Walt Whitman."
Conservator, 21 (April), 22-23.
From Les Nouvelles. Relates W's life to his style and philosophy;
notes his superiority to other poets.
12. Mourey, Gabriel. "Walt Whitman, I." Conservator, 21 (May),
37-40.
Translated by Mildred Bain from Revue Bleue. W's interior and
exterior lives exist in harmony. He absorbe everything, loves
everything. He had read the classics but preferred the inspiration of
life. His poetic material seems entirely original to him. He is a
superman with the faculty of understanding all. Concluded 1910.13.
13. Mourey, Gabriel. "Walt Whitman, II." Conservator, 21 (June),
53-54.
Concludes 1910.12. W disdains methods of ordinary composition
and traditional rhetoric; he proceeds by enumeration and accumulation,
repeating himself on purpose. His technique is primitive but superior
in emotional impact to the "sentimental insipidities" of other poets.
14. Johnston, J[ohn]. "Walt Whitman— the Poet of Nature."
Fortnightly Review, 93, NS 87 (1 June), 1123-36.
W's profusion of life is rarely equalled. Praises for his •
AA2J
out-door quality, pregnant titles, health, love for Nature,
"cinematographic fidelity of detail," "mastery of poetic expression,"
almost extraterrestrial point of' view. Like few other poets, W
recognized "animal kinship," "the complete identification of the
individual with the visible objects of the universe," and the
spirituality underlying all. The human heart and soul are central to
his work.
15. Binns, Henry Bryan. "Whitman as the Poet of Good Breeding."
Eugenics Review, 2 (July), 110-15.
W was concerned with the body not only for the "responsibility of
Race-building" but also because he regarded it as part of the
personality. Despite his nonconformity in sexual standards (his
illegitimate children), his life was clean and wholesome. Sex is for
the production of children but America-should also be concerned with
creating true manhood and womanhood.
16. C. C. C. "Theosophy and Secular Literature/ II: Walt Whitman."
Theosophical Quarterly, 18 (July)!, 28-44.
W recognized contemporary problems but was no propagandist or
reformer. The road toward spiritual development is discovered by
sympathy and spiritual expansion, as dramatized by W in "Myself." W
is often "startling and unintelligible" because of his "complete
obedience to his own precept." W is compared with Wordsworth, St.
Francis, the Bhagavad-Gita♦ W was deficient in education and taste;
he failed to profit by conventions. He was "a genius but not a
gentleman."
------------- M2.
17. [Willcox, Louise Collier]. "Not Without Honor." Harper's
Weekly, 54 (16 July), 6 .
Review of Bazalgette's French biography, superior to Perry's
(1906.8). W's critical approval in Europe is traced. America is last
to recognize his genius. W was a careful craftsman; he felt "the pulse
of eternity." He lends himself well to translation, "as only
substantial work does."
18. Anon. "A Poet of Democracy." Chicago Daily Tribune (24 October),
10.
It was natural that W be criticized for denying all aristocracies
and claiming absolute equality for all, but he is becoming better known
and will come to be appreciated by his divine average. He has produced
America's "most arresting literature," but it is "his manhood, his
elemental sincerity, his heroic nudity of ideas" that make him
representative of us.
444
1911
BOOKS
11.. Bulrroughs] , . j.IohnT. "wait Whitman."' Encyclopaedia Britannica,
11th Edition, Vol. 28 , pp., 610-11
Biographical and character sketch. Quotations from 1855 Preface
reyeal W , : s poetic intentions. Leaves "radiates democracy as no other
modern literary work, does,” besides rendering other "fundamental human
qualities.Bibliography.
2. Corson, Hiram. Spirit Messages. Rochester, N. y„: Austin
Publishing Co., pp. 67—72f 229-36; passim per index.
Records W ’ -s messages' from the spirit world to Corson, who knew W
the last seyen years of his life, having early recognized the greatness
of his message and lectured on him to students. W is regarded as.
"diviner of hidden messages of life,"' deeply religious,, misunderstood
because he assumed that others realized the same things he knew.
3. Glimmere, Francis B. Democracy and Poetry. Boston, and New York;
Houghton. Mifflin Co. "Whitman and Taine.," pp. 96—148; 315-17,
W ’ - ' s . break from bonds' of form and matter follows the poetic programs
of Blake, and Andre Chenior. He balances community and individual. His
verse frequently has dignity and eloquence, tenderness, vigor, pathos
of hope. His rhythm sometimes brilliantly breaks down "the. barrier
between impassioned prose and verse," Passages from “Cradle" and
Meredith.1 's "Juggling Jerry" are compared. W s refusal to submit to
order in. form and democracy is: a major flaw. But "he. interpreted
certain phases of national life, notably the temper of our war-time f
_____________________________________________________ 445
better than any one else." W is contrasted with Hardy.
4. Halleck, Reuben Post. History of American Literature. New York:
American Book Co., pp. 381-91; 371-72, 392-95, 397.
Author's summary (p. 392): "Walt Whitman brings excessive realism
into the form and matter of verse. For fear of using stock poetic
|ornaments, he sometimes introduces mere catalogues of names, uninvested
with a single poetic touch. He is America's greatest poet of
democracy. His work is characterized by altruism, by all-embracing
sympathy, by emphasis on the social side of democracy, and by love of
nature and the sea." His critical prose ranks only a little below that
of Lowell and Poe. The masses may find his poetry too difficult, but
works like "Lilacs," "Cradle," and "Captain" are ignored. Suggested
readings in W, study questions on the poems, bibliography.
5. Kaluza, Max. A Short History of English Versification from the
Earliest Times to the Present Day: A Handbook for Teachers and
Students. London: George Allen and Co. "Walt Whitman," pp.
335-37; also 326.
W uses "merely the irregular rhythm of ordinary speech." Some of
his enumerations are tiring, but in many poems W's variation between
types of metrical feet faithfully renders each change of mood, and he
often falls into regularly constructed verses, as in "Locomotive."
6 . Matthews, Brander. A Study of Versification. Boston: Houghton
Mifflin Co., pp. 40, 50, 94, 196-99, 255.
W's form followed the precedents of Blake and the Bible, but many
passages seem "little removed from prose." He is best when closest to
shapely structure and flowing rhythm, as in "Lilacs" and "Captain"
(which accepts poetic conventions but violates accent in rhyme).
7. Moulton, Richard G. World Literature and Its Place in General
' 446
Culture. New York: Macmillan Co,f pp. 389-90.
W is of another order than Tupper, using Riblical parallelism to
express the most modern thinking, giving trouble to critics who have
become too distanced from "the Hebrew root of our culture." W's spirit
is "pan-anthropism" rather than pantheism.
8 - Trimble, Annie E. Walt Whitman and Mental Science: An Interview.
Melbourne: Privately printed by W, H. Trimble, 15 pp.
Reprinted: McLeod.
Questions are asked of W concerning his views on the principles of
Mental Science and New Thought. W's hypothetical answers are quoted
passages from his poetry which show the similarity of his thought to
those principles, regarding the Unity and Harmony of all, the conquest
of death and evil.
PERIODICALS
9. Thorstenberg, Edward. "The Walt Whitman Cult in Germany."
Sewanee Review, 19 (January), 71-86.
Reprinted: 1919.26.
W's reputation in Germany is traced, with quotations (in English
translation). W's fundamental spirit conflicted with German ideals
(tradition, form, dual relationship between visible and invisible
worlds). Now W is frequently praised as a superman, and for the vigor
and energy of his language, his representation of the age and his
country, affirmation of life, universality, break from European
influence.
10. Anon. "Some Portraits and Autographs of Walt Whitman." Century
Magazine, 81 (February), 531-33.
Hitherto unknown photographs are reprinted; facsimiles of opening
447
page of Lincoln lecture, pre-war manuscript poem used in part later.
11. iRivers, W. C.].' "Genius and Decadence." Hospital, 49, NS 8
(11 February), 585.
W is considerably honored for his self-disinterestedness and
talent, but beyond altruism and democracy he also preached
"homosexualism," as many poems make clear. Expurgation would not be the
answer, however; "these passages can only do harm to those predisposed
to the tenets expressed in them."
12. Anon. "The 'Higher Criticism' in Medicine." Interstate Medical
Journal, 18 (March), 267-69.
Response to 1911.11, typical of the straining after effect made to
startle the fixed and rather placid views held about some geniuses. Why
should suggestions made by certain lines in a literary work (as in W)
give rise to definite claims of abnormal sexuality?
13. Schinz, A. "Leon IBazalgette's 'Walt Whitman.'" New York Bookman,
33 (April), 199-201.
In France the most highly regarded American writers are W and Poe,
although W is inferior to Poe as an artist, except in a few great poems.
Sazalgette neglects W's defects, but because he presents W "as humanity
sught to see him," his biography should become classic. European
criticism with praise for Bazalgette's work is quoted.
14. E[nde], A. Von. "Walt Whitman in France— The French Will Be the
First to Have Translations of All His Works." New York Times
Saturday Review (16 April), 231.
Bazalgette's book brings the reader into the essential personal
contact with W. Henri Guilbeaux is quoted in translation, contrasting
the individualism of W and Nietzsche.
448
L5. Anon. "Salut a la Jeunesse." Punch-; 140 (3 May) , 320.
Reprinted: Saunders.
Parody.
16. +Stafford, A. E. "Crusts and Crumbs." Toronto Sunday World
(7 May).
W is the greatest American example of a poet dealing with the
perennial conflict between the material and spiritual senses. He is
poorly regarded because he seeks the spiritual in the present rather
than merely after death. Extracts are quoted extensively because
possible censorship of W has been suggested.
17. White, Eliot. "Walt Whitman's Significance to a Revolutionist."
Conservator, 22 (July), 71-72.
W works to establish comradeship, the "fomenting element in all
revolution." W is the "spiritual wound dresser" to revolutionists.
18. Wallace, J. W. "Leaves of Grass and Optimos." Conservator,
22 (September), 103-105.
The religious influence of W will outlast the artistic, for he can
"revolutionize all your ideas and transform all your aims in life," as
can vital religions. Traubel's Optimos poems continue W's doctrine.
19. Barker, Elsa. "What Whitman Learned from the East: Being a Study
in Some Curious Similarities." Canada Monthly, 10 (October),
438-43.
W shares with’ Oriental writers a meditative tendency, the resultant
ecstasy, passiveness of soul in the power of God, great calm, simplicity
and frankness regarding sex. These affinities do not suggest deliberate
discipleship but are natural to himself, though strange to his Western
background. W's themes and poetic devices are examined for their
similarities to Persian and Indian poets, through quotations.
449
20. Traubel, Horace., "With Walt.Whitman in Camden.," Forum, 46
COctober1, 4Q0-14.
Pre-publication extracts from 1914,9. Editor * s footnote, explains
that these extracts show clearly 'the range of the poet , : s mind, his:
grasp of large questions, his 'views of the great political and social
movements of the time, and the mental vitality which outlasted hodily
energy."' Continued 1911.21.
21. Traubel, Horace. "With Walt Whitman in Camden." Forum, 46
(November 1, 589-600 ,
Continues 1911.,2Q; continued 1911.23.
22. Traubel, Horace. "Estimates of Well-Known Men . . . by Walt
Whitman from Horace, Traubel, : s Memoranda." Century, 83 (December) ,
250-56.
Pre-publication extracts of 1914.9.
23. Traubel, Horace. "With Walt Whitman in Camden," Forum, 46
(December), 709-19.
Continues 1911.21; concluded 1912.13.
450
1912
BOOKS
1. Burroughs, John. . Introduction In The Rolling Earth: Outdoor
Scenes and Thoughts from the Writings of Walt Whitman, compiled by
Waldo R. , Browne., Boston and New York,: Houghton Mifflin Co.,, pp.
xvii-xxiv
W "was the poet of the Earth considered as an orb in the. heavens,
in a fuller sense than any other poet has been,," W revels in thoughts
of the whole scheme of things, in emotions akin to those of Biblical
writers rather than of modern science- W* s love for nature was
evident on his visits' to Burroughses home at west Park-
2. Cairns, William B, A History of American Literature., New York;
Oxford University Press, American Branch, pp.. 386^95,
W ’ -s contradictory nature, displaying egotism as well as
"genuineness, simplicity, and unselfishness," is apparent in his
letters.. His: irregular rhythms reveal a subtle melody.. His power
comes from short suggestive phrases, pictorial skill, optimism, and his
broad free view, despite his defects. His chief idea is democratic,
that nothing is to be despised; applied to sex, this idea may be
displeasing in practice.. His poetic theory is influential,
3. Clare, Maurice [May Clarissa Byron] , A Day with. Walt Whitman. ,
London and New York; Hodder and Stoughton, n, d., 48 pp,
Characterizes W and his poetry while taking him through a
midsummer day in 1877; his closeness to nature, hunger for adventure,
perception of the divine in the human , the. miraculous in the
commonplace.. His- poems, if lacking in. polish, share the yast harmony
_________ 451
and symphonic moyeroent of the nobJLes.t masters , Fie experienced much
loneliness but did not lack "'-'the romantic attitude towards woman,1"
4. Crothers, Samuel McChord. Humanly Speaking, Boston and New York;
Houghton Mifflin Co,, pp. 6-9.,
Humorously quotes letter from Rev. Augustus Bagster praising W's
style: "There is no beating around the bush. The poet is perfectly
fearless, and will not let any guilty man escape." Bagster offers his
imitation of W, "The Song of Obligations" (Preprinted in Saunders) ,
5. *-Guthrie, William Norman. The Vital Study of Literature and Other
E s s a y s Chicago. "Walt Whitman as Poetic Artist."
Reprint of 1898.33, 1898.39, and 1898.48.
Reported in CFiAL.
6 . Jackson, Holbrook-. All Manner of Folk: interpretations and
Studies. New York.: Mitchell Kenner ley, "Walt Whitman," pp. 103-21
W is "the most national product of American thought," discovering
American characteristics by becoming them. The antithesis of European
8
writers, W is closest to ancient bards. He democratically accepts all,
sees life, "evolving into permanency," celebrates transience. His "poem
is great because it is the poem of a great idea," the "essential power
of the average thought and the. average emotion." His works are
"romantic," but "their literary value is not their first value."
7. Perry,. Bliss. The American Mind, Boston and New York; Houghton
Mifflin Co., pp. 34-35, 79-80, 85, 115, 125, 126, 164, 217-18, 235,
238-39, 241, 246.
References, in passing to W as exemplary of American movements
toward individualism, fellowship; to the "magnificent Americanism" of
Leaves.
3. Rickert, Edith. Introduction. in American Lyrics, chosen by Edith
Ricker t and Jessie Pa ton. Garden City t , N, Y.,: Doubleday, Page and
Co., pp. -xviii>xxi.
452
h ^CQjaglete. Qf yajrae. jfgxpi^ vpa the. onl^ yehi.de. tg ma,ke,
W Ks:. "crude,| chaotic, imperfectly formulated thought endurable.,"
conveying hie message and "gigantic personality* * s W f "with all his
glaring absurdities,,, his bottomless depth, of crudity, in the. ultimate
primitive, strength of his natural resources is more nearly typical of
our national development than any other poet." He is the most
extensively represented poet in the anthology*
9», Saintshury, George* A History of English Prose Rhythm* London:
Macmillan and Co., pp* 6 6, 343, 405, 470-72.
W's works would lose much if put into actual prose form, though
they are "often very beautiful prose." But W aims at and achieves
something quite different, through division into "individual staves.”
10* Traubel, Horace* Introduction. In Leaves of Grass Cl) &
Democratic Vistas. Everyman 1s Library. London and Toronto: J. M .
Dent & Sons; New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., pp. vii-xiii.
Emphasizes W's radicalism, importance to contemporary thought,
appeal to the first-rate men of England and America. W's conversation
is quoted. W's Americanism was international: people came first.
11. Trent, W. P., and John Erskine. Great American Writers. New
York: H. Holt and Co. "Walt Whitman," pp. 212-28.
W is "the most thoughtful of American poets," with as much
literary background as any poet. His break with poetic tradition has
been over-emphasized. His chief passion is social. His catalogues
follow his poetic theory that every activity of man expresses emotion.
Description of his...evolutionist philosophy, scientific spirit,
wariness of the past. His free rhythms truly convey nature and the
American spirit-, and are supported by Croce's aesthetics. "Captain"
__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________453
and "Lilacs" stand out, perhaps for different audiences, both full of
echoes. His view of life is America's largest account of herself,
PERIODICALS
12. Eccles, Caroline A. "An Appreciation of Walt Whitman." Quest,
3 (January), 349-59.
"Cradle" and "Lilacs"' contain the fullest expression of W's great
themes, love, death, and immortality. He has the music of nature. His
coarseness and egotism are explained and justified. His mystic
qualities are noted. W is a great literary artist "if truth to nature
and clarity of expression be characteristic of high, literary art"; but
he is emphasized here as prophet.
13. Traubel, Horace,. "With Walt Whitman in Camden,.'? Forum, 47
(January)* 78-89,
Concludes 1911.23.
14. Bartlett, Truman H. "Incidents of Walt Whitman." Conservator,
23 (March), 8-9.
Letter to Boston Globe in response to editorial (reprinted;
unlocated["regarding Lowell's turning away an English nobleman from
visiting W, who today may have two or three times as many readers as
Lowell, Incidents involving W and the Boston writers, W ’s 1881 visit,
15. +Fanfan [Grace Blackburn], "On the Open Road with Walt Whitman,"
London (Ontario) Free Press (.28 March) .
Long appreciation, urging readers to walk with W. Description of
tf's profound appreciation of the beauty of Nature and the body, his
/ivid pictures ( j a . . g, "'his superbest song," "Myself" 21)7 He is not
i'he "woman's poet" in the sense of writing traditional love-poems, but
454
he gives woman an ideal to measure^up>to as man's equal. His love and
brotherhood are immense; he finds God everywhere and accepts death.
16. +Karsner, David Fulton. "Walt Whitman— Revolutionist." New York
Call (7 April).
Impressionistic discussion of W as supporter of the workers and
opponent of the oppressive institutions of modern society. His
daring and individualism make him "the very sage of obscenity."
17. Anon. "The Superman." London Times Literary Supplement (23 May),
210.
The end of this essay on Nietzsche contrasts him to W, "an,
affirmer of the whole of life" who "had never heard of the Superman."
W "proclaimed the true Superman, and the Superwoman too," accepting the
common man as Nietzsche did not, seeing greatness in all humanity.
18. Anon. "Outdoor Scenes and Thoughts from W." Chicago Dial, 52
(1 June), 437-38.
Review of 1912.1, welcome because W's attitude toward nature (here
explicated) has rarely been stressed. This book reveals W's "delicate
and powerful sensuousness." In most of W's greatest poems ("Lilacs,"
"Cradle," "Brooklyn Ferry," isolated passages like "Myself" 21), Nature
is more prominent than W's insistent democratic propaganda.
19. Bromer, Edward S. "Is Walt Whitman the Best Representativeoof
America's Independent Spirit in Poetry?" Reformed Church Review,
Series 4 (July), 346-66.
W's philosophy is "New England Transcendentalism writ large."
Recalls reading w at first with prejudice, but later responding to his
themes of individualism, democracy, religion. W offers direct
acquaintance with nature and oneself, "lays the foundations of
__________________________ 455
democracy," brings the reader to a positive relationship with God.
His problems are failure to acknowledge the "immaturity" and
"sinfulness" of the race and his equation of America with democracy.
His "comradism" does not answer the problem of the workingman. W is
not "the real poet of American Democracy," offering rather a Utopia.
20. Noble, Jane Graves. "Bliss Perry's Walt Whitman." Conservator,
23 (July), 70-72.
From a mother's point of view, criticizes Perry on W (1906.8).
21. Osmaston, F. P. "Discussion. The 'Coarseness' of Whitman.”
Quest, 3 (July), 766-70.
Response to 1912.12, doubting whether W is "coarse" as Nature is.
Even Emerson and i . ’ Thoreau were repulsed. Equating W's attitude with
Christ's is heretical. Modesty arid humility are the true Christian
ideals, which W misunderstood.
22. +Fanfan [Grace Blackburn]. "Walt Whitman's Faces." London
(Ontario) Free Press (15 July).
Describes the acuteness of W's senses on the evidence of his
poems. Discusses "Faces" as example; W perceived something deeper.
23. Abbott, Leonard D. "Walt Whitman and His Influence in American
Poetry." Poetry Review, 1 (October), 473-75.
W's value for American literature lies in his influence as an
emancipator in message and manner. His "vitalizing spirit" appears in
several poets, but rarely his form. "The radical movement" (Crosby,
Traubel, George D. Herron, J. William Lloyd) reveal his influence most
clearly. W is "not so much Anarchistic as Socialistic." His
individualism is most extreme in his "utterly pagan" attitude toward
sex. W is "quoted even in pulpits," and cherished by youth.
456
24. Bredvold, Louis I. "Walt Whitman." Chicago Dial, 53 (1
November), 32 3-25.
Although "one feels the force of a profound culture behind his
written work," W does not use it to make a criticism of life but sets
aside reason and taste to present the very materials of life. He
broadens our chutlook and sympathies when we become too narrow; the
cultivated reader rather than the average man appreciates what W does.
25. Corbin, Alice. "America." Poetry, 1 (December), 81.
Poem quoting and referring to W.
26. H[enderson], A[lice] Clorbin]. "A Perfect Return." Poetry,
1 (December), 87-91.
Quotes Paul Scott Mowrer from Paris: W's influence in Europe is
due to "his acceptance of the universe as he found it, his
magnificently shouted comradeship with all nature and all men," and
"his disregard of literary tradition"; perhaps too his ideas are newer
there than in America. England recognized W's spirit, France adopted
his form, while America looked at neither carefully. America should
accept her poets, not only after Europe's recognition of them.
27. +Anon. "Old Whitman Landmarks Are Fast Passing Away."
Brooklyn Daily Eagle (15 December). Illustrated.
Describes W's days in Brooklyn, where he lived and worked.
457
1913
BOOKS
1. Bain, Mildred. Horace Traubel. New York: Albert and Charles Boni,
pp. 7-10, 27-31, and passim. No index.
W was an influence on Traubel but Traubel is worthy of
consideration in himself. The wide range of interests evident in the
Fellowship indicates the universality of W's appeal. Extended
comparison of Leaves and Traubel's Optimos contrasts Traubel's dynamic
qualities with W's quietism. Traubel amplifies and clarifies "the
ideals of love and comradeship which Whitman left nebulous."
2. Brigham, Johnson. James Harlan. Iowa City: State Historical
Society of Iowa, pp. 208-210, 368-70.
Harlan dismissed W for purposes of economy, not out of disapproval
of Leaves as O'Connor (1866.2) charged without substantiation. Prints
Harlan's letter to DeWitt Miller, explaining the circumstances.
3. Eastman, Max. Enjoyment of Poetry. New York: Charles Scribner's
Sons, pp. 71-81; 19, 50, 65, 117, 135, 147, 189, 223.
Illustrates discussion of figures of speech with lines from W,
showing how metaphoric language conveys the desired impressions. W
varies between merely naming things and vividly recreating them for his
reader in "passages of supreme poetry."
4. Emerson, Edward Waldo, and Waldo Emerson Forbes, eds. Journals.of
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Vol. 9. Boston and New York: Houghton
Mifflin Co,, pp. 401, 540.
Explains Thoreau's fancy for W (1862).- W should be thanked "for
service to American literature in the Appalachian enlargement of his
------- ; __! ________453
outline and treatment" (1863). Concluded 1914.5.
5. Long, William J. American Literature: A Study of the Men and the
Books That in the Earlier and Later Times Reflect the American
Spirit. Boston: Ginn and Co., pp. 370-82; 357, 443, 445.
W's lack of "fine moral sense," his egotism, jarring diction all
point toward the preferability of "a sternly abridged edition" so that
"his undoubted power and originality" may be appreciated. One might
start with "Captain" and "Pioneers," move to "Cradle" and W's major
works, "Lilacs" being perhaps the finest, his later works having a new
"strength of spirit" and "deeper rhythm." His "glorification of the
self" was "an offshoot of transcendentalism," as was his superficially
understood "orientalism," quite "out of place in America." Study
questions are included.
6 . Macy, John. The Spirit of American Literature. Garden City, N. Y.
Doubleday, Page and Co. "Whitman," pp. 210-47, and passim.
W looks toward the true democracy of the future for appreciation.
His early work may be too aggressive but readers should read his work
whole, not only his later poems. W blends all aspects of life in his
work and "is the bravest of all poets of death." His verse's
originality lies not in its difference from other poetry but "in the
use he made of the metres he chooses." His prose is less "intensely
serious" and "humourless," with the "accent of words spoken, not sung."
Traubel (1906.15, 1908.11), more realistic and less selective than
Boswell, reveals "a much greater, more original man" than Johnson, and
"the richest intellect in America."
459
7. Norton, Sara, and M. A. PeWolfe Howe, eds. Letters of Charles
Eliot Norton, Vol. 1. Boston and New York: Houghton Mifflin Co.,
pp. 135, 441,
Letter of September 23, 1S55, recommends Leaves to Lowell,
praising its original expression, vigorous and vivid writing, graphic
description, noting its Emersonian basis, regretting its coarse (but
not licentious) passages. (See 1894.3 for Lowell's response.) Journal
entry for December 1872 describes an evening in London with Ruskin and
Carlyle? W is listed among the topics of conversation.
8 . Rivers, W[alter] C. Walt Whitman1s Anomaly. London: George Allen
& Co., 70 pp. No index. "The sale of this book is restricted to
Members of the Legal and Medical professions."
I. "Introductory": Although homosexuality is apparent in "Calamus"
poems, hardly anyone but Bertz and this writer ("a medical man".) admits
it.
II. "The Prima-Facie Case": Passages from "Calamus" are compared
with a similar personal account from a homosexual psychologial patient.
III. "Whitman's Femininity”: "In almost everything except outward
form he was a woman'': enjoyment of feminine activities, indifference
to women sexually, affection for men.
IV. "Evidence Mainly Indirect": Cites the attraction to W of
known homosexuals. W knew he could only be thoroughly appreciated by
the few. His entire physical organism was "erethistic," highly
susceptible to sensation; hence he was over-sexed.
V. "Objections": Notes mystic interpretations of particular
passages, W's claims of paternity, his lack of interest in homosexual
literature.
VI. "Further Examination, and Conclusion": W's behavior suggests
_____________________________________________________________________ 460
that he was the passive sort of homosexual. No one in modern times has
exalted manly love over the love of woman with like genius.
9. Sawyer, Roland D. Walt Whitman, the Prophet-Poet. Boston:
Richard G. Badger, 76 pp. No index.
Reprinted in part: 1919.124.
Being stirred by W's poetry and then saturating himself in what W
wrote and what others wrote about him, Sawyer wrote this to fill "the
need of a short, up-to-date, popular presentation of the poet, and his
aims and philosophy." Quotations from critics and W (not always
accurate) are used throughout the book.
I. "The Man": Biographical sketch, including W's hidden romance.
II. "His Message— Democracy": Commentators often discuss Democracy
as one of several themes rather than as "mother of all Walt's ideas,"
embracing liberty, equality, and fraternity.
III. "His Religion": W believed in an immanent God, omnipresent
revelation, and personal immortality; W opposed religious institutions.
IV. "The Nature Lover": W went beyond Bryant's rejection of rhyme
for accurate transcription of the feelings evoked by Nature, creating
distinctly the out-doors style.
V. "His Note of Joy": W shows that joy comes "in the living out
of our true selves" rather than in seeking what "an abnormal society
says we must have."
VI. "The Poet Pioneer": W was a pioneer in form and in use of sex
images. His artistry lay not in achieving technical perfection but in
reproducing his emotions in the reader. His treatment of sex, though
philosophically imperative, ignored too completely society's feelings.
VII. "His Plage Among the Prophets"; A brief Whitmanesque poem by
------------- 4 . 6 . 1 .
Sawyer announces himself a follower of W. Despite a certain egotism
and arrogance, W was large-souled, containing the graces of Christ as
only St. Francis, Burns, and Tolstoy have done.
PERIODICALS
10. Anon. "Whitman's Siege of Europe." Literary Digest, 46 (4
January), 20-21.
Precis with quotations of 1912.26.
11. Mabie, Hamilton Wright. "Makers of American Poetry: Whitman the
Poet of Democracy." Mentor, 1 (24 February), 9-10.
W had little education; his resource was conversation, not books.
Leaves contains much prose; it recalls the early bards. W's best
quality is "plastic imagination." It is too early to predict his
final rank; he is already influential on younger poets.
12. Rhys, Ernest. "Masterpiece of the Week: Walt Whitman's 'Leaves
of Grass."' London Everyman, 1 (28 February) , 623.
Recalls visit to W the winter of 1888-89, W's interest in current
affairs. W came to temper his earlier notions that America must break
with the past. "Myself" is "the most daring testament" of a man's
personality in all its aspects "ever set down in a book," ignoring the
"civil refinements," "niceties and beauties of language." Concluded
1913.14.
13. Austin, Dr. B. F. "The Spiritualism of Walt Whitman." Reason,
10 (March), 7-17.
W is "one of the greatest thinkers and noblest writers of our age
— one of the few thoroughly illumined souls of the ages." He
glorified himself as human, nature as divine, the ordinary as
miraculous. "His views are nearly Spiritualistic— especially his
462
Optimism, his knowledge (it is more than belief) of Immortality, his
lofty scorn of Death, his conception of Man as Limitless, and his
Wider Hope for the race." Poems most interesting for Spiritualists
are "Trumpeter," "Captain," "Lilacs," "Myself," and "Open Road" (here
discussed as a song of abundant, unfettered human life). W believes,
with psycometrists, in the mutual inspiration of souls and objects.
14. Rhys, Ernest. "Walt Whitman's 'Leaves of Grass.'" London
Everyman, 1 (7 March), 656-57.
Concludes 1913.12. The impulses behind W’s writings are "the idea
of the race and the multitude, and the idea of the individual." His
faith in his message led him to find a form of expression new to our
age. His book speaks for itself "as the living testament of a man,"
and is appropriate to the open air rather than the library.
15. +S[mythe], A. E. "Crusts and Crumbs." Toronto Sunday World
(9 March).
W is one of the spiritual forces, social, intellectual, and moral,
directed to helping humanity. Extensive quotations reveal W's belief
in the immortality of the soul and its reincarnations. W knew that
democracy could not be realized through mere material equality but lay
rather in the boundless human soul.
16. +Fanfan (Grace Blackburn). "With.Rodin in the Metropolitan
Museum at New York."] London (Ontario) Free Press (31 May) .
Compares Rodin to W, "his metaphysical brother," in appreciation
for the body and perception of the great soul within. Extracts from W
are quoted as suitable for describing Rodin's sculptures.
17. Lazenby, Charles. "The Nineteenth Century Trimurti." American
Theosophist, 14 (June), 734-39.
______________________________________________ 463
W represents the Brahma aspect of the trinity, expressing the
creative ideal of democracy, projecting a vision for the future, "in
himself Father-Mother, a splendid Uranian, a double-sexual nature."
18. Robinson, William J. "Walt Whitman and Sex." Conservator, 24
(June), 53-55.
W was among the first in America to speak frankly and honestly of
the body and sexual passion, and to identify true modesty. He never
repented these poems; he supported sex reform and women's independence.
19. Smith, William Hawley. "Whitman Needs No Advocate." Conservator,
24 (June), 56-57.
Appreciation; humorous account of introducing a friend to W's work
20. Whitlock, Brand. "On Outgrowing Walt Whitman." Conservator,
24 (June), 55-56.
One cannot grow out of W; he retains his effectiveness, "the most
universal of our writers," with realistic pictures, true history, a
statesman's sense of the issues, vision.
21. +S[mythe], A E. "Crusts and Crumbs." Toronto Sunday World
(27 July).
W has much to offer contemporary readers. His national ideals and
message of the new order overtaking the old are applicable equally to
Canada, Britain, and the United States. W was open in meeting life as
well as death; we must live with the stars as he did.
22. White, Eliot. "Walt Whitman and the Living Present."
Conservator, 24 (October), 117-18.
W founded no school but urged us to follow our own ideas, not
merely his. He has helped to overcome prudery and to open the way to
"a renaissance of bodily beauty." His meaning is unique to each.
______________ 4.6A
23. Schinz, Albert. "Walt Whitman, A World's Poet?" Lippincott's
Monthly Magazine, 92 (.October) , 550.
W's growing popularity in France is due to a reaction against the
refinement of Symbolism. As poet of freedom he has predecessors in
French literature; he is most original in his treatment of virile love.
The work of Bazalgette and Sarrazin (freely translated by Morris in
1893.4) is examined. With Poe, W is the most interesting American
writer of the nineteenth century, showing "how a man having the soul of
a great poet will react when thrown in the milieu of modern
civilization without having received in his education the solid culture
necessary to understand our age," emerging anach-ronistically as a bard.
24. +Blackburn, Grace. "Ibsen and the Woman Question." London
(Ontario) Free Press (22 November).
Compares Ibsen to W regarding women's equality, on which W wrote
some of literature's "clearest-eyed and most passionate poetry." Not
feminists, both seem "even a bit brutal in their masculinity."
25. Pollard, Marguerite, F. T. S. "The Universality of Walt Whitman."
Theosophist, 35 (December), 373-81.
W's poetry reveals "the Great Plan of spiritual and intellectual
evolution." W was aware of America's role in the development of the
new world to come and as bard-prophet projects its nature, much as
Indian philosophy sees the Universe as a projection of Universal will.
W justifies the wholeness of the universe, both present and future.
26. Zueblin, Charles. "Walt Whitman Prophet and Democrat." Ford
Hall Folks, 2 (28 December), 1-2, 4.
Transcription of speech and question-answer session in Boston: W
was "born again" to write Leaves; his pantheism, acceptance of all.
------------- £h5_
1914
BOOKS
1. Barrus, Clara. Our Friend John Burroughs. Boston and New York:
Houghton Mifflin Co., passim per index.
Many incidental references to W, generally in relation to
Burroughs, who offers some reminiscences' in conversation with Barrus.
2. Cairns, William B. American Literature for Secondary Schools.
New York: Macmillan Co., pp. 212-19.
Based on discussion in 1912.2. W presents the American metropolis.
Despite his frankness, W is worthy for his democratic ideas. He has
much contemporary influence. Many passages are "better than his
poetical theories." The common reader still prefers Longfellow.
3. Call, William Timothy. A Plea for Shakespeare and Whitman.
Brooklyn: W. T. Call. "Walt Whitman," pp. 31-62.
Considers W successively as man, crank, sensualist, seer, artist,
poet. W was "an earnest self-centered poseur." His total freedom of
speech was a means of attracting attention for his good ideas. He
mistook "hysterical honesty and outlandish retchings for high thinking"
but he should not be edited, showing foolhardiness rather than weakness.
Many lines stand beside Shakespeare's as great quotations. "His style
fits his bumping notions," which sometimes hit something amazing or
grand. He displays "mastery of the elusive details of the beautiful,"
as in many short pieces (here pointed out). The most important thing is
to read him fairly, not like his avid admirers or detractors.
4. De Selincourt, Basil. Walt Whitman: A Critical Study. London:
Martin Seeker; New York: Mitchell Kennerley, 251 pp. No index.
________________________________
I. "Biographical": Describes various influences of W's life on his
poetry; his early work. The presumed New Orleans romance would
contradict the spirituality with which he invests sex, associated for
him with the family, not with "irresponsible attachments." His works
and life illustrate the "fusion of the physical and the spiritual."
His post-war poetry lacks "the old unquenchable and intoxicating
bravura of independence," showing rather "a continually deepening
spiritual consciousness."
II. "The Problem of the Form": W succeeds when his rhythm
contributes to the meaning but often fails when he yields to
conventional rhythms and forms. He is most himself when his poem is
most like a conversation. Discussions of "Prayer," "Universal," "Thou
Mother," "Lilacs," "Broad-Axe," others. Abridged: Hindus.
III. "The Form (ii) Constructive Principles": Every line must
"contain his personality in the germ," line breaks being significant.
W's free verse is compared to that of Goethe and Arnold. His mature
lines blend continuity and independence. Parallels to music and to
actual experience are noted. Abridged: Miller.
IV. "The Form (iii) The Question of Unity": W sought to avoid
appearances of artistry (see "Myself" 2). Leaves is essentially a
study of various atmospheres, all part of a whole.
V. "Style": Explanation of W's diction, catalogues, participial
sentences, omission of verbs. W let language dictate to him rather
than imposing his own meaning on language (see "Cradle"). His style
displays constant interplay between "his childlike objectivity and his
magical suggestiveness." Explication of mood and style in "Myself."
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________— _______________________________________________________46-7 -
VI. "Plan": The latter half of Leaves remains unfinished. All
sections and major poems are discussed in relation to the whole. Only-
after "Song of Joys" is W at less than his best. "Lilacs" is accepted
incorrectly as typical of his work because of some nearly "sing-song"
passages. "Drum-Taps" is an appropriate centerpiece.
VII. "Children of Adam": To reach a balanced view regarding sex, W
had to align himself with the progressives to correct the bias of the
conservatives. He portrays mutual responsibility in sex.
VIII. "Calamus"; Wishing to praise love as distinguished from sex,
W uses love between men rather than between the sexes "to divest this
relationship of sexual associations." Only "Earth, My Likeness" "can
be construed as an allusion to sodomy," as W ’s acknowledgment of that
impulse. His longings for a true equal went unfulfilled in life, but
were transferred to the reader of his poems.
IX. "Democracy and the Individual": Discussion of contrasting
American and European receptions. W emerges directly from the
American spirit and need for poetic expression; he is the poet of the
process of fulfillment rather than fulfillment itself.
5. Emerson, Edward Waldo, and Waldo Emerson Forbes, eds. Journals of
Ralph Waldo Emerson, Vol. 10. Boston and New York; Houghton
Mifflin Co., p. 147.
Concludes 1913.4. Suggests that the Welsh bard Taliessin may be
a possible source for W (in 1866 entry).
6. Metcalf, John Calvin. American Literature. Atlanta; B. F.
Johnson Publishing Co. "Walt Whitman," pp. 357-66.
Describes W's powerful, primitive personality, his love for people,
egotism, lack of a sense of propriety or proportion. His verse should
46 8-
be heard, not merely seen. His theory requires inclusive catalogues.
At his best he produced "Cradle," "Lilacs," "Pioneers," "Astronomer."
He was a strong individualist, "a curious compound of realist, mystic,
and egotist." He "greatly enlarged the sphere of American poetry."
7. Monahan, Michael. At the Sign of the Van. New York and London:
Mitchell Kennerley. "A Whitmanite," pp. 129-36.
W was a true joiner and emphasized belonging to the human race.
Humorous commentary on the Cosmic birth, with reference to Bucke. This
Fellowship perpetuates "the loving legacy of the world's Great Comrade."
8. Smith, Thomas Kile. Whitman's Leaves of Grass. Style and
Subject-Matter with Special Reference to Democratic Vistas.
Koenigsberg i. Pr., Druck von Karg und Manneck, 69 pp.
Emphasizes the close relation in W between speculative and
imaginative literature: Leaves puts into practice the ideas of Vistas
as a treatise on the relation of such dichotomies as mind and matter.
W's philosophical similarities to both Plato and Aristotle reveal him
as both idealist and scientist. W is set into his social and political
background. W portrays and reconciles the conscious and the
unconscious self, and the concepts of democracy (or aggregation) and
individualism (or separation). The thought-content of many specific
poems is discussed, with section-by-section discussion of such longer
poems as "Open Road" and "Broad-Axe." Other poems have a primarily
aesthetic emphasis, with beautiful diction and imagery; their figures
of speech are analyzed. Specific poems are examined to show W's
purposeful use of rhythm, regular and irregular, and figures of speech
(especially "Captain," "Ethiopia," "Pioneers," "Beat! Beat! Drums!,"
"Joy, Shipmate, Joy"). Other poems are examined for departures from
469
metrical mechanism or the "harmonious adaptation of the words to the
strong feeling permeating the verses." W's word-order and rhetorical
devices are also discussed.
9. Traubel, Horace. With Walt Whitman in Camden, II (November 1,
1888-January 20, 1889). New York: Mitchell Kennerley, 590 pp.
Continues 1908.11.
PERIODICALS
10. Bradsher, Earl L. "Walt Whitman and a Modem Problem." Sewanee
Review, 22 (January), 86-95.
W looked ahead to modern attitudes regarding the wholesomeness of
the body and the act of sex, treating them openly rather than by
innuendo like so many other writers. He even looks beyond the modern
view, seeing the spiritual aspect of sex, as Anne Gilchrist realized.
11. O'Leary, R. D. "Swift and Whitman as Exponents of Human Nature."
International Journal of Ethics, 24 (January), 183-201.
To Swift man was a detestable animal; W's contrasting view was
just as "incapable of being lived out," being perilously defiant of
convention. W's monism is contrasted with Swift's dualism. .W’s
concept of evil is as close to materialism as to idealism. W was a
"naturalist," not an "Emersonian." He has gone further than his
readers can follow; Leaves might lead them to Swift's philosophy.
12. +Anon. "A Message from Walt Whitman." Philadelphia North
American (20 January).
Presents W as "apostle of democracy" for those unfamiliar with
his work. Extensive quotations from Vistas show W's keen but
little-known analysis of the conditions and needs of democracy.
AXCLI
13. Traubel, Horace. "Walt Whitman on Paine." Truth Seeker, 1
(7 February), 83.
Reports W's address on Paine at Philadelphia meeting in 1877.
14. +Courtney, W. L. "Books of the Day. Walt Whitman." London
Daily Telegraph (18 February).
Describes W's excellences and defects (taste, ear, humor). His
ideas are often vague and occasionally indefensible. His individualist
democracy is not the democracy practiced in America. Yet W is a great
man, mostly by virtue of his war work and his personality in later
years. Favorable review of De Selincourt (1914.4).
15. Anon. "A Futurist of the Sixties." London Times Literary
Supplement (26 February), 97-98.
Reprinted: 1914.18.
Review of De Selincourt (1914.4) as "creative criticism," finding
more in W's work than is indeed there, for W often merely presents his
immediate response to the world without the completeness of a "more
discriminating poetry," a common characteristic of Impressionism. He
belongs also to Futurism, like such contemporary poets as Marinetti who
believe in an aggressive poetry. Most appealing in W are not his
strength and expansive qualities but rather "his pity and sorrow" and
faith in life, immortality, and the human spirit.
16. +Anon. "Walt Whitman's Chum Tells of Good Gray Poet— J. H.
Johnston, Who Recently Disposed of Former Editor's Picture to the
Eagle, Recalls Many Interesting Facts About the Life of the Famed
Writer." Brooklyn Daily Eagle (8 March).
Describes his relations with W and Leaves; various incidents.
17. T[raubel, H. L.]. "Walt Whitman." Conservator, 25 (April), 28-29
Review of De Selincourt (1914.4), which would have been better if
he had dealt directly with W and his life and avoided explication.
: ---------- 471
18. Anon. "A Futurist of the Sixties." Living Age, 281 (18 April),
175-80.
Reprint of 1914.15.
19. Scott, Dixon. "Walt Whitman." London Bookman, 46 (May), 81-85.
Reprinted; Scott, Men of Letters, 1923.
Review of De Selincourt (1914.4), who rightly treats W only as an
artist, avoiding the "free-and-easiness" with which writers feel they
must treat W. De Selincourt show the "perfect attitude for receiving
the full force and swing of the man's extraordinary powers," for W's
poems are "a final product of culture" rather than mere barbarism; W
struggled against established rhythms to produce his best music. An
Oriental quality is apparent in W's juxtapositions of the .general and
the precise, which renders the homeliest details significant. His
message of making "tbe individual feel momentous" is deeply stirring.
20. Carman, Bliss. "Whitman in Camden. Third Volume of a
Biographical Work That Will Apparently Take Forty or Fifty Years
to Complete." New York Times Saturday Review (14 June), 265.
Review of Traubel (1914.9), which is too vast, giving "an
immensely cumulative sense of the actual man" but also printing many
trivial things and giving undue emphasis to W's egotism. W displays
little knowledge or insightful criticism, little more than "an endless
prattle of personalities." But his work has liberating power and value
for English poetry.
21. Bicknell, Percy F. "An Aged Poet in His Daily Talk." Chicago
Dial, 56 (16 June), 493-94.
Review of Traubel (1906.15, 1914.9), accurate biography but rather
disjointed, with occasional "flashes of truth and gleams of beauty and
poetry." Traubel*s portrait of W is "richly human," "pathetic."
472
22. Bredvold, Louis I. "An English Study of Walt Whitman." Chicago
Dial, 57 (1 July), 17-18.
Review of De Selincourt (1914.4), which answers a need in W
criticism, placing W in relation with the past and estimating his
significance for the future. "The poetic value of his work is
secondary to its thought." Without his rough lines W would lose his
power; the "grotesque and ugly" are needed to show his "undiscriminating
sympathy." Spiritual growth is important to W for building a strong
democracy.
23. Anon. "Impromptu Confabs." Nation, 99 (23 July), 107-108.
Review of De Selincourt (1914.4), "which will please nobody,"
dealing half with sex, half with form. Its explanations do not explain
for W's forms are so flexible that they can hardly be said to exist.
A22.
1915
BOOKS
1. Bennett, Arnold. These Twain. New York: George H. Doran Co.,
pp. 91-93.
Reading "Myself" 32 shows two lovers that they have a common bond
through their love for "the same varied forms of beauty."
2. Benson, Arthur Christopher. Escape and Other Essays. New York:
Century Co. "Walt Whitman," pp. 63-88.
W is unique in trying to reveal himself with less reserve than any
other human being, a program worthy of amazement and respect. He
emphasized the harmonious cooperation of body and soul. Although "his
form constantly collapses" and he has "ugly mannerisms" and some coarse
and obscene passages, there are yet "countless passages of true and
vital beauty" and "a magical thrill of passion." "Cradle" has
"atmosphere and suggestiveness." "Lilacs" is "among the very greatest
poems of the world." Both prove that the law of art "lies close to the
instinct of suppression and omission," which W did not always heed.
3. Binns, Henry Bryan. Walt Whitman and His Poetry. London: George
G. Harrap & Co., Poetry and Life Series, 168 pp. No index or notes.
An "attempt to give an introduction only, a first not a final view.'
Significant poems or excerpts are printed and then analyzed within
appropriate chronological context to show the influence of W's life on
his poetry. His meaning is difficult to understand not because of
"inadequacy of expression" but because of complexity of theme, his
invigorating personality and an America transcending the "existent
____________ A2A.
nation." The 1855 Preface proves him "a master of words" although he’
could only offer a start toward his poetic program for America.
"Myself" (summarized) is "symbolical rather than realistic." W's
self-complacence is regrettable. He most nobly fulfills his function
when he expresses his inner realization, not merely abandoning himself
to nature. Comradeship is his "prerequisite of social freedom." His
hospital work provided needed discipline. "Lilacs" and "Cradle" are
compared, as W's "most melodious achievements." His later work has a
"less aggressive, more restrained tone," with a subsequent lapse of
inspiration. Specimen is W "at his mellowest, most spontaneous and
most human," "with a quiet, wistful humor." Much of W's work will
endure because it urges readers in the direction of human evolution.
4. Brooks, Van Wyck. America1s Coming-of-Age. New York: B. W.
Huebsch. "The Precipitant," pp. 109-29; 11, 39, 99-100, 134, 182.
Reprinted, condensed: Brooks, Three Essays, 1934.
W was the first writer to give "the sense of something organic in
American life." He is oriented to action and the whole personality. W
is "an old-fashioned Jacksonian democrat" in ideas, with the right
instincts but lacking a strong intellectual development. The true
Whitmanian tradition is not mere affirmation of all that is American.
5. Dart, William Kernan. "Walt Whitman in New Orleans." In
Publications, Louisiana Historical Society, Vol. 7, pp. 97-112.
Speculates on W's "vagabond life," describes his New Orleans
experiences and journalism, which reveal little of importance but
provide an interesting link in the chain of his life.
425J
6. Elliot, Charles N., ed. Walt Whitman as Man, Poet and Friend:
Being Autograph Pages from Many Pens. Boston: Richard G. Badger,
257 pp.
Introduction explains his purpose of presenting in manuscript
facsimile "anecdotes, reminiscences, or tributes to Whitman's memory"
from those who knew him or wrote notably about him. The responses,
presented in alphabetical order, bear dates from the 1890's to 1915.
Elliot writes of W's "intrinsic manhood" and universally loving heart.
Attempts to compile a companion volume of the reminiscences of ordinary
men such as veterans and bus-drivers "have netted but meagre results."
Some portraits and facsimiles. The following list of contributors
annotates only those items which are more than simple appreciative
notes or material published elsewhere: Bazalgette (in French), Binns,
Brinton (describes W's conversation), Bucke (describes W's personality)-
Burroughs (his last visit to W)., Ellen Calder, Andrew Carnegie, Edward
Carpenter, Dowden (rejections of his article, 1871.4), Doyle, Annie
Fields, Garland, Jeannette L. Gilder, R. W. Gilder, Harned, John Hay,
Howells, Hubbard, John Newton Johnson (this Southern farmer recalls his
visit to W), Dr. J. Johnston, Alma Calder Johnston (revised: 1917.33),
J. H. Johnston (extensive reminiscences incorporating much of 1908.12,
rewording Lowell's response to W's Lincoln lecture; the background to
Ingersoll's two addresses on W; reminiscences of Charles A. Dana, Edwin
Arnold, Burroughs, Bucke, all in relation to W), Kennedy (on opinions
of Trowbridge regarding W's pre- and post-war work), Mabie, David
McKay (W's entire disregard for criticism), Laurens Maynard, Joaquin
Miller (mostly illegible account of W at the Philadelphia Centennial
Fair), Perry, Platt, Whitelaw Reid (recalls knowing W in Washington and
___________________________________________________________________________476
later), Theodore Roosevelt ("Of all the poets of the nineteenth
century Whitman was the only one who dared use the bowery— that is, use
anything that was strikingly vividly typical of the humanity around
him— as Dante used the ordinary humanity of his day."), Rossetti
(written at age 85), Saunders, Stedman, Traubel, Triggs, A. E. and
W. H. Trimble, Trowbridge, Charles Dudley Warner.
7. Ellis, Havelock. Studies in the Psychology of Sex, Vol. 2:
Sexual Inversion. Third Edition. Philadelphia: F. A. Davis Co.,
pp. 51-57, 339.
Revision of 1901.3.
Additions discuss the background of W's letter to Symonds as
published in Traubel (1906.15), and the psychological motivations for
his eventual response. Bertz and Rivers have over-estimated W's
feminine traits.
8. Huneker, James. Ivory Apes and Peacocks. New York: Charles
Scribner's Sons. "A Visit to Walt Whitman," pp. 22-31.
Compares W with Wagner. Recalls 1877 visit to Camden, "the immense
impression" made by W the man, who suggested "a feminine soul in a
masculine envelope." W had a poor reputation in Philadelphia, but his
treatment of sex does not represent his true character. The "Adam"
poems leave one cold, for W put more of his spirit into "Calamus," "the
bible of the third sex." Despite flaws, his poetry displays his
"extraordinary sensitiveness to the sense of touch" and his skill at
conveying atmosphere. He does not really represent America. He took
the easy way in rejecting blank verse, but if he had not, we should
have missed his true "salty tang."
477
9. Kellner, Leon. American Literature. Translated from the German by
Julia Franklin. Garden City, N. Y.: Doubleday, Page and Co. "The
Subjective Writers: The Primitives: Whitman," pp. 99-116.
W carried the revolt against tradition further than his fellow
nonconformists Emerson and Thoreau. His language is not poetical, his
rhythm only occasionally musical, but his treatment of standard poetic
subjects (love, patriotism) is distinctive, as his astonishment at
everyday things also is. His self-absorption is wrongly regarded as
repellent, his frankness misinterpreted as immorality. His style is
traced back to the Psalms. His influence is over-estimated.
10. Masters, Edgar Lee. Spoon River Anthology. New York: Macmillan
and Co. "Petit, the Poet," p. 78.
Poem. Petit wrote "little iambics,/ While Homer and Whitman
roared in the pines."
11. Pace, Roy Bennett. American Literature. Boston: Allyn and Bacon.
"Walt Whitman," pp. 244-51.
W is unique but his place is still not fixed. Sketch of his life
is given to help clarify his accomplishment. Present criticism has
become not so negative on his egotism, catalogues, comradeship.
12. Pattee, Fred Lewis. A History of American Literature Since 1870.
New York: Century Co. "Walt Whitman," pp. 163-85; passim per
index.
The current inadequate text of W should be replaced by one "with
variorum readings and chronological arrangement" to reveal his poetic
development and the limitation of his condemned aspects to one brief
period. His impetus came from Transcendentalism, his vigor, passion,
and incoherence from his lack of learning. He gives "the first all
American thrill in our literature." His style was a spontaneous
478
discovery rather than "studied revolt." From his earlier physical
emphasis W became "the most positive singer of the human soul in the
whole range of English literature," becoming "more metric with every
edition." His verse form may. be unique to himself but his influence
has been felt through "his realism," "concrete pictures," "swing and
freedom," Americanism, "insistence upon message, ethic purpose,
absolute fidelity to the here and now rather than to books of the past.'
13. Powys, John Cowper. Visions and Revisions. New York: G. Arnold
Shaw; London: William Rider & Son. "Walt Whitman," pp. 281-89.
Reprinted: Miller.
W's genius for sheer poetry has been slighted. His catalogues
provide a background full of life. His optimism is less irritating
than Browning's. His work, expressing himself, is superior to modern
free verse, whose poets all "write alike." W expresses "the magical
ugliness of certain aspects of Nature," the agony of love ("Cradle").
14. Traubel, Horace. With Walt Whitman in Camden (March 28-July 14,
1888). New York: Mitchell Kennerley, 473 pp.
Reprint of 1906.15.
PERIODICALS
15. Bullen, Henry Lewis. "Biographies of Famous Printers. No. 6—
Walt Whitman, 'The Good Gray Poet.'" American Bulletin, American
Type Founders Co., NS 4 (January), 5-7. 1876 photograph.
Admiring biographical sketch drawn from W's own version, noting
especially his printing experiences. W's works, which "require much
re-reading and pondering," are "intended to open minds narrowed by
class blindness, and to reinstate the principles of elementary
justice, equality and brotherhood."
479
16. Erskine, John. "With Walt Whitman in Camden." Yale Review, 4
(January), 415-20.
Review of Traubel (1914.9), which provides excellent commentary on
W's poetry and insight into his personality. W "is the truest and most
insistent expounder of American democracy," never confusing "the issue
between humanity and the more selfish kinds of culture." The book's
length is justifiable for the sake of veracity. W's conversation may
occasionally offend some, but it is honest, showing keen intellect.
17. Jones, P. M. "Whitman in France." Modem Language Review,
10 (January), 1-27.
W and the Symbolists developed separately but along similar lines.
Vers libre was not indebted to W, although he now inspires the younger
French poets. His thought is embraced by common people and radicals.
W's first translators and critics are discussed? W is seen as a
primitive, spontaneously expressing his singular nature. His later
poems may reveal a debt to Poe. List of translations and studies in
French.
18. Scheffauer, Herman. "Whitman in Whitman's Land." Fortnightly
Review, NS 97 (1 January), 128-37.
Reprinted: 1915.19.
W is the property of a cult in America, but vital and controversial
in Germany and France. His kind of democracy no longer exists. His is
"a poetry for free spirits," unlike his contemporaries or ours (the
industrially oppressed). His kind of socialism, robust and human,
contrasts with today's primarily economic version. The modern world's
"universal assertion of individuality" prevents the achievement of a
great Personality such as W insisted on.
; __________ 480
19. Scheffauer, Herman. "Whitman in Whitman's Land." North
American Review, 201 (15 February), 206-16.
Reprint of 1915.18.
20. +Anon. "Great Poets' Lines Mark Fair Arches." San Francisco
Examiner (21 February).
Garnett Porter explains the W quotation (opening lines of "Facing
West from California's Shores") chosen to represent America on one of
the arches for the Exposition: the poet is embodying the westward-
looking Aryan race. W "above all others represents the spirit of the
American people and the ideals of democracy."
21. [De la Mare, Walter]. "Drum-Taps." London Times Literary
Supplement (1 April), 105-106.
Vistas remains applicable to the present war. W emphasized the
dignity of the common people, confidence, joy in life. Imaginary,
depiction of W defending what he writes and ministering to soldiers.
With his theme being all of life, W often does not focus experience
but "merely transmits it," yet his verse is always full of "things."
Occasionally W forces a moral in the otherwise excellent "Drum-Taps,"
rhyme seems a stumbling block in "Captain," but "Lilacs" is W's best.
22. Santayana, George. "Genteel American Poetry." New Republic,
3 (29 May), 94-95.
From the conventional poetry of the nineteenth century, only W
rebelled. To the detriment of enervated contemporary American poetry,
his way did not take root, possibly because he "renounced old forms
without achieving a .new one," failing to consider the worth of the past.
23. +S[mythe], A E. "Crusts and Crumbs." Toronto Sunday World
(30 May).
___________________________________________________________________________ 4PU
When the war is over, people may listen to W's sane and profound
message: W sees the real world, the real potential behind the actual,
like Plato. His poetry is not for mere intellectuality, but speaks to
the human heart, in a deeper way than the conventional. For an
introduction, read in order: "Open Road," "Answerer," "Rolling Earth,"
"Universal," "Passage," "To Think of Time," "So Long."
24. Hervey, John L. "The Growth of the Whitman '.Legend.'" Chicago
Dial, 59 (June), 12-14.
Letter complaining about the false information conveyed at the
Chicago Fellowship meeting. The legend of W's life is growing
inordinately; his "fans" seem to be ignoring Leaves itself.
25. Moore, Aubertine Woodward. "Walt Whitman's Vision of America
Singing— The Poet as Prophet of His Country's Future Greatness in
the Art of Music— His Call for 'A Higher Strain Than Any Yet'—
'New Rhythms' -Needed to Convey America's Mighty Message."
Musical America, 22 (12 June), 31. Illustrated.
W had "an abiding faith in the future magnificent intellectual and
spiritual output" of his country, seeking new forms for America's
message. W's ideas about music are expressed through quotations.
26. Dell, Floyd. "Walt Whitman, Anti-Socialist." New Review,
3 (15 June), 85-86.
In contrast to the Socialist movement's reliance on intelligence,
W believes in instinct and the senses (including those of sex and
religion). His rejection of worry would be fatal to the Socialist.
Yet Socialists should continue to read his "magnificent lines" as a
means of experiencing and recognizing our instincts and emotions.
27. T[raubel;,H. L.j. "Walt Whitman and His Poetry." Conservator,
26 (July), 72-73.
482
Review of Binns (1915.3), who makes too many deductions, in
contrast to Traubel*s own inclusiveness, here defended.
28. Traubel, Horace. "With Walt Whitman in Camden." Forum, 54 (July)
77-85.
Pre-publication extracts of Vol. 4 (not published until 1953).
Continued 1915.31.
29. +[Hartt, George]. Review of Traubel (1914.9). Passaic Daily News
(16 July).
Reprinted: 1915.32.
Traubel's way is excellent for getting W himself down in print.
Several extracts show W "an accomplished and learned critic of
literature." W seems to have lived the life he preached, speaking
frequently of his philosophic themes but rarely mentioning Leaves.
30. Chambers, Julius. "Was Walt Whitman a Baconian?" Conservator,
26 (August), 86-87.
Reprinted from Brooklyn Daily Eagle (unlocated). Summarizes W's
comments on Shakespeare as reported by Traubel; as a regular visitor to
W, testifies to the authenticity of Traubel's reporting.
31. Traubel, Horace. "With Walt Whitman in Camden." For tom,
54 (August), 187-99.
Continues 1915.28; concluded 1915.33.
32. Hartt, George. "With Walt Whitman in Camden." Conservatory
26 (September), 102-103.
Reprint of 1915.29.
33. Traubel, Horace. "With Walt Whitman in Camden." Forum, 54
(September), 318-27.
Concludes 1915.31.
34. +De Casseres, Benjamin. "From a Far Away Hippodrome." New York
Call (12 September).
-------------------------------------------- 483
Significant men from the past are imagined as looking at the war
in Europe. W calls out to his "boys" in the trenches, loving them all;
they are what is truly important about the war, whatever their nation.
35. Holloway, R. Emory. "Walt Whitman in New Orleans." Yale Review,
NS 5 (October), 166-83.
Relates W's experiences in New Orleans, including his brush with
sexual escapade. Quotations from his contributions to the Crescent
suggest his future themes. "The significance of the journey was mental
and spiritual rather than artistic"' W gained "a new vision of the
wealth and destiny of the Union" and perhaps awareness of sex.
36. Holloway, R. Emory. "The Early Writings of Walt Whitman."
Nation, 101 (14 October), 463.
Announces his discovery of publishings by W from the 1840's; asks
for others that may be known, in preparation for his study of early W.
37. Robins, Edward. "How Walt Whitman Looked to One Who Met Him Once.'
Philadelphia Public Ledger (7 November), II, 5.
Recalls meeting W in Philadelphia in the early 1880's, in the
company of his uncle Charles G. Leland and his sister (later Elizabeth
Pennell). W is described, always a poseur, suggesting King Lear. W is
quoted in response to a recent article of negative criticism. Wilde's
visit to Leland shortly after visiting W is recalled. Wilde and W were
different in all but their mastery of English and the art of dressing.
38. +Anon. "Walt Whitman's Americans." Philadelphia Public Ledger
(19 November).
Editorial on W's Americanism7which emphasized the brotherhood of
human beings, not of a certain type of people, as implied in the
account of the sale of his birthplace which mourned "the fast-vanishing
American farmers." W would accept new-style farmers too.
484 .
1916
BOOKS
1. Carpenter, Edward. My Days and Dreams: Being Autobiographical
Notes. London: George Allen & Unwin, pp. 28, 30, 64-67, 86-89,
117-19, 144, 201, 250.
Recollection of his early joyous response to W's work, W's
treatment of sex, poems of comradeship. Leaves had an intellectual
effect before re-shaping Carpenter's "moral and artistic ideals." The
personality behind it became more significant than ideas. Brief
description of his first visit to America, quoting Emerson and Holmes
on W; his second visit; the Bolton group of W's admirers.
2. Ferguson, John DeLancey. American Literature in Spain. New York:
Columbia University Press. "Prescott, Emerson, Whitman," pp.
170-201; 241.
W is more talked about than read in Spain. Description with
quotation of the various Spanish studies and translations of W.
3. Fitch, George Hamlin. Great Spiritual Writers of America.
San Francisco: Paul Elder and Co. "Walt Whitman, The Prophet in
His Shirt-Sleeves," pp. 12-20.
W is the most original of American authors, a product of America,
self-educated (his development being "one of the curiosities of
literature"), mystical. Leaves' is shown to correspond with W's life.
W is revealed most personally in Drum-Taps and Specimen.
4. Gilder, Rosamond, ed. Letters of Richard Watson Gilder. Boston
and New York: Houghton Mifflin Co., pp. 66, 92, 137—38, 186,
403-404, 408-13.
485
Gilder's letters explain that his "When the True Poet Comes" was
not written about W; praise W for his sense of form and beauty, perhaps
unconsciously absorbed but present in his great work, if not in his
ranting theorizing; critically analyze what W does in his verse. For
the reader, W "sets his whole being tingling." Warm recollections of
W's character.
5. Legler, Henry Eduard. Walt Whitman; Yesterday and Today. Chicago:
Brothers of the Book, 71 pp. No index.
Traces briefly W's career and reputation, quoting from many early
negative and some positive reviews, noting his major biographers and
commentators. Leaves is "an extraordinarily-candid" autobiography,
revealing W's gentleness, brusqueness, egotism, humility, grossness,
finer nature, crudeness, eloquence, as "the attributes of all mankind."
Ends with art anthology of many poems to W (reprinted from many places).
6. Nadal, B. H. Friendship and Other Poems. New York: Robert J.
Shores. "The Blizzard— September 13, 1916. From Shark River
Anthology. A Horrible Example— A Long Way after Whitman and
Masters," pp. 39-41.
Reprinted: Saunders.
Parody.
7. Pound, Ezra. Lustra.K- London: Elkin Mathews. "A Pact," p. 17.
Poem making a pact with W after detesting him long enough.
8. Powys, John Cowper. One Hundred Best Books. New York: G. Arnold
Shaw, p. 27.
Explains impressionistically the inclusion of W's "complete
unexpurgated edition" in this list: for his style and his "power of
restoring us to courage and joy."
486
9. Randall, John Herman. The Life of Reality. New York: Dodge
Publishing Co., pp. 13, 148, 153, 169-73, 339-40, 361-62.
Discusses W as a new type of mystic declaring "the nothingness of
evil as such, the righteousness of the flesh and the holiness of love."
10. Rankin, Henry B. Personal Recollections of Abraham Lincoln.
New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons, pp. 124-27.
’ Reprinted: 1916.27; Hindus.
Recalls Lincoln reading aloud passages from Leaves in his law
office, presumably about 1857. He "commended the new poet's verses for
their virility, freshness, unconventional sentiments, and unique forms
of expression, and claimed that Whitman gave promise of a new school of
poetry."
11. Russell, Bertrand. Principles of Social Reconstruction. London:
George Allen & Unwin,, pp. 35-36.
Reprinted; 1917.36.
Contrasts Carlyle's repugnance to almost the whole human race with
W's instinctive liking for the vast majority of men and women upon
which his philosophy was based. "A world of Walt Whitmans would be
happier and more capable of realizing its purposes than a world of
Carlyles."
12. Sarkar, Benoy Kumar. Love in Hindu Literature. Tokyo: Maruzen
Co., pp. 4, 62-64, 65, 71, 86.
Minor references note W's similarities to Hindu and Western poets
in dealing with love and sex.
13. Strong, Augustus Hopkins. American Poets and Their Theology.
Philadelphia: Judson Press. "Walt Whitman," pp. 419-70.
W is judged from the points of view of art, morality, and religion
(from the standard of "the evangelical faith," "modified Calvinism").
487
W wrote "an infantile and undeveloped kind of poetry." The
biographical sketch, based on Carpenter (1909.1), emphasizes W's
indifference to education and discipline. His philosophic sources were
Quakerism and Emerson. W failed to realize that art copies not merely
nature, but the higher nature. His best works are most traditional;
otherwise his "naked individualism" corrupted his art. His life was
generally immoral. A Camden pastor's letter is quoted deploring W's
assumed influence in that town. His idea of democracy is anarchy. His
religion "of affectionate comradeship" replaced God with materialistic
ideas. His "transient visitations of insight and of conscience"
reflected some musical influence and an "instinct of immortality," but
he remains "a poet in the lower realms of poetry." His failure to
organize his material into pleasing form is the "necessary outcome of
a godless philosophy and a godless life."
14. Walling, William English. Whitman and Traubel. New York: Albert
and Charles Boni, 145 pp. "Walt Whitman," pp. 1-38; also passim.
No index.
Discusses W's philosophy in preparation for showing how Traubel
develops and diverges from it. Emphasizes interdependence of W's
poetry and democratic stance, here explained as still relevant. W's
Americanism is not provincial or simply nationalistic. He could have
been more radical and Socialistic, but he generally regarded individual
regeneration as the means to solving social problems. He is "almost a
believer in the great man theory." He recognized material
considerations but underplayed economics and failed to realize the
incongruities Of his metaphysical idealism with his social awareness.
______________ 4 . 8J 3_
15. Watts-Dunton, Theodore. Poetry and the Renascence of Wonder.
New York: E. P. Dutton & Co., n. d., pp. 69-70, 201-202.
Leaves, "Proverbial Philosophy," "The Lily and the Bee" are mere
caricatures of Bible rhythm. W's mixture of Bible phraseology with the
jargon of the slums and "bad Spanish and worse French" is a sacrilege,
although one would like to sympathize with his innovations. His
"marvellous pages," however, are "a comfort" after the highly
artificial forms of poets of the 1880's.
PERIODICALS
16. Dunlop, Elinor. "Walt Whitman and the American Civil War,
1861-1864." Bibby’s Annual, pp. 11-12.
Popularized, slightly inaccurate version of W ’s life from 1855.
"Open Road" is "vibrant throughout with the consciousness of the divine
destiny of the human race." W's outlook on life made him "a natural
nurse" who could convince of "the soul's endurance" by his presence.
17. Bradford, Gamaliel. "Portraits of American Authors: II— Walt
Whitman." New York Bookman, 42 (January), 533-48.
Reprinted: Bradford, Biography and the Human Heart, 1932.
W's proclaimed break from tradition is itself traditional of
"strong, rising authors." His literary consciousness is greater than
generally assumed. Women dislike W not for making sex too prominent
but for not making it prominent enough. Longfellow is more truly the
poet of democracy, with his spirit of aspiration, rather than W's
contentment with the present. W is praised as a man, with his vigor,
beautiful male friendships, warm humor, positive and acceptable
egotism. His book is needed by the heart of man "because it contains
all the heart of man."
............. 489_
18. T[raubel, H. L.]. "Drum-Taps." Conservator, 26 (January), 171.
Review of London edition of Drum-Taps, great war poems because
they are great peaoe and comrade poems. W's work should not be
construed as supporting war or mere nationalism; his America was "a
universalized America." W would approve the recent non-resistant
attitude.
19. Kilmer, Joyce. "Free Verse Hampers Poets and Is Undemocratic—
Josephine Preston Peabody Says That Nevertheless, the War Is
Making Poetry Less Exclusive and the Imagiste Cult Will Be Swept
Away." New York Times Magazine (23 January), 14.
In this interview, Kilmer suggests W as the most democratic poet
of his day, but Peabody calls him "a democrat in principle, but not in
poetic practice," for his general lack of music limited his audience.
20. Oppenheim, James. "Democracy in Verse and Art-— James Oppenheim
Disagrees with Some of the Views Expressed by Josephine Preston
Peabody and Pleads for Every Form of Expression." New York Times
(30 January), III, 1.
Response to 1916.19, defending free verse and W, who found his
medium best suited to his needs. His influence and acceptance are
growing. There is a dominant undercurrent of rhythm in his verse.
21. Holloway, R. Emory. "Early Poems of Walt Whitman." Nation,
102 (10 February), Supplement, 15.
W's biographers have neglected his early work, which shows germs
of his later themes in several poems cited.
22. Jones, P. M. "Influence of Walt Whitman on the Origin of the
'Verse Libre.'" Modern Language Review, 11 (April), 186-94.
The French development of vers libre was not indebted to W; the
- • i" " " ■ '
French poets are different from W in spirit, thought, and form. The
first definite influence of W on French literature came through the
------------- 4 - 9 - 0 -
Belgian poets, especially in the use of catalogues. W's principal
appeal lay in "his brusque originality."
23. C D-Over], S. T. "Browsings in an 014 Book Shop." Los Angeles
Graphic, 49 (1 April), 2.
Discussion of Drum-Taps as revealing W's universal sympathy,
praising especially "Pioneers," "Captain," "Dirge." "His vignettes are
admirable in their sharpness, their fidelity to detail" (e. g.
"Bivouac"). Vers librists are indebted to W, whose "total disregard
for form" was "the inevitable expression of his character."
24. Banning, George Hugh. "To Walt Whitman." Los Angeles Graphic,
49 (8 April), 2.
Poem of praise in five rhymed quatrains.
25. Holloway, R. Emory. "Some Recently Discovered Poems by Walt
Whitman." Chicago Dial, 60 (13 April), 369-70.
Revised: 1916.40.
Announces significant discovery of early poems in Long Island
Democrat and Brooklyn Daily Eagle, identified as W's. They display a
"meditative, if not morbid" tone, on death and the vanity of life.
26. Karsner, David Fulton. "Whitman and Traubel." Conservator,
27 (May), 38-39.
Favorable review of Walling (1916.14) from Wilmington (Delaware)
Morning News (unlocated). Walling's approach to W through social
philosophy and economics is new, revealing W as "an idealist in
theory and an individualist in fact." But W's intellectual bulk and
vital poetic expression are not intended for intricate theorizing.
Traubel's Optimos is more conclusive than Leaves and "charged with the
electric spirit of modernism," a guide to the future.
_____________ . __________________________________________________________ 491 .
27. Rankin, Henry B. "Lincoln and Leaves of Grass." Conservator,
27 (May), 40-41.
Reprint of 1916.10.
28. +Brown, Prof. J. Macmillan. "Shakespeare the Man. A Day with
Walt Whitman." Christchurch (New Zealand) Weekly Press (3 May).
Recalls visiting W "some thirty years ago" and discussing with him
the controversy over the authorship of Shakespeare. W's arguments for
Bacon's authorship (quoted) merely lead into discussion of Shakespeare.
29. Kilmer, Joyce. "City Bad for Writers, Says John Burroughs—
Distinguished Author and Naturalist Thinks That Literature Cannot
Be Produced Where There Is No Atmosphere of Repose." New York
Times Magazine (21 May), 16.
In this interview Burroughs notes W's "country method" of writing
about the city, his love for its people; W's appeal for the younger
poets, although except for Frost, they suggest W in little but their
form; changes in literary people's opinions of W.
30. +Karsner, David Fulton. "Keeping Whitman's Memory Green." New
York Evening Post (27 May), Book Section, pp. 1, 6.
Focuses on Traubel as exemplar of W's democratic spirit.
31. Traubel, H. L. "Walt Whitman as Man Poet and Friend."
Conservator, 27 (June), 60-61.
Review of Elliot (1915.6). Recalls gathering of friends after
W's funeral. W needs to be regarded less as a god, more as a man.
32. "Whitman's Birthday." Conservator, 27 (June), 54-57.
Quotations on W from letters and articles: Bazalgette, Saunders,
F. H. Williams, Witter Bynner (brief free-verse poem), William Hawley
Smith, Traubel, Terre Haute Tribune (W seems to dominate all the poets
of our land yet he is little known by the student or the general
_______________________492
reader), Chicago Evening Post (noting the religious attitude of the
Fellowship), Peoria Journal (describes talks at’ Peoria's W meeting,
including those of the William Hawley Smiths-) , New York Tribune (W
should be recognized by the common people for his timely messages and
poems, giving the spirit of America its most perfect expression).
33. +Smythe, A. E. "Crusts and Crumbs." Toronto Sunday World
(4 June).
Inauguration of a W Fellowship in Toronto indicates Canada's
growing interest in W. W begins with the self, but only as we all must
begin with ourselves. We find ourselves in Leaves. Discussion of
various dualities in W, his inclusion of both philosophy and emotion.
The ordinary reader need not concern himself with W's occult side.
34. Boynton, Percy H. "Whitman's Idea of the State." New Republic,
7 (10 June), 139-41.
The America that W loved and extolled was a community rather than
a government. He embraced healthy, actually spiritual, not merely
material aspiration. His idea of the state, though "fragmentary and
inarticulate," is "hope-inspiring" and sound.
35. Monahan, Michael. "Smothering Walt." Conservator, 27
(July-August), 70.
Reprinted: Nemesis, by Monahan, 1926.
Reprinted from Phoenix (unlocated). All the material by Traubel
has almost buried W and killed off the chance of a fitting legend for
him, for he is seen as failing utterly to live up to the Leaves.
36. Rittenhouse, Jessie B. "Love as a Dominant Theme in Poetry."
Forum, 56 (September), 347-48,
W "razed the Gothic structure of Romanticism" along with "the
purely personal and romantic conception of love,” which he seems not
_____________, __________________________________________________________AQ
to have known. He gives man a wider freedom through his dominating
democratic note which prepared America for Markham's "Man with the
Hoe. "
37. Yarmolinsky, Avraham, "The Russian View of American Literature."
New York Bookman, 44 (September), 45-46.
W's popularity in Russia is growing due to Balmont's translation.
Explanation of the different aspects of W praised by Russian critics.
Balmont's essay "Polarity" is quoted on W as representative of a
positive movement to cosmic egotism and to Democracy.
38. Holloway, R. Emory. "Walt Whitman’s History of Brooklyn Just
Found— 'Personal Chronicles and Gossip,' as Poet Calls Them,
Were Written Long Before He Achieved Distinction in the Literary
World." New York Times Magazine (17 September), 14-15.
Discusses and quotes W's "Brooklyniana" sketches from the
Brooklyn Standard (1861-62), of greater personal than historical value.
39. Foerster, Norman. "Whitman as a Poet of Nature." Publications
of the Modern Language Association, 31 (Fourth Quarter), 736-58.
Revised: Foerster, Nature in American Literature, 1923.
W's romanticism is without the constraints of Puritanism and
embraces the whole of America. W generally makes only vague references
to flora and fauna, being most interested in birds and the sea. His
"unusual sensuous receptivity" resulted in his mystic experience. W's
senses, except for taste, were abnormally acute, as seen in his poetry.
That love was the unifying force in the universe was vouched for by his
senses. But his excessive faith in his senses prevented his actually
reaching spirituality.
40. Holloway, R. Emory. "Early Poems of Walt Whitman," Nation,
103 (21 December), Supplement, 5-6.
Reprint with minor revision of 1916.25.
__________________________________494
1917
BOOKS
1. Brown, William Thurston. Walt Whitman: Poet of the Human Whole.
Portland, Oregon: Modern School, n. d., 32 pp. Pamphlet.
Reprinted in part: 1919.19.
Emerson recognized in W "something higher and greater than himself"
(reprint of 1855.7). w's poetry is exhilarating; his ideas were
revolutionary. Some of his lines have a rhythm and power unsurpassed
by other poets, in a form appropriate for singing "the whole of
humanity" as no other poet has done. He seeks freedom and knowledge
regarding sex, denying dualism. His use of the first person "enfolds
the whole universe." Anyone who has been transfigured by a human love
will respond to W and find none of him impure. His greatness as a poet
is not individual but rather "the inherent greatness of the common
man." One finds oneself in W, in whom all sects vanish.
2. Carpenter, Edward. lolaus: An Anthology of Friendship. New York:
Mitchell Kennerley, pp. 188-92.
Reprint of 1902.5.
3. Gosse, Edmund. The Life of Algernon Charles Swinburne. New York:
Macmillan Co., pp. 94-95, 162, 243, 276.
Describes Swinburne's first acquaintance with Leaves; quotes
letters praising W's verse. His shift in "Whitmania" (1887.18)
indicates "the slow tyranny exercised on Swinburne's judgment by the
will of Watts."
4. Johnston, John, and J. W. Wallace. Visits to Walt Whitman in
1890-1891 by Two Lancashire Friends. London: George Allen &
Unwin, 279 pp. Index. Illustrated.
495
"Walt Whitman's Friends in Lancashire" (Wallace): Explains how the
group began reading W in the late 1880's; their correspondence with W.
"Notes of Visit to Walt Whitman in July, 1890" (Johnston):
Reprint of 1898.9, with minor deletions and revision of "Supplementary
Notes."
"Visits to Walt Whitman and His Friends, Etc., in 1891" (Wallace):
Describes September and October visits to Camden, to W scenes on Long
Island, to Herbert Gilchrist and Andrew Rome, who returns with Wallace
to Camden to see W. Quotes conversation with W on his book, the
Gilchrists, America, Hicks, Doyle, Washington days, opera, friends,
Carlyle, negroes. Visit with the Staffords; their reminiscences of W.
Description of W's personality, a new type, combining the best values
of tradition and culture with new values of the average workers.
"Whitman's Last Illness and Final Messages" (Wallace): Reprinted
from 1893.4.
"Copies of Letters and Post-cards from Walt Whitman to J.
Johnston and J. W. Wallace": From May 1887 to February 1892.
5. Lanux, Pierre de. Young France and New America. New York:
Macmillan Co., pp. 116-25; also passim, per index.
Reprinted in part: 1917.25; 1917.34; 1919.24.
Young France has absorbed from W his spirit and the breadth of
modern life, not merely "a new resource in rhythm or melody," although
some poets use a verse similar to his. The soldiers read "Drum-Taps."
6. Martin, G. Currie. Poets of the Democracy. London: Headley Bros.
Publishers. "Walt Whitman, 'The Good Grey Poet,'" pp. 75-82.
Recalls his own introduction to W's poetry. Cites particular poems
as revealing his verse's melody and power, some being among "the most
496
musical of all human songs." Compares "Passage" and "Myself" 6 with
Tennyson poems. W's war poems have messages for today of hope and
comradeship. He always urges us "to more heroic effort." W's poetry
excludes nothing that is human. It is accessible because all can
understand its language, and his messages are full of love.
7. Watson, William. Pencraft: A Plea for the Older Ways. London and
New York: John Lane, pp. 32-34.
Although demanding to be considered "as the natural man addressing
the natural man," W reached only a "literary audience," providing "a
novel stimulus for the jaded literary palates." Americans generally
saw through "his truly magnificent pose." Swinburne's defection is
explained.
8. Wyatt, Edith. Great Companions. New York and London: D.
Appleton and Co. "With Walt Whitman in Camden, Volume III,"
pp. 158-76.
Review of Traubel (1914.9), who genuinely expresses W and his sense
of the dignity of life and its merging with death, although he
overemphasizes W's opinions, "of so much less value than his nature."
W is honest but not completely candid, for he lacks "the passion for
absolute clarity, for directness." He had little interest in women.
The music of his speech as a poet and of his existence as a man are
almost inseparable, with buoyancy and happiness in his soul to the end.
PERIODICALS
9. Moore, John Robert. "Walt Whitman: a Study in Brief." Sewanee
Review, 25 (January), 80-92.
Relates W's life to his poetry; his sensitivity, passivity,
inability to understand or be understood by the American people because
______________________________________________ 497
of his many differences from them. His conception of poetical
experience was false; he has the very faults he attributed to art (lack
of definiteness, excess). But he has "something transcendent": "the
splendid exultation of his manhood, the serene content of his old age,"
his mystical experience. His works have "a subtle unity and
interdependence." Groups favor him for different reasons.
10. Anon. "Pests of the Metropolitan. After Walt Whitman." New York
Sun (8 January).
Reprinted: Saunders.
Parody on opera audiences in Whitmanesque lines, style.
11. Pratt, Julius W. "Whitman and Masters: A Contrast." South
Atlantic Quarterly, 16 (April), 155-58.
Contrasts their free-verse lines, their moods (appropriate for
their times). Masters is more objective, while W was "interested
primarily in himself" where he found "the solution of the cosmos."
12. Anon. "A War Poet." New York Times Book Review (15 April), 144.
"Drum-Taps" fulfills the need for a patriotic poetry at this time
of war. It should be published apart from Leaves, with "Memories of
President Lincoln" and "Ontario" as well, to depict America's great
spirit and destiny. "Banner" is a rebuke to pacifism.
13. Oppenheim, James. Editorial. Seven Arts, 2 (May), 68-71.
Turns to the "terrible martial music" and "national heroism" of
"Drum-Taps," now that war is declared. Quotes three poems to show how
W's poetry can provide spiritual help and inspiration during the war.
14. Oppenheim, James. "Memories of Whitman and Lincoln." Seven Arts,
2 (May), 8-12.
Free-verse poem echoing "Lilacs," praising W's spirit.
____________________________________ 438
15. Anon. "The Fifth-Month Poet." Seven Arts, 2 (May), 118-19.
W's form came from "his own inner music." He followed the America
upholding optimism, preaching, Jeffersonian democracy, Emersonian
Transcendentalism. His use of the first person gives his work
"remarkable unity." His work has affinities with both prophets and
scientists. "Like most realists, he is the most radical of idealists,"
with a vision which our unself-conscious life does not yet perceive.
16. Anon. "Walt Whitman's Americanism." New York Tribune (3 June),
III, 2.
W exemplifies the individualist, the nationalist, and even the
internationalist, appropriately for todayi He "understood the living
soul of America in nearly all its aspects." He was no pacifist and too
broadly national to be adopted by social radicals.
17. Wyatt, Edith. "A Peace-Lover's War-Epic." New Republic, 11
(30 June), 242-44.
W's prose and poetry are valuable now for his portrayal of the
struggle of our democratic purpose, war, the primary significance of
our national character. Specimen ‘ (quoted) shows W's wisdom and love.
18. Brown, Harvey Dee. "An Adult Appreciation of Whitman."
Conservator, 28 (July), 71-72.
We. need not read W only to get a definite message or spiritual
stimulation; rather, we should get encouragement to live our own lives.
19. Debs, Eugene V. "Whitman and Traubel." Conservator, 28 (July),
77.
Review of Walling (1916.14), describing its ideas. Traubel's
socialism is the natural result of his following W's democracy.
20. Leonard, Mary Hall. "Walt Whitman to His Followers." South
Atlantic Quarterly, 16 (July), 222-26.
___________________________________________________________________________499
The imagists follow but do not surpass W in using free verse, but
they should also follow his concern for the moral purpose behind
poetry, and should not deprecate the poetry of the past.
21. Brown, Harvey Dee. "Whitman and the America of Today."
Conservator, 28 (August), 86-8 8.
W understood the soul of America, foreseeing future national
developments. We need today his message of spiritual growth for
America. "Ontario" should be adopted as our national poem.
22. Traubel, H. L. "Walt Whitman's New Publishers." Conservator,
28 (August), 92-93.
W's official publishers are now Doubleday, Page and Co. W's
relations with publishers are traced. W tried to destroy "what he
considered useless manuscript" in order that his discarded or immature
work not be brought out after his death; Traubel retrieved much of it.
23. Traubel, H. L. "Visits to Walt Whitman." Conservator, 28
(September), 108-109.
Advance notice of Johnston (1917.4), quoting opinions of his
first edition of Visit (1890.6) by Symonds, Dowden, Rossetti.
24. Traubel, Horace. "With Walt Whitmaniin Camden." Seven Arts,
2 (September), 627-37.
Pre-publication extracts from Volume 4 (published in 1953).
25. Lanux, Pierre de. "The New Poets of France." Chicago Dial,
63 (27 September), 257-60.
Reprint in part of 1917.5.
26. tWallace, J. W. "Keir Hardie and Walt Whitman." Manchester
Labour Leader (27 September).
Reprinted: 1917.31.
________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 500
Reports his correspondence with Hardie about W, noting passages
that particularly appealed to him (on service and the importance of
activity, the heroic note, human tenderness and comradeship).
27. Firkins, O. W. "Poetry Insurgent and Resurgent." Atlantic
Monthly, 120 (October), 500-501.
W's meagre contribution to the renovation of poetry begun by
Wordsworth is due more to his inability than to "the breakdown of the
tradition before his powers." He has only scattered inspirations.
28. Mordell, Albert. "Whitman, Democrat." Conservator, 28 (October),
120- 21.:’
Extracts reprinted from Philadelphia Record interview (unlocated)
with F. H. Williams, who recalls W and his supposed New Orleans
romance. He was not a sponger. He was an individualist, not a
Socialist. Free-verse writers are not W's legitimate heirs.
29. Sarkar, Benoy Kumar. "Walt Whitman." Conservator, 28 (October),
116.
Blank-verse poem, "Englished from the original by the author."
30. Traubel, H. L. "Leaves of Grass." Conservator, 28 (October),
125.
Review of Doubleday edition, which prints W as he wanted to be
published.
31. Wallace, J. W. "Keir Hardie and Walt Whitman." Conservator,
28 (October), 118-19.
Reprint of 1917.26.
32. Traubel, Horace. "Walt Whitman's America." Conservator, 28
(November), 134-36.
Records W's conversation regarding what he wanted America to be;
his spiritual goals. America gave the crowd the best chance. "He
______________ 501
didn't object to education because it was education but because it
wasn’t."
33. Johnston, Alma Calder. "Personal Memories of Walt Whitman." New
York Bookman, 46 (December), 404-13. Illustrated.
Revision of 1915.6.
Recalls the gradual power Leaves gained in her mind until she
wrote W and visited him in 1876. Records anecdotes from their
acquaintance, conversations regarding his poetry, death, expurgation,
his attitudes toward education and socialism.
34. Lanux, Pierre de. "Walt Whitman in France." Conservator,
28 (December), 152.
Reprint in part of 1917.5.
35. Maynard, Laurens. "Walt Whitman and Elbert Hubbard." Conservator
28 (December), 151-52.
Comments on Hubbard (1902.21), correcting inaccuracies, with a
letter from Doyle presented as denying certain details of the story.
36. Russell, Bertrand. "Carlyle and Whitman." Conservator, 28
(December), 152-53.
Reprint of 1916.11.
37. Holloway, Emory. "Whitman's First Free Verse." Nation, 105
(27 December), 717.
Reprinted: 1918.21.
W had already written free verse in 1850, when three poems were
published in the New York Tribune under Horace Greeley's editorship; he
was one of the first to recognize W as a new force in literature, even
championing, "in a lecture in the 1850's, 'Walt Whitman's rare poetic
genius.'"
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________502
191-8
BOOKS
1. Adams, Henry- The Education of Henry Adams. Boston and New York:
Houghton Mifflin Co., p. 385.
Reprint of 1907.1.
2. Boynton, Percy H., ed. American Poetry. New York: Charles
Scribner's Sons. Poems, pp. 473-541; Comments, pp. 676-80.
W adopted his verse form because of his program, not because of
lack of success with conventional forms. His free verse reverts to the
effects of the Psalms and the Anglo-Saxon "Seafarer." His best verse
reveals melodic beauty and his skill in rhythmic regularity and
variation, as in examples analyzed. W's democracy was not governmental
or merely nationalistic, for his outlook was idealistic although devoid
of the international sense. "His mind seemed to entertain no concepts
between his tangibly concrete surroundings and.the most distantly vague
abstractions." But his ideas are hope-inspiring, his influence great.
W's poems are indexed by subject in a Subject Index for the poetry.
3. Gosse, Edmund, and Thomas James Wise, eds. The Letters of
Algernon Charles Swinburne. London: William Heinemann, Vol. 1,
pp. 58, 201, 237; Vol. 2, pp. 103, 153-54.
Letters to Houghton, Stedman, Gosse, Paul C. Hayne, Raphael Perie,
showing praise for W, disapproval of some of his later "rubbishV and
his growing "habit of vague and flatulent verbiage." Gosse notes some
of W's animadversions upon Swinburne during Gosse's visit, later
told to Swinburne in a friendly report. But the atmosphere then
surrounding Swinburne was fatal to a continued appreciation for W.
___________________________________________________________________________503
4. Hake, Thomas, and Arthur Compton-Rickett. The Letters of Algernon
Charles Swinburne with Some Personal Recollections. London: John
Murray, p. xviii.
While Gosse (1917.3) suggests that Watts-Dunton influenced
Swinburne's change in attitude toward W, Watts-Dunton attributed this
"to a pathological study published on Whitman the man, which both he
and Swinburne read."
5. Harned, Thomas B., ed. The Letters of Anne Gilchrist and Walt
Whitman. Garden City, N. Y.: Doubleday, Page and Co., 242 pp.
Illustrated.
Preface and Introduction: W's preservation of these letters
implies that he intended them to be included in his complete biography.
Their relationship is sketched (based on 1S87.3). W's refusal to
reciprocate is explained by the 1864 romance Holloway describes
(1918.6). Reprints of 1870.3 (without headnote) and 1885.4. Letters
trace Gilchrist's feeling for W, with occasional comments on W's work.
There are a few from W to her, from Herbert or Beatrice Gilchrist to W.
6 . Holloway, Emory. "Whitman." In The Cambridge History of American
Literature, Vol. 2. Ed. William Peterfield Trent, John Erskine,
Stuart P. Sherman, Carl Van Doren. New York: G. P. Putnam's Sons,
pp. 258-74.
This biography presents only established facts, rather than
doubtful incidents. W's schoolteacher's opinion of him is quoted. W's
romance with a married woman in 1864 produced "Out of the Rolling
Ocean the Crowd." W is compared to Emerson. The chronology of W's
publications reveals how "a heroic and loving soul gradually freed
itself from the passions of a very human and earthly body." In the
early part of the war, W seemed to be saying "farewell to the
light-hearted irresponsibility of his protracted youth," before
504
becoming the serious and noble hospital worker. W has various appeals
for different readers. Other references to W in this volume
(especially to his war poetry), passim per index.
7. Holloway, Emory, and Henry S. Saunders. "Bibliography for
Whitman." In CHAL, Vol. 2 (see 1918.6), pp. 551-81.
I. Bibliographies; II. Separate Works (descriptive); III.
Collections and Selections (descriptive); IV. Contributions to
Periodicals (a) Verse, (b) Prose; V. Letters; VI. Biography and
Criticism; VII. Translations.
8. Johnston, John, and J. W. Wallace. Visits to Walt Whitman in
1890-1891 by Two Lancashire Friends. New York: Egmont Arens,
279 pp.
Reprint of 1917.4.
9. O'Grady, Standish. Selected Essays and Passages. New York:
Frederick A. Stokes Co., n. d. Dublin: Talbot Press; London: T.
Fisher Unwin, n. d. "Walt Whitman: The Poet of Joy," pp. 269-90.
Reprint of 1875.9.
10. Perry, Bliss. The American Spirit in Literature: A Chronicle
of Great Interpreters. New Haven: Yale University Press; Toronto:
Glasgow, Brook & Co.; London: Humphrey Milford, Oxford University
Press. The Chronicles of America Series, Vol. 34. "Poe and
Whitman," pp. 187-205; also pp. 90, 108, 255, 265, 266.
Poe and W were both egotists, Romanticists, and acquainted with
the literature of the European movement only at secondhand. W's mind
is "fundamentally religious." He is an individualist, part of
Transcendentalism. A more serious defect than his frankness is his
"imperfect transfusion" of material. He emphasizes human divinity and
love, America's newness, unity, and solidarity with all other nations.
PERIODICALS
11. Anon. "Visits to Walt Whitman." London Times Literary
Supplement (3 January), 7.
__________________________________ 505
Review of Johnston (1917.4), which sheds light upon a new type of
hero, with naturalness and sympathy. W's "capacity for pleasure" in -
his old age is contrasted with Carlyle's growling.
12. Traubel, H. L. "Visits to Walt Whitman." Conservator, 28
(February), 188-89.
Recalls W's opinions of the written version of Arnold's visit, his
reactions to Johnston and Wallace. Praises the Bolton group.
13. Symons, Arthur. "A Note on Walt Whitman." Bellman, 24
(9 February), 154-55.
W is "one of the voices of the earth," excluding nothing. Recalls
W's influence on him regarding the need to paint the world truly and
exploit one's personality. W has flaws in metre, syntax, treatment of
the body, yet "Cradle" has imagination, evoking "almost primitive
elements." W is compared to contemporary French poets. W confesses
himself loudly but never seems to apprehend the spiritual reality.
14. Anon. "Walt Whitman's Vogue in Europe. Admirers of 'Leaves of
Grass' Are Helping to Unite the Old and the New Worlds." Current
Opinion, 64 (May), 349-50.'
Review of Johnston (1917.4), "a story of hero-worship that is
creditable both to the hero and to his worshippers," and Lanux (1917.5).
15. Traubel, H. L. "Whitmania." Conservator, 29 (May), 40-42.
Notes that Robert M. Wernaer1s recent book has been called an echo
of W, who was "the first to decide that it did not matter how you wrote
at all, if only you had something worth while to say." But W "is not a
safe model," for one can write W badly. He was influenced by others,
and free verse preceded him, so it is available to anyone.
16. Love, Bert. "Whitmania." Reedy!s Mirror, 27 (24 May), 309.
Reprinted in part: 1918.18.
_______________ 506
Regrets the lack of any true lovers of W, even among the
Fellowship. So many people react negatively to him because of the sex
poems. A publisher should bring out a book of condensed (but not
expurgated) W, to delete the drivel and "cataloguish agonies" and give
"the true Walt," his profundity, lyric swing, "epic sweep and ’
soul-surge."
17. +Smythe, A. E. "Crusts and Crumbs." Toronto Sunday World
(2 June).
Discusses W's attitude toward Lincoln, quoting his prose and
"Lilacs," which should be in school readers so that children may become
"familiarized with the majestic rhythm of the long rolling lines" of
his new form. "Hush'd be the Camps To-day" has "transmuting power."
18. Anon. "A Lonely Whitmanite." Literary Digest, 57 (15 June),
29-30.
Summary of 1918.16 with quotations.
19. Anon. "Before the Red Cross." New York Times Saturday Review
(16 June), 282.
Commends W's service and spirit in the Civil War, which today's
hospital workers might emulate. W vividly conveyed scenes of the war
in "historical documents of permanent value' . ' (e. g. Specimen) .
20. Anon. "Walt Whitman's Songs of Democracy— A Collection of
'Patriotic Poems' in Which the 'Good Grey Poet* Celebrates the
Ideals for Which America is Fighting Today." New York Times
Saturday Review (16 June), 277, 285.
Review of Doubleday's Patriotic Poems and Complete Prose Works.
W's poems, appropriate for today, recognize the necessity of fighting
to combat the powers of evil, urging faith in the democratic ideals.
Though his verse is better, his prose conveys his Civil War experiences
507
vividly and directly. The medical profession has recognized that he
was ahead of his time in insisting on hygiene. Americans should honor
his centenary by turning to him for inspiration.
21. Holloway, Emory. "Whitman's First Free Verse." Conservator,
29 (July), 74-75.
Reprint of 1917.37.
22. Hier, Frederick. "The Whitman Fellowship Meeting." Conservator,
29 (August), 89-91.
Describes various speeches at the meeting, revealing W. '’ s
universality: Roy Mitchell (W's prophet-like teachings), Duncan
Macdougall (comparison, of W's poetry and the theater), Everett Martin
(W's individualistic humanism as more significant than his bourgeois
humanitarianism), Thomas Libbin (psychoanalytical reading of the
trouble W had making readjustments in his life), Anna Strunsky Walling
(W's sympathy and faith in society), Smith (1918.29), White (1918.26),
Keller (1918.23), other speeches and readings briefly mentioned.
23. Keller, Helen. "The Poet of All Poets." Conservator, 29
(August), 87-88.
Pays homage to the "poet of all poets whom I love the best."
Common love for W can unite all radicals. Recalls reading W from
raised letters. ..He brought light into her world, "the eager, turbulent
tramp of life," encouraging her "to prove my spiritual equality to that
world." "His imagination has foothold as well as wings." Describes
the aspects of the world she experiences with W. "Many are blind to
his vision, deaf to his message" (love and joy, needed during the war).
24. Smith/ William Hawley. "Walt Whitman's Contribution."
Conservator, 29 (August), 89.
_____________ sm
W's contribution has staying power, measureless value.
Description of his and his wife's love for W's poetry. W's key phrase,
"How long have we been fooled!," awakes us to the desire for wisdom.
25. Lychenheim, Morris. "Vicious Circle Still Bars Whitman."
Conservator, 29 (September), 104-105.
Reprinted from Chicago Examiner (unlocated). Americans are
ignorant of W's writings because afraid of the sex-poems, and because
the average schoolteacher, unacquainted with them, does not teach them.
26. White, Eliot. "Walt Whitman After Twenty Years." Conservator,
29 (September), 103-104.
Recalls his first reading of W in 1894; explains enthusiastically
W's magnetism and the meaning of some of his words and phrases.
27. Bain, Mildred. "A Few Words to Morris Lychenheim." Conservator,
29 (October), 124.
Responds to 1918.25, denying that W wrote sex-poems because he was
the poet of both good and evil;^ rather, he glorified sex. Issued
separately, these poems would have been "secretly hugged to the breast
of the average repressed, sexually furtive member of society." W is
rejected rather because he was on a plane different from the majority.
28. Law, James D. "Walt Whitman: Some Personal Remarks." >:>nr‘ '
Conservator, 29 (October), 117-19.
Rhymed poem of tribute.
29. Smith, George Jay. "Whitman's Children of Adam." Conservator,
29 (October), 120-21.
The sex-poems are the keystone of W's poetic structure, for he
meant to represent all of life. They may not need to be re-read, for
once their message works on the mind their purpose is achieved.
--------------- 509.
30. Frend, Grace Gilchrist. ’ "Love Letters of Walt Whitman."' London
Nation, 24 (5 October), 16.
Corrects misconceptions regarding Harned's Letters (1918.5),
especially the terming of them "love letters," for the feeling was
rather a high esteem. W's own letters are in her own hands.
31. Tomlinson, H. M. "The World of Books." London Nation, 24 (12
October),46.
Reprinted: Tomlinson, Waiting for Daylight, 1922.
Picks up Drum-Taps after learning that soldiers are reading it:
it is an eternally valid depiction of war. British writers have made
nothing from their experiences to compare with W's range, understanding
metrical ardor, and humanity in these poems. At his best he conveys
our inner emotions "like a miraculous voice."
32. Perry, Bliss. "Walt Whitman's Complex Love Affairs— Letters
Between the Poet and Anne Gilchrist That Reveal an Unknown Chapter
in Whitman's Life." New York Times Saturday Review (3 November),
2.
Review of Harned (1918.5). Traces their relationship.
33/ Abbott, Leonard D. "Anne Gilchrist and Walt Whitman." Modern
School, 5 (December), 380-82.
Review of Harned (1918.5), a tragic story of unreciprocated love.
34. Anon. "Walt Whitman and His 'Noblest Woman-Friend': A Story of
Unreciprocated Love Which Ended in Loyal Comradeship." Current
Opinion, 65 (December), 394-95.
Review of Harned (1918.5). Traces their relationship with
quotations. Contradicts Grace's claims (1918.30): these are indeed
love letters.
510
1919
BOOKS
1. Beers, Henry A. Four Americans. New Haven: Yale University Press.
"A1 Wordlet about Whitman," pp. 85-90.
W's fame has come of age. His poetry is imperfect, devoid of
humor; the common reader still prefers Longfellow and Riley. W was a
man of genius but the Whitmanites are humbugs.
2. Boynton, Percy H. A History of American Literature. Boston:
Ginn and Co. "Walt Whitman," pp. 362-79.
W and Twain are the distinctively American authors for the rest of
the world. W's form was not the result of laziness or inability but
offered vital rhythms in a true relation between form and content,
unlike similar experiments by some of W's forgotten contemporaries.
His rhythm and diction were generally most effective when dealing "with
definite aspects of natural and physical beauty" (e. g. "Cradle").
Concludes with discussion reprinted from 1919.109. Bibliography and
study questions.
3. Burroughs, John. Field and Study. Boston and New York: Houghton
Mifflin Co., pp. 225—32; passim per index.
Perry (1906.8) fails to reveal W's all-inclusive democratic spirit,
unique to W. His lack of selection was part of his desire not to
prettify anything. His work is too intimate and prophetic to be called
prose. He speaks in the spirit of Nature, not distilled as in
Wordsworth, not a product of culture like Emerson. He gives "the soul
and suggestion of poetry" rather than "finished poetry." He is
"tender, yearning, motherly," rather than "'robust,1 'athletic.'"
______________________ 511
4. Frank, Waldo. Our America. New York: Boni and Liveright. "The
Multitudes in Whitman," pp. 202-21.
W saw the relations of men to all worldly life and to an Infinite
Being. His form is necessary for his vision. He can be reduced to no
single label. His spirit contributes to making Americans a chosen
people. Vistas is our greatest book of social criticism, Leaves our
greatest poem. Emerson pales beside W's immediacy. Description of the
lack of development in the multitudes W had examined in 1871.
5. Karsner, David. Horace Traubel: His Life and Work. New York:
Egmont Arens. "With Walt Whitman," pp. 59-77; also 28-29,
105-109, and passim. No index.
Describes Traubel*s relationship with W; Traubel as biographer.
Compares Leaves and Optimos, both "bibles of labor," as to their
authors' styles and qualities. W merely gives hints, with optimism
looking toward the future, while Traubel*s optimism rejoices in the
present and puts W's philosophy into practical application.
6 . Mencken, H. L. Prejudices, First Series. New York: Alfred A.
Knopf. "Memorial Service," pp. 249-50; passim per index.
We should commemorate the day in 1865 that brought together
America's greatest poet and "the damndest ass" (Harlan).
7. Morley, Christopher. Mince Pie: Adventures on the Sunny Side of
Grub Street. New York: George H. Doran Co. "Walt Whitman
Miniatures," pp. 272-91.
Describes Camden ferries, the current condition of W's home, his
tomb. We need a W today, "who can catch the heart and meaning of these
grievous bitter years, who can make plain the surging hopes that throb
in the breasts of men." Description of an imaginary meeting with W,
wise and kindly, who expresses his ideals, "the value of the individual"
above all.
512
8 . Pattee, Fred Lewis, ed. Century Readings for a Course in American
Literature. New York: Century Co., p. 476.
Headnote to selections from prose and poetry places W in spirit and
influence with the post-mid-century group, characterizes his two
distinct periods (youth and age), describes his Americanism ("equality
pressed to the extreme"). W's America is bound "only by the boundless
soul of man." Explanatory notes (pp. xxv-vi) on background, words.
9. Payne, Leonidas Warren. Selections from American Literature.
Chicago and New York: Rand McNally & Co. Explanatory notes to
selections from W, pp. 503-12.
Explains background, vocabulary, philosophy. Suggestive Questions
and Exercises provide for a thorough explication of each poem,
particularly the long ones, in matters of form and content.
10. Ontermeyer, Louis, ed. Modem American Poetry: An Introduction.
New York: Harcourt, Brace and Howe, pp. vii-viii.
W "was the greatest of the moderns who showed the grandeur of
simplicity, the rich poetry of everyday." Many new poets follow him.
11. Untermeyer, Louis. The New Era in American Poetry. New York:
Henry Holt and Co., pp. 10-13, 15-16; passim per index.
W challenged the prurient Puritans and aesthetic formalists of his
day. He "broke the fetters of the present-day poet and opened the
doors of America to him." W's emotional and energetic power are
described. He had no immediate followers, Oppenheim and Sandburg
coming only later.
PERIODICALS
12. Anthony, Katharine. "A Normal Madness." Chicago Dial, 66
(11 January), 15-16.
Review of Harned (1918.5). Traces the W-Gilchrist relationship.
________________________________________________________________________ 513
13. Bragdon, Claude. "An Educated Heart." Chicago Dial, 66 (11
January), 14-15.
Review of Johnston (1918.8), which presents the real love felt for
W. We go to W not for pleasure or instruction, but for inspiration.
14. Boynton, Percy H. "Lowell in His Times." New Republic, 18
(22 February), 112-14.
This centennial consideration of Lowell opens with a comparison of
him to W; "we regard the tardy and eccentric W in the light of current
developments, but we estimate the timely and centripetal Lowell almost
wholly with reference to his own generation."
15. Noguchi, Yone. "Whitmanism and Its Failure." New York Bookman,
49 (March), 95-97.
Having attempted to revive her spiritual past, W does not provide
appropriate guidance for a different America. "He expressed
understandably his mighty power of literary destruction; he showed no
formula of construction," such as America needs. His "prophetic
idealism" was too dreamy. But W is a great personage, representative
of that period of the common man.
16. Wyatt, Edith Franklin. "Adventures of a Poetry-Reader." North
American Review, 209 (March), 404-15.
W is dealt with as related to the Imagists, who lack his "musical
imagination." Sexual and metrical controversies have distracted
comment from "his skill in an enormous free-hand drawing of the spirit
of a people during a great social and military crisis." W/'s unique
vision produced unmatched patriotic poetry.
17. Untermeyer, Louis. "A Whitman Centenary." New Republic, 18
(22 March), 245-47.
____________________________________________________________________________514
W has strengthened, clarified, democratized most tendencies in
American letters, challenging New England's literary aristocracy,
proclaiming the glory of the commonplace to become "our first American
poet," leading to most of the significant writers of today.
18. Abbott, Leonard D. "Whitman as a Revolutionary." Modern School,
6 (April-May), 138-41.
W is revolutionary in form and subject-matter, especially in
treating sex and friendship. W was an internationalist and pantheist
who "staked all on fundamental change."
19. Brown, William Thurston. "Whitman and Sex." Modern School,
6 (April-May), 144-47.
Reprint in part of 1917.1.
20. Burroughs, John, and Richard Watson Gilder. "Letters about
Whitman by John Burroughs and Richard Watson Gilder." Modern
School, 6 (April-May), 114-25.
Letters to each other, Perry, Barrus, commenting on W, his
influence, self-evaluation, friends, impressions of literary men.
21. Colum, Padraic. "Whitman's Influence in Ireland." Modern
School, 6 (April-May), 128-29.
Traces W's influence on Irish thought; W's critics in Ireland.
22. Coomaraswamy, Ananda. "Whitman as Prophet." Modern School,
6 (April-May), 98-102.
W is a great visionary, uniquely revealing the nature of love. He
is nearer to Chuang-tzu and the Upanishads than any other Western
literature is. His poetry presents a monistic philosophy, a social
order, and a moral system. In his thought "East and West may meet."
23. Harned, Thomas B. "The Good Grey Poet in Camden." Modern School,
6 (April-May), 112-14.
515
Recollections of W, his friendships with persons of all classes
and ages. He died "confident that he was to be heard."
24. Lanux, Pierre de. "Two Generations of Whitman in France, II."
Modern School, 6 (April-May), 132-34.
Reprint in part of 1917.5.
25. O'Grady, Standish James. "Whitman the Poet of Joy." Modern
School, 6 (April-May), 106-11.
Reprint of 1875.9.
26. Thorstenberg, Edward. "Whitman in Germany." Modern Schoo1,
6 (April-May) , 149^-54.
Reprint of 1911.9.
27. Traubel, Horace. "Walt and Freedom." Modern School, 6
(April-May), 105.
Recalls W's statements on freedom, his desire that others lead an
unobstructed life. Comments on "Whitmanism" and "Traubelism."
28. Wagenvoort, Maurits. "Walt Whitman. A Dutch View." Modem
School, 6 (April-May), 155-56.
Translated by J. Van Gogh from introduction to Dutch translation
of Leaves. W's work is not ordinary poetry but closer to Beethoven's
music and to primeval poetry like the Iliad and the Vedas.
29. Wallace, J. W. "The Letters of Anne Gilchrist and Walt Whitman."
Modern School, 6 (April-May), 156-57.
Gilchrist's devotion is worthy but she misinterpreted W's
universal message as personal.
30. Walling, Anna Strunsky. "Walt Whitman and Russia." Modern
School, 6 (April-May), 142-43.
W of all poets comes nearest the Russian concept of democracy. He
is read enthusiastically by young revolutionaries. Perhaps his message
of revolution came from Russia, for he was aware of the Nihilists.
: _________________ 5.16.
31. Whitman, Walt. "Unpublished Letters of Walt Whitman to John
Burroughs." Modern School, 6 (April-May), 126-27.
Brief notes written 1877-1889 to Burroughs and Harned, on meetings
with Joaquin Miller, Longfellow, Holmes, the elder James.
32. Wyzewa, T. de. "Two Generations of Whitman in France, I."
Modern School, 6 (April-May), 130-32.
Extracted from Revue Bleue. All innovations in form and thought
in French poetry for the last twenty-five years are traceable to
Leaves: vers libre, glorification of self, naturalism. W's inner life
"is a slow and gradual reconquest of civilization by nature."
33. Zigrosser, Carl. "Editorial Note and Comment." Modern School,
6 (April-May), 157-60.
W's aims are similar to those of modern educators: freedom,
internationalism. Note from John Butler Yeats is printed stating that
W is "scarcely an artist," though "a picturesque figure," and declining
to contribute to this W issue.
34. Bowen, Edwin Winfield. "The Poet of Democracy." Methodist
Quarterly Review, 68 (April), 246-60.
W's "new evangel" presented a complete picture of typical
humanity, emphasizing America's "untold possibilities." His treatment
of sexuality was well-meant. More culture might have given him a
proper appreciation of good form. Leaves, stronger emotionally than
intellectually, cannot be described as literature. His typical flaws
in language and clarity do not appear in his best poems (listed). He
is most significant as poet of democracy. His religious nature, while
pantheistic and evolutionary, retains belief in free moral agency and
the individual's freedom.
517
35. Anon. "Walt Whitman's Odyssey." Philadelphia Press (20 April),
I I , 8.
Summary of W's long foreground, careful craftsmanship. Like
Wordsworth, W lacked critical ability regarding his own work.
36. Anon. "Walt Whitman's Triumph." Philadelphia Press (27 April),
II, 6 .
Describes publication and reception of 1855 Leaves, the
misunderstanding of his "mystical theory," the justification of his
self-reviewing.
37. Bain, Mildred. "A Lighthouse by the Sea." Conservator; 30 (May),
36-37.
Poem for W.
38. Binns, Henry Bryan. "Walt and the New World Order." Conservator,
30 (May) , 45.
Praises W's "creative, freedom-giving power of love," his
challenge.
39. Bruno, Guido. "Snapshots of 'People of Importance.'" Pearson* s
Magazine, 40 (May), 312-14.
Reprinted: Elizabeth L. Keller, Walt Whitman in Mickle Street,
1921.
Records conversations with two Camden men who knew W: William
Kettler who reports scandal about W, and Dr. McAlister who praises W's
character, spiritual aspirations, and democratic attitude.
40. Carnevali, Emanuel. "Walt Whitman." Poetry, 14 (May), 60.
Short poem.
41. Ellis, Havelock. "Still the Same." Conservator, 30 (May), 45.
Brief testimony to his persisting love and reverence for W.
_____________ 518
42. Gable, William F. "Lincoln!sm or Whitmanism." Conservator,
30 (May), 42-43.
Brief testimony to his enthusiasm for both Lincoln and W.
43. Harris, Frank. "Walt Whitman: the Greatest American." Pearson's
Magazine, 40 (May), 305-11.
Reprinted: Harris, Contemporary Portraits, 1920.
W is "the most characteristic American and thereby the most
original," large like his land, surpassing Emerson because of his
emphasis on the body. Recollection of hearing W speak in Philadelphia.
W had doubts about Democracy. He fails in his critical pronouncements,
diction, unmusical verse form, but he should not be so unpopular in
America. He is great because "he speaks to the soul," as in "Prayer,"
America's noblest poem.
44. Hier, Frederick. "Walt Whitman's Mystic Catalogues." . . r ’. . z . •-
Conservator, 30 (May), 39-42.
Mysticism is omnipresent in Leaves. W's method followed laws of
psychology, presenting many images flashing through the mind as at peak
moments of consciousness. Suggestiveness pervades some of his shorter
poems and appears also in his catalogues. The objects listed are
always dynamic and important in their context. Three types of
catalogues are listed and described.
4 5 . . - ' Karsner, David Fulton. "Walt Whitman." Conservator, 30 (May),
43-44.
Tribute to W, who stood his ground against adverse reactions;
praise for his vast love and democracy. His day is come.
46. McCarthy, John Russell. "Come Down, Walt!" Poetry, 14 (May),
59-60.
Free-verse invocation.
__________________________________________________________ 519
47. Monroe, Harriet. "Walt Whitman." Poetry, 14 (May), 89-94.
Leaves ranges from "prosy moralizing" and bombast to work which
reveals "his power as a colorist, as a draughtsman of immense and
revolutionary rhythms, as a democrat and lover of men, and as a
serious-minded thinker." Explanation of his limitations and excesses;
his major contributions to poetry, including the conception of the poet
as prophet. Commentary on the qualities of particular poems.
48. Rhys, Ernest. "The Ever-Living Poet." Conservator, 30 !(May) , 45.
Brief tribute paragraph.
49. Rhys, Ernest. "Walt Whitman— 1819-1892." London Bookman, 61
(May), 66-6 8.
W is very modern, with an impact on current poetry. He is to be
recognized for his imaginative, not his aggressive elements.
Recollection of his own impressions of W and W's mental adventurous
quality. W's idiom appears similar to the letter Carlyle quotes of
Rahel von Ense. W found a style to suit his vision.
50. Russell, Phillips. "Whitman's Shiftlessness." Conservator,
30 (May), 44.
Testimony to W's appeal for him: he earlier thought W's poetry
must have been wrong because it was so pleasant, not stuffy moralizing.
51. Salter, William M. "The Great Side of Walt Whitman." New York
Standard, 5 (May), 201-207.
Abridged from 1899.40.
52. Traubel, Horace. "As I Sit at Karsners' Front Window."
Conservator, 30 (May), 38-39.
Poem of reminiscences of W.
_________________ , ____________________________________________________________________________52. 0.
53. Traubel, H. L. "Collect." Conservator, 30 (May), 33-36.
W's year should make us remember that it is our year as well. He
emphasized love for all humanity. He remained an outlaw. We must use!
his standards to judge ourselves, for they are a living force in us.
54. Wallace, J. W. "The Walt Whitman Birthday Centennial."
Conservator, 30 (May), 38-39.
Examines current civilization and W's vision for the new order.
Describes W's experience of illumination, which he saw possible for all
and which required new forms with himself as theme. W has no creed or
philosophy but ranks with the loftiest scriptures. Leaves is "the most
revolutionary of modern books," universal in its sympathies.
55. Wallace, J. W. "Whitman's Personality." London Bookman, 56 (May),
68-69.
Democratic ideas reached their fullest state in W. W lived his
philosophy of love and oneness with all others and with the spirit of
the universe. Recollections of meeting W and being impressed by his
common humanity, loving nature, and lofty spirit.
56. Wyatt, Edith Franklin. "The Answerer: Walt Whitman." North
American Review, 209 (May), 672-82.
W has proved valuable during the war as the defender of democracy,
which he embodied in life and writings. His expression of democracy in
sex is a great contribution to civilization and to poetry.
57. Anon. "Whitman's Rank." Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences
Bulletin, 22 (3 May), 237.
Many regard W as "the most powerful and catholic, the most natural
and real, a poet and prophet speaking through the average man." The
ever more democratic world becomes ever more ready to respond to him.
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58. Anon. "Whitman's Friends." Brooklyn Institute of Arts and
Sciences Bulletin, 22 (3 May), 245.
While W responded to people of all levels of society, he most
liked those of the laboring class.
59. Romig, Edna Davis. "Walt Whitman: 1819-1919." Outlook,
122 (7 May), 34-37.
Critical overview. W presents three kinds of ego: the
autobiographical, the ego which identifies with all it sees, the
transcendental ego which is part of God. W does not always indicate or
explore these distinctions. Discussion of W's irresponsibility in
grammar and proof-reading; his sympathy, virility, optimism.
60. Stewart, Jane A. "Walt Whitman, the Teacher." Journal of
Education, 89 (8 May), 513-14.
Relates W's experiences as teacher; presents his themes, love of
nature and books, interest in human nature, patriotic emphasis,
intensive child study, appreciation of scholarship (in misquoted lines)
61. Anon. "Walt Whitman Centenary Observed at Notable Academy
Meeting." Brooklyn Daily Eagle (10 May), 4—5.
Summarizes and quotes in part the following addresses at the
celebration by the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences: Arthur M.
Howe, editor of the Eagle (printed in full: 1919.116); Harned (quoted
extensively), on reminiscences of W, defending him against accusations
of lawlessness, defining his aim; Dr. Samuel McChord Crothers onW's
effect on him, W's message of equality and America's mission; Louis
Untermeyer on W's contemporary influence, as "father of the American
language”; William Lyon Phelps on W's reputation and the qualities
that give him permanence ("a splendid imagination, absolute
___________________________________________________________________________ 522
universality of feeling, a personality of extraordinary power that
breathed into all he wrote unbounded vitality, and the art to express
himself at intervals in perfect words'.') .
62. Anon. "Whitman a Hundred Years After." Brooklyn Daily Eagle
(10 May), 6 .
The celebration indicates W's recognition as founder of free
verse. His book has been "a firebrand in English literature," but all
his work is not good just because written "by the man of the greatest
poetic vision whom America has produced." A second centennial will
find W notable not for creating free verse but for breaking with "an
outworn tradition."
63. Anon. "Growth of Whitman's Fame." Philadelphia Press (11 May),
II, 6 .
It is wrong to say that the great majority of Americans rejected
him. His increasing reputation parallels that of other innovators such
as Wordsworth, in many ways similar to W but less "conscious of the
cosmic unity of men and the universe." "Prayer" is praised.
64. Burroughs, John. "John Burroughs, Early Champion of Whitman,
Gives Personal Recollections and Tells How Gray-Poet, Pioneer, Has
Been Vindicated by Time." Brooklyn Daily Eagle (10 May), 4-5.
Text of paper for the W celebration. Poets are measured by their
opinions of W. W's unnoticed visit to Vassar some forty years ago is
contrasted with the recent tribute there at which Masters spoke,
denying any spiritual inheritance from W. W is defended against
Masters's criticisms of lack of humor and dramatic power, catalogues of
"mere observation" (through them W sought to make his book "a
compendium of his times and country"). Description of W's personality,
__________________________________________________________________________________523
so much a part of his work. Burroughs failed to interest Theodore
Roosevelt in W.
65. Garland, Hamlin. "Whitman Greatest Optimist I Ever Knew—
Garland." Brooklyn Daily Eagle (10 May), 4.
Text of his address at W celebration. Recollections of the 1889
dinner, his first meeting with W, W's personality and appearance.
6 6. Markham, Edwin. "Edwin Markham's Estimate of Walt Whitman as
Poet." Brooklyn Daily Eagle (10 May), 4.
Text of his address at W celebration. W is unique among American
poets. W, moved by his country, "confronts the world with the passion
and daring of youth." He "undertook to give us a cosmic vision," but
his philosophy is not completely sound.
67. Anon. "Whitman's Later Life." Philadelphia Press,(18 May),
II, 6 .
Notes negative criticisms and the defenses of W. His fame has
outlived the destructive criticism. He has a profoundxirifluence now.
68. Edwards, Ward. "Alan Seeger and Walt Whitman." William Jewell
Student, 25 (22 May),7.
Suggests "Myself" 45 as source for Seeger's poem "I Have a
Rendezvous with Death."
69. Everett, M. S. "Editorial. The Great Revolutionist." William
Jewell Student, 25 (22 May), 6 , 10.
Describes the reader's gradual appreciation of W; W's quest for
true individuality and equality, his aesthetic revolution. His
individualistic use of language may add something to our language.
70. Hervey, J. L. "Walt Whitman and His Centenary." Reedy's Mirror,
28 (22 May), 322-24.
______________________; _______________________________________ 524
Recalls his personal favorable attitudes toward Leaves. Many
movements today use W's name as a rubber stamp; his followers hardly
know his actual work and spirit. Traubel's portrayal of W's egotism
and littleness of soul is regrettable, as is W's secretiveness.
Evaluation of the criticism on W; description of the poses of his
portraits. We cannot take W completely uncritically.
71. Palmer, Raymond H. "Whitman and the Untamed." William Jewell
Student, 25 (22 May), 7.
Describes his personal experience of Leaves. The young should be
allowed to evaluate W because they are willing to sacrifice form for
substance, and W has a great message.
72. Takayama, R. "A Japanese Estimate of Walt Whitman." William
Jewell Student, 25 (22 May), 5, 9-10.
Translated from Japanese by Yasutate Fukumura and Rinyu Yamamoto
with introduction by Ward Edwards. W is a corrective for a superficial
and insincere civilization with his natural law, national spirit,
healthy attitude toward the flesh, and value for today.
73. White, George H. -"Life of Walt Whitman." William Jewell Student,
25 (22 May), 8 .
Sketch of W's life.
74. E., E. F. "Pictures in Little— IV. Walt Whitman." Boston
Evening Transcript'(24 May), III, 11.
Short poem commemorating W as "a giant," individual and unique.
75. Johnson, H. H. "Walt Whitman— Centenary Article." London
Inquirer, No. 4012 (24 May), 163-64.
W's work is autobiographical, representative of our modern world,
but he was hardly a typical American. He could write so much truth
___________________________________________________________________________S?5
without a formal education "simply by being true to himself." He is "a
cosmic impressionist," opening up vistas of the eternal, perceiving
unity and purpose.
76. Sutcliffe, Emerson Grant. "Whitman, Emerson and the New Poetry."
New Republic, 19 (24 May), 114-16.
New poets should acknowledge a debt not only to W but to Emerson,
his forebear. W also ties the new poets to Puritanism. Unlike some of
the new poets, W evokes distinct situations in swift order "not only to
give pleasure to the visual imagination, but more because he feels in
each situation something illustrative of his creed."
77. Anon. "Walt Whitman." New York Times (25 May), III, 1.
W is to be admired not as founder of a religion but as poet, with
splendor and perfection in his own form. W was bourgeois, with a
progressive view of life.
78. Anon. "Walt Whitman's Centenary." Philadelphia Press (25 May),
8.
W's "rhymeless rhapsodies" are becoming appreciated, as is his
word magic. W preached individualism to a government and society that
have become more socialized, making much that he wrote lose its
significance. His poems on war and Lincoln rank him high in American
literature.
79. +Smythe, A. E. "Crusts and Crumbs." Toronto Sunday World
(25 May).
The Quaker Inner Light was important to W. Discussion of his
symbolism, directness, lack of obscenity, daring in breaking convention
in art.
526
80. Wyatt, Edith Franklin. "Walt Whitman." Chicago Sunday Tribune
(25 May), VII, 5.
Appreciation of the varied aspects of W's poetry. His great
achievements are breaking away from early nineteenth-century melancholy
to "the intentional pursuit of happiness"; recognizing sex; including
the breadth of the continent in his work. W does not merely loaf but
can face evils "with a magnificent clarity." His verse is vivid.
81. Anon. "A Bookman's Memories— Walt Whitman." Christian Science
Monitor (27 May), 3.
Recalls enjoying W's work, his refreshing ideas and vast.sense of
brotherhood, in London during the 1880's. His purpose was to startle,
to make American poetry truly American, thus leading to the free-verse
movement. W's debt to Emerson is clear.
82. Anon. "The Librarian." Boston Evening Transcript (28 May),
III, 7.
Other poets need not be derided to recognize W as an American poet
of the first rank and appreciate the excellence of some (but not all)
of his work. "Six or seven of his long poems are among America's
finest contributions to art," sincere, revealing pride in America.
83. Chamberlin, Joseph Edgar. "Whitman's Name and Fame at His
Centenary." Boston Evening Transcript (28 May), III, 2—3.
W is "probably the greatest poet of America, because of the
splendid audacity and breadth of his utterance, and the startling
originality of his style, as well as the freshness and force of his
message, the American origin and substance of his matter, and finally
the fascination of his rhythm." Extended biographical sketch, tracing
the influence on his poetry of his childhood environment, newspaper
527
work, and the Civil War-. A major flaw In W is his lack of a great
relationship with a woman.
84. Anon. "Walt Whitman." London Times Literary Supplement (29 May),
285-86.
W seems to be shouting to put himself into a "will-cheerfulness"
and does not adequately demonstrate his assertions. His poetry often
seems "a mere release," a makeshift way of writing. When he is most
musical he most tells the truth about himself and life, not merely
his creed. W's war poems express his true faith as he finally faced
the fact of evil. Comparison of W with Poe and Browning.
85. +Bodgener, J.H. "Walt Whitman— A Centenary Tribute." London
Methodist Times, 35 (29 May) .
Emphasizes W's religious spirit, great-hearted love, wise
recognition of the connection of bodyr.and soul. Methodists might
read him for enlightenment, for he has the love of God, if no clear
creed.
8 6. Chase, Audrie Alspaugh. "Walt Whitman Poems Among His Best
Sellers— People Buying and Reading Great Poet's Works During His
Centenary Week." Chicago Herald and Examiner (29 May),113.
Book, sales indicate W's popularity this week, but he should be
read throughout**, the uy ear anduthe:future; he is:"Surelyi-..comihgtinto
his own.
87. Mitchell, Charles B. "America and Whitman." Reedy's Mirror,
28 (.29 May), 340-41.
W's poor reception in America is "a serious indictment of
American democracy." Description of his radical qualitites in form
528
and actual brotherhood. W was, the pioneer of many of the encouraging
new social, philosophical, and political movements. He brought
Emerson's dreams down to earth. New social programs carry on his
beneficent spirit while Lowell will be forgotten.
8 8. Wallace, J.W. "The Walt Whitman Centennial— The Man and His
Message.” Manchester Labour Leader, 16 (29 May), 9.
W was the exemplar of the true Democracy our civilization needs.
His message is religious and social, emphasizing unity with God and
with one's fellows:. W relies on the silent influence speaking
between his lines. His character grewiin'j greatness.
89. +Anon. "The Whitman Centenary." Chicago Evening Post Literary
Review (30 May).
W must be looked at objectively now that he has become s
sufficiently accepted to eliminate the need for a defensive attitude.
90. +Anon. "Nature's Great Revealer." Huntington's Long Islander
(30 May).
An appreciation describing W's themes and praising his command
of language and flights of imagination; his cosmic vision of unity,
democratic sympathy, unfettered religious belief, faith in
immortality.
91. Anon. "Walt Whitman, a Poet of America." Science Monitor
(31 May), 6 . Illustrated.
. . :-v •) , 0 . I l - l u c c .
Describes W's broad humanity, representative egotism, love of
nature, brotherhood, potential internationalism. Compares Longfellow's
and Whittier's poems of childhood with "There Was a Child" which is
"wider and freer in conception and form." W fails in attempting to
529
express the spirit in terms of the flesh- Commentary on his Eastern
debt; praise for Specimen.
92. +Anon. "Patriotic Poetry, and Walt Whitman.1 ' Boston Evening
Transcript (31 May).
: Praises W's patriotic feeling in life and poetry. Recent more
extraordinary productions havemade the once radial W seem to stand
among the .poetic conservatives. His true worth may take another
century to determine; be may be ranked above Tennyson or Wordsworth.
93. Anon. "Walt Whitman." Brooklyn Daily Eagle (31 May), 6 .
W is now assured a place with Poe and Emerson as one of the
three nineteenth-century American writers who will live. His
all-inclusive mind led to "those, wearisome catalogues." Description
of his democratic faith, breadth of view and sturdy manliness, needed
today.
94. Anon. "Brooklyn's Many Whitman Landmakrs." Brooklyn Daily
Eagle (31 May), Walt Whitman Section, 5. Illustrated.
Describes W's various residences over the years.
95’ . Anon. "Poet's Birthplace Now in Good Hands." Brooklyn Daily
Eagle (31 May), Walt Whitman Section, 2. Illustrated.
Describes current condition of W's birthplace.
96. Anon. "Whitman as Lawyer Won His Own Case." Brooklyn Daily
Eagle((31 May), Walt Whitman Section, 2.
Describes assault case from W's youth.
97. Anon. "Walt Whitman Poem Written in Brooklyn." Brooklyn Daily
Eagle (31 May), Walt Whitman Section, 9.
Introductory note to a facsimile of an early version of "Passage"
________________________530
5 written about 1849f explains the background of the manuscript.
98. Anon. Centenary editorial. Chicago Dial, 66 C31 May), 566.
W seems "more nearly our contemporary" than his fellow
centenarians. He represents the general canvas of life rather than
his own particular segments. We look to him as a prophet for
enduring ideals and "community of purpose."
99. Anon. "Walt whitman." Glasgow Herald (31 May), 4.
W, America.'s "one great writer," was revolutionary in form
and in theme. He wrote of the vast possibilities of "the earth's
first democracy."
100. Anon. "Life and Letters— The Voice of America." London
Nation, 25 (3.1 May), 260-61.
W alone is a true American writer, but he recognized modern
life and what was wrong with his country. His ideal was "man in
nature," his Democracy more than political equality. He emphasized
the fulfillment of the individual, soul. W's great poems are listed.
101. Anon. "Walt Whitman." London Times (31 May), 15.
Informal look at W's life, personality, and repution. W is
not popular with the people despite his themes. Though "full of
primal energy and even originality," he is deficient in "intellectual
force." Many disapproved of him for his lack of religion, "the
nudity of his style," or the "nauseous drivel" of his verses. He
was "a great prophet, if not a sublime poet"— "But what did he
teach?"
________________________________________________________5 31
102. -f-Anon. "Walt whitman." Montreal Gazette (31 May) .
General estimate. W's: art as well as his thought is important.
W ranks with Emerson and Thoreau as one of the three greatest figures
in American literature. He is a figure of the present and the future.
103. Anon. "Two Hundred on Pilgrimage to Birthplace of Walt Whitman—
Celebration of Poet Is Centenary."-INew York . ' Evening Post (31
May), 7.
Describes and quotes Richard C. Burton's address on W's great
personality, aspiration, self-reliance, artistic blemishes as part
of his largeness. Quotes Masefield. (1919.120), Bennet (1919.106),
and Master (1919.121) on W.
104. +Anon. - "Walt Whitman's Centenary." New York Sun (31 May).
Sarcastic look at W, his occasional poetry, his questionable
elements, his varied admirers, his imitators. "Captain" is most
likely to live.
105. +Anon. "This Is Walt Whitman's Centenary.” Toronto Mail (31
May) .
Denies the vast claims made for W but recognizes him as a great
soul and unique poet, with some passages of song and a profound method
in composition. Compares W to Carlyle.
106. Bennett, Arnold. "Arnold Bennett's Tribute." Brooklyn Daily
Eagle (31 May), Walt Whitman Section, 9.
Letter to Brooklyn Institute: "America has produced no greater
writer"; W is "one of the greatest teachers that ever lived."
532
107. Black , J o h n . "John Burroughs1 ' ' Whitman Memories." Brooklyn
Daily Eagle (.31 May) , Walt Whitman. Section, 1.
Chatty reminiscences-; disappointment that none of America's
poets attended the funeral. The tomb was a tribute to W's mother. W
did not get excited by negative criticism.
108. Boyd, John. "A Canadian's Tribute to the Poet of Democracy."
Brooklyn Daily Eagle (31 May), Walt Whitman Section, 12.
Long poems of appreciation.
109. Boynton, Percy H. "I, Walt Whitman." New Republic, 19 (31
May), 141-43.
Reprinted: 1919.2.)
Explains W's different uses of the first person singular:
personal, typical, mystical. W emphasizes "the generating of life"
and the importance of democracy. He may be regarded "as a Puritan
stripped of his dogman." Explanation of his acceptance of science;
his current influence.
110. Boynton, Percy H. "Walt Whitman— A Centenary View." Nation
108 (31 May), 866-67.
: : Traces changing views of W from his beginning to the present.
111. +Brown, Professor J. Macmillan. "Special Article-~Walt
Whitman at Home (1885)." Christchurch (New Zealand) Press
(31 May).
Records visit to W, their conversation on rhythm, subject
matter. A prophet-like faith saturates W's poems and life.
112. Firkins, O.W. "Walt Whitman." New York Review 1 (31 May),
56-58.
W had great capacity for pleasure, affection, and moral
courage, but his ethics were ordinary. His gospel (consisting
533
chiefly of equalizations, optimisms, and selfhoods), suited his time.
He fails in completely achieving any of the ways of presenting a
state"dflife: simply embodying it (because he was too
self-conscious), drawing it like an artist, or upholding it like a
teacher (for he lacked a system) .
113. Gollomb, Joseph-. "Would Whitman Be Bolshevist? An Interview
with Horace Traubel." New York Evening Post Book Review (31
May),1,8.
Traubel stresses that W would not be bound by any "ism,"
although he certainly sympathized with the workers.
114. Harned, Thomas Biggs. "Walt Whitman and His Publishers."
Brooklyn Daily Eagle (.31 May), Walt Whitman Section, 4.
History of the editions and their publication problems, including
posthumous editions. W's patriotic poems are of great value now.
115. Herford, C. H. "Walt Whitman." Manchester Gaurdian (31 May),
7.
W is in no danger of being forgotten, as Lowell is. W brought
energy to Emerson's ideas. His lack of constraint and indiscriminate
comradeship offended New England. He gave life to his principles in
the war.
116. Hoockley, Albert Herman. "Whitman in Camden." Brooklyn Daily
Eagle (31 May), Walt Whitman Section, 10.
Brief recollection of W's activities, good nature, and friends
in Camden.
117. Howe, Arthur M. "Walt Whitman as an Editor." Brooklyn Daily-
Eagle (.31 May), Walt Whitman Section, 3.
Text of address at W celebration. Describes background of
contemporary journalism, traces of W's editorial career and
__________________________________________________________________________ 5 ^ 4
enthusiasm, "sincerity and courage, but without noticeable distinction
of thought or style."
118. Irwin, Mabel. "To Walt Whitman." Brooklyn Daily Eagle (31 May),
Walt Whitman Section, 11.
Poem of tribute.
119. Kirkland, Winifred. "Americanization and Walt Whitman."
Chicago Dial, 66 (31 May), 537-39.
W "is preeminent in expressing what America means to an
American." His patriotism, pioneer vitality, breadth of hospitality,
pride of place areideals that his book helps to clarily for the
teacher of Americanization (but he may be too strong for those just
becoming citizens).
120. MacKaye, Percy. "On Walt Whitman's 'Leaves of Grass.'"
Brooklyn Daily Eagle (31 May), Walt Whitman Section, 4.
Poem, of tribute.
121. Masefield, John. "John Masefield Calls Whitman America's
First Real Voice." Brooklyn Daily Eagle (31 May), Walt
Whitman Section, 10.
«
Letter to Brooklyn Institute: W was "your first real voice."
He liked men and women, conveyed welcome to them, a message for all
the world.
122. Masters, Edgar Lee. "Edgar Lee Masters Says Whitman 'Justified
the Ways of God to Man.1 A Centenary Summation on Walt Whitman,
Written by Mr. Masters for the Brooklyn Institute1s Celebration
of the Whitman Centenary." Brooklyn Daily Eagle (31 May),
Walt Whitman Section, 8 .
W, lacking humor, dramatic genius, and argument, is "a chanter,
a panoramic observer, a rhapsodist." His program of depicting America
is sound, but not his rejection of classics as feudal, for they too
portray the human heart. More than any other American writer, W
_______________________ 5 - 3 5 .
justified life to men. W looks forward to the American Homer who will
make an epic of our Civil War.
123. Price, Helen E. "Reminiscences of WaltWHitman." New York
Evening Post Book Review (31 May), 2.
Recalls meeting W when she was fifteen, about 1856; anecdotes
of W's visits to her family. His religious sentiment is his chief
characteristic. He was generally reserved, despite his self-revealing
poems. Description of his character, including sense of humor.
124. +Runnymede, Ralph. "The Walt Whitman Centenary." Derby
Daily Telegraph (31 May).
W's philosophy lay in the long line of Puritanism. W and
Thoreau rejected the intellectual side in favor of "the passion for
Nature, and the care for the body." Praise for W's "grand descriptive
passages," "vigorous style," strong personality and large soul.
125. Sawyer, Roland. D. "Walt Whitman, the Prophet-Poet." Brooklyn
Daily Eagle (31 May), Walt Whitman Section, 8.
Extracts reprinted from 1913.9.
126. Sherman, Stuart P. "Walt Whitman and These Times." New York
Evening Post Book Review (31 May), 4-5.
W lives in the present through his personality, and looks
toward the future of America. He reconciled the one with the many,
stressed the greatness possible for the divine average, disliked
doctrinaire political schemes, qualified his support for democracy.
He raises man to an awareness of himself as a moral being and of his
great destiny. W's work must be seen as a whole.
127. Smith, Hyacinth Stoddart. "Walt Whitman." New York Survey,
42 (31 May),327.
Poem in six quatrains.------------------------------------------- 536-
128. Untermeyer, Louis. "Whitman and the American Language." New
York Evening Post Book Review (31 May), 3.
W was "the father of the American language," for he "not only
sensed the richness and vigor of the casual word, the colloquial
phrase— he championed the vitality of slang, the freshness of our
quickly assimilated jargons, the indigenous beauty of vulgarisms."
He led to the poets of today (Frost, Sandburg, Masters).
129. Whitman, Walt. "Editorials Written by Walt Whitman as Editor
of the Eagle 1846-47." Brooklyn Daily Eagle (31 May), Walt
Whitman Section, 6-7.
Preceding first-time reprints of W editorials, introductory
note describes them and W's "varied and voluminous" writing for the
Eagle, revealing "the beginning of his poetic conceptions and abundant
evidence of his imaginative powers," though immature in style.
130. Anon. "Walt Whitman: A Bibliographical Survey." Bulletin of
the Brooklyn Public Library, 11 (June), 153-66.
Presents a bibligraphy of the library's holdings of primary and
secondary W material that is "representative and wellOfounded,"
though not complete, providing many annotations, with some inaccuracy
and repetition. Introduction quotes Stedman and Bucke on W's
reputation; ends with "suggestions on how to get acquainted" with W
from Poet-Lore (1894.32) and Pancoast (1898.11). The first three
editions of Leaves, "issued at the high-tide of the poet's vigor,"
are described as the explication of W's theory of a democratic
literature, radiating "personal force to a degree wholly unprecedented
in literature."
537
131. Anon. "Celebrating Walt Whitman as a Liberator." Current
Opinion, 66 (june), 392-93.
Compendium of current commentary, quoting or citing 1919.3,
1919.43, 1919.17, 1919.47, 1919.59, 1919.56, 1919.53.
132. Harned, Thomas B. "Walt Whitman's Personality." Conservator,
30 (June), 54-55.
Personal reminiscences; anecdotes; W's comments on religion,
Lincoln.
133. Naganuma, Shigetaka. "Whitman's Influence in the Orient."
Conservator, 30 (June), 54-55.
Cite W's references to Japan; traces his introduction into
Japan and the growth of his reputation there, including influence on
the free verse movement in Japan. W's fatih in the supremacy of the
individuality as well as in 'en masse' will guide Japan to the
realization of her dreams."
134. Thayer, William Roscoe. "Personal Recollections of Walt
Whitman." Scribner's Magazine, 65 (June), 674-87.
Recalls visit to W in Camden, printing a letter recounting
details of the visit, including W's comments on Dante and Darwin.
Records impressions from further visits. W, "not an orderly thinker,"
usually did not admit his sources, particularly Emerson. W was
irresponsible toward his children, "a poseur of truly colossal
proportions" regarding money.
135. Wiksell, Percival. "If All." Conservator, 30 (June), 61.
The article closing the last issue of the Conservator; If all
scriptures were destroyed, Leaves would fill their place; as
biography of a man, it is "the biography of God."
_______ 538
136. +Anon. "U.C. Observes W. Whitman's Anniversary." San Francisco
Examiner (1 June).
Reports celebration arranged by Witter Bynner, whose students
read poetic appreciations of W, upon which J. C. Powys commented,
also describing W as most original of the great poets.
137. Anon. "Walt as a Cult." New York Times Saturday Review (1
June), 308.
W. should be regarded as a poet, universal in appeal, rather
than as a teacher appropriated by particular causes. Compared to
Browning, W has simplicity and is one of the "elemental poets."
138. Underwood, Geo. "The Centenary of Walt Whitman (1819-1892)."
London Freethinker, 39 (1 June), 264-65.
W's democratic spirit and poetry of death came from actual
experience rather than abstractions. His poetic theory and work
derived from his pantheism, a conscious attempt to return to nature,
skilled artistry rather than the artlessnesis of a child. W ’s early
admirers are noted.
139. +Brown, J. Macmillan. "Special Article. Walt Whitman, the
American." Christchurch (New Zealand) Press (2 June).
W might have been more successful if he had written in prose and
left out the sex poems and catalogues. His poetic spirit appears
especially in "Drum-Taps" and all the sections following, and in
Specimen. But his "poetry was murdered by his theory of poetry,"
involving his overwhelming nationalism. His rhythms are lately being
adopted.
140. P., G. P. "Walt Whitman's Message." London Times (4 June), 8 .
Letter in response to 1919.101: W "taught the wonderful value
__________________________________________________________________________ 5 _ a a
of comradeship, the love of nature, the joy of a mealthy body and a
free and open-air life." Defense of W*s character, use of first-person
Praise for his originality, wide horizon, full portrayal of the
average man, "almost feminine power of sympathy." His defects are
slight when compared to his inspiration, derived from emotion, not
mere intellect.
141. Osier, William. "Walt Whitman's Message. The Glory of the
Day's Work." London Times'. (4 June), 8 .
W's physician responds to 1919.101, quoting from W to show what
he taught.
142. J., E. "Walt Whitman." London Times Literary Supplement (5
June), 313.
W's poetry, the epxression of a mystical faith, is not rationally
explainable. It appeals not "to shallow optimist" but to those who
have sought to create a new God out of their own hearts.
143. +Anon. "The Whitman Celebration." Chicago .‘ Evening Post
Literary Review (6 June).
W's radicalism is really individualism, which is actually
conservative. He was optimistic about humanity's ability to transcend
the faults he clearly saw; he is consequently well worth reading
today.
144. Anon. "The Prose Writings of Walt Whitman." Londcn Spectator,
122 (7 June), 724-26.
To give the read an idea of the richness of W's prose, several
extracts are printed as examples of his "highest and best work,"
showing the value of his ideas for today.
540
145. Newton, J. Fort. London Christian World Pulpit, 95 (11 June),
280-82.
Sermon preached in the City Temple, considering W 's poetry
(or poetic prose) as ministering to the human spirit. Explanation of
W's mysticism, faith in God or a cosmic consciousness, emphasis on
Love as "the sovereigh reality of the unierse." W is unique in
praising the beauty and benignity of Death. W presented the ideal
mixed with the real, the real slowly incarnating the ideal. W is
compared with other great men and poets.
146. Colum, Padraic. "The Poetry of Walt Whitman." New Republic,
19 (14 June), 213-15.
In W's poetry, "the Becoming seems not only to be realized, but
to be participated in." His verse "creates a new and spcial norm"
toward which his revisions were directed. Praise for his vast
vocabulary, "epic multiplicity," "epic majesty," vivid lines,
spiritual vigor. His great themes, "affection, reconciliation,
death," are depicted in his greatest poems (named). His Democracy
is a prophecy, not a program.
147. Anon. "Walt for Our Day." Literary Digest, 61 (21 June)
28-29.
Reprints extracts from articles on W: 1919-80, 1919-104.
148. +Mary. "A Few Remarks Addressed to the Ghost of Walt Whitman."
New York Sun (21 June).
A parody is presented as a reaction against the current ■;,
celebration of W. W;s contradictions are noted: only in war did he
speak like "plain--people. "
_______________________, ______________________________________________________________________________________________________541
149. Squire; J. C. "Life and Letters by J. C. Squire— Walt Whitman."
Land and Water (26 June), 23.
Reprinted: Squire, Life and Letters, 1920.
W has little influence, being generally "a-bad artist" in his
long lists and mere statements of H.s gospel. But he will survive
because of his personality and courageous thought. His successful
poems (such as "Cradle," "Lilacs," "Dirge") are written from the
heart, use description clearly and words appropriately, and
communicate emotion.
150. Anon. "The Gossip Shot." New York Bookman, 49 (July), 632-33.
W's centenary recognition is evidence of his significance and
possibly growing public acceptance. Description of Brooklyn
Insitute celebration (see 1919.61): a clear portrait of W the man
was hard to obtain because of his personality's many "contradictory
sidelights."
151. Brownell, Baker. "Five Poems to Walt Whitman." Open Court,
33 (July), 394t97.
Free verse expressions of several of W's moods.
152. Cairns, William B. "Walt Whitman." Yale Review, NS 8 (July),
737-54.
W's philosophy is inconsistent, indebted to Transcendentalism
but more aggressive in his individualism. His poetic aversions are
forgotten in moments of inspiration. The care he took is evident
in his revisions. His treatment of sex was hampered by his period's
assumption that any mention of sex was licentious, and by the lack of
appropriate vocabulary. Working classes have difficulty with his
work because his philosophy came from a higher intellectual plane.
54-2
His greatness in nineteenth-century literature is clearn, not for his
ideas but for his poetry.
153. Hult, Gottfried Emanuel. "Whitman Once More." Quarterly
Journal of the University of North Dakota, 9 (July), 309-80.
W's vocabulary and prosody are artistically suited to his
purpose. Leaves is a "resolute grappling with totality," not just
biography or "the expression of a merely perceptual mind in a state
of Bacchanalian sense activity." It is a counterpart of modern
society in its individualism, political stance, and healthy realism.
W has vast potential significance, representing the poetry of the
future.
154. Shipley, Maynard. "Democracy as a Religion." Open Court.
33 (July), 385-93.
W's idea of democracy, founded upon love, leads to a new
religion based on enlightened Intelligence and the needs of the
heart, affecting one's whole life:'with sympathy and a Gospel-like
spirit. W is "the most powerful and convincing exponent" of
Transcendentalism, "a, monist, a pantheist," with optimism and faith
for the scientific age. His poems on death provide excellent comfort.
155. Gosse, Edmund. "The Whitman Centenary." Living Age, 302
(5 July), 41-43.
Reprinted from London Sunday Times (unlocatedJ.
The apparently neglected 1855 Preface merits attention. W's
influence has declined as he has become fashionable, but he is not
respectable and must be approached "at his uncompromising centre"
rather than in his more innocuous poems. Descriotion of the 1876
subscription.
543
156. Lessing, O. E. "Walt Whitman's Message." Open Court, 33
(August), 449-62.
Despite his wish to reconcile religion and science, W's mind
was unscientific. His messageof love is "identical in spirit with
the Sermon on the Mount." He was a poet rather than a consistant or
original thinker (deriving from Emerson). Vistas emphasizes "the
harmony of the Individual with the collecgive spirit." His
impressionistic and subjective literary criticism has four criteria:
"the democratic, the cosmic, the suggestive, the healthy and naked."
He failed to perceive how his ideas were realized in Goethe. A less
academic criticism is needed to respond to W's ideals and depiction
of actual life rather than only his verse form.
157. Wyatt, Edith. "Whitman and Anne Gilchrist." North American
Review, 210 (September), 388-400.
Describes W's relationship with Gilchrist, their similar
spiritural outlooks, his qualities that precluded passionate
involvement.
158. Anon. "Whitman.” New York Delineator, 95 (October), 5.
A poems like "Pioneers" impresses through W's "beauty of
imagery" and conception of democracy such as no other American had
expressed. Had he put music in his verse, W would have been one of
the great poets of all time.
159. Baldensperger, Fernand. "Walt Whitman and France." Columbia
University Quarterly, 21 (October),-298-309.
Describes W's affinity to French thought and genius, interest
in French writers, early and contemporary reputation in France,
influence.
544
160. Banham, Arthur. "Walt Whitman." Holborn Review, NS 10
(October), 433-43.
W was."the pioneer to a high spiritual conception of life," "the
child of America" with "the vision of a Hebrew prophet." His themes
are Personality (development of the individual, regard for the body),
Love (though ignoring- spiritual love between the sexes), Democracy
(his faith in the common people, well-depicted in his poetry), Religion
(materialism as part of his spiritualism). He achieved cosmic
consciousness not by suppressing life but by its highest expression.
161. Hubbell, Jay. "De Toequevilie and Whitman." Nation, 109
(22 November), 655.
Quotes passages from Democracy in America as prophetic of W: the
loose style of democratic literature, rejection of poetic themes of
past legends and supernatural beings in favor of "the destinies of
mankind."
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