John Addington Symonds, Walt Whitman, A Study

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Walt WhitmanA STUDY

JOHN ADDINGTON SYMONDS

JVITH T0RTRA1T *AND FOUR ILLUSTRATIONS

LONDONJOHN C. NIMMO14 KING WILLIAM STREET, STRAND

MDCCCXCI1I


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PREFACEThis study hardly needs an introduction. All thatis wanted for a knowledge of Walt Whitmanand his works is the " Complete Poems and Prose n(1888), and " Walt Whitman" by Richard MauriceBucke, M.D. (D. Mackay, Philadelphia, 1883). / amindebted to the kindness of Mr. J. W. Wallace, ofAnderton, Lancashire, for the use of copious notesfrom conversations with the poet, and to Dr. J. Johnston,of Bolton, for the permission to reproduce photographstaken by himself in 1 890.

Davos Platz,March 10, 1893.


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TABLE OF CONTENTSNOTICE OF WALT WHITMAN'S LIFE

Born in 1819 on Long IslandHis ancestryLife in boyhoodat BrooklynTeaching school and journalismLearns theprinting tradeYouth and early manhood in New YorkDescriptions of his personal appearance and qualitiesRoamings through the Southern and Western StatesSpeculates in buildingForms the first conception of" Leaves of Grass "Experiments in styleFirst editionof 1855Its receptionEmerson, Thoreau, LincolnWaltadheres to his original planThe Secession WarHospitalworkSevere illness in 1864Paralysis in 1873"DrumTaps " and " Democratic Vistas"Whitman and SecretaryHarlanWhitman in the Attorney-General's officeHischronic bad health, owing to the stress of hospital-work,lays him upPoverty" Specimen Days "Their value forthe understanding of his characterProtracted invalidismat Camden, N.J.Growth of his fame as writerDevotedfriendsDeath in 1892 xi

STUDY OF WALT WHITMANI

Difficulty of dealing with Whitman's work by any purelycritical methodControversies aroused by " Leaves ofGrass "The man and his personalityLeadership of acauseOriginality and largeness of scaleImpossibilityof reducing Jiis doctrine to a systemThe main points ofhis creed 1


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viii TABLE OF CONTENTSII

ReligionGod immanent in the universeAll faith and dogmasare provisional, relative in valueAnalysis of the poem" Chanting the Square Deific "Unrestricted faith andimperturbable optimismIn what way was Whitman aChristian ?His religion corresponds to the principles ofmodern scienceThe Cosmic EnthusiasmIts importancefor the individual .' 13

III

Personality or SelfThe meaning of egotism for WhitmanIntimate connection between man and natureParamountimportance of a sound and self-reliant personalityAll'things exist for the individualBody and soulThe idealof athletic selfhood . . "; '. ~ ... 36

IVex-LoveAmativeness and AdhesivenessLove of women, love

of comradesWhitman's treatment of the normal sexualemotionsHis relation to scienceThe poet's touch onscientific truthsBreadth of viewPrimitive conceptionof J sexuality and marriageMisconceptions to which hisdoctrines have been exposed 54

The Love of comrades" Calamus "The ideal of a friendship,fervid, passionate, pure Novelty of this conceptionLiability to misconstructionQuestion whether a new typeof chivalry be not involved in the doctrine of "Calamus''Political importance of comradeshipSpeculations on theground-stuff of " Calamus " 67


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TABLE OF CONTENTS xiVI PAOBDemocracyThe word En-MasseEquality of human beings-

Miracles are all around us in the common worldWhere-ever and whoeverHeroism in daily life no less than inancient fable or religious mythDemocracy under theaspect of a new creedQuestions regarding DemocraticArtExtension of the spheres of poetry and plastic beautyMiddle-class prejudices and pettinessesThe advent ofthe peopleCritique of cultureAmerica and EuropeWhitman's firm belief in DemocracyThe " Divine Average "His attitude toward the past 86

VIIWhitman's start in literatureAttempts to create a new style

Analysis of the first preface to "Leaves of Grass" (1855)Qualities, intellectual and moral, demanded from thedemocratic bard 125.

VIII-IXSummary of Whitman's description of the poetHow far did he

realise his own ideal ?Weak points in his methodHispermanently substantial qualitiesQuestion whether hiswritings are to be called poetryPassages proving hishigh rank as a creative artist 139-

XReturn to the difficulty of criticising WhitmanAllusive and

metaphorical ways of presenting himThe main thing isto make people read himStatement by the author ofthis study of what Whitman did for himself... 154-


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WALT WHITMAN.From the painting by J. W. Alexander.


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SHORT NOTICE OF THE LIFE OFWALT WHITMAN

Walt Whitman was born in the year 1819, atWest Hills, on Long Island, New York State.He was the second of six sons and two daughterschildren of Walter Whitman and his wife, LouisaVan Velsor. The earliest known ancestor of theWhitman family was Abijah, born in Englandabout 1560. His son, Zechariah, emigrated toConnecticut in the first half of the seventeenthcentury, and his grandson, Joseph, settled onLong Island. The Whitmans were probablyyeomen in the old country, for I find no armsrecorded under their name. The poet's motherclaimed descent from one of the old Dutchfamilies of New York." The Whitmans," writes Dr. Bucke, " were,and are still, a solid, tall, strong-framed, long-lived race of men, moderate of speech, friendly,fond of their land and of horses and cattle,


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xii SHORT NOTICE OF THEsluggish in their passions, but fearful when oncestarted/' The Van Velsors were also farmers,occupied for the most part with horse-breeding.Walt inherited on both sides a sound constitu-tion, untainted blood, comeliness of person, well-balanced emotions, and excellent moral principles.Long Island, or Panmanok, as Walt loved

to call it, using its ancient Indian name, isabout a hundred miles in length, and has beendescribed in these words : " Shaped like a fish,plenty of sea-shore, the horizon boundless, the airfresh and healthy, the numerous bays and creeksswarming with aquatic birds, the south-side mea-dows covered with salt hay, the soil generallytough, but affording numberless springs of thesweetest water in the world."Whitman's " Leaves of Grass " are saturated

through and through with the inspirations andassociations of his breezy birthplace. Yet thegreater portion of his early boyhood was spent atBrooklyn, whither his father, a carpenter by trade,removed. He went to school until the age ofthirteen, and was then sent to learn printing. Itappears, however, that Walt paid frequent visitsto his relatives upon the Island. As early as


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LIFE OF WALT WHITMAN xiiisixteen, or thereabouts, he tramped the country," teaching school," and began about this time towrite for newspapers and magazines. In 1839-40he edited a weekly journal called the LongIslander, at Huntingdon. Then he settled downin New York to the work of a compositor, com-bining this with journalism and public speaking.The next period of fifteen years was decisive

for his character as man of genius and citizen.He absorbed the whole life of New York andBrooklyn into his own nature, exploring everyquarter of the huge city, becoming acquaintedwith all trades, consorting familiarly with allclasses and sorts of people. The enormous varietyof knowledge, the broad sympathies, the just per-ception of relative values in life, and the serenewisdom which distinguish "Leaves of Grass,"were gained at this time. It may be Avell, beforecontinuing this biographic sketch, to introducehere some descriptions of the man and hisappearance, the impressions he made on friendsand strangers, which have been preserved for usby those who knew him.

11 Walt Whitman had a small printing-officeand book-store in Myrtle Avenue, Brooklyn,


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xiv SHORT NOTICE OF THEwhere after his return from the South he startedthe Freeman newspaper, first as weekly, then asdaily, and continued it a year or so. The super-ficial opinion about him was that he was some-what of an idler, ' a loafer,' but not in a badsense. He always earned his own living. Ithought him a very natural person. He woreplain, cheap clothes, which were always particu-larly clean. Everybody knew him, every onealmost liked him. We all of us (referring to theother members of his family, brothers, sisters,father and mother), long before he published'Leaves of Grass,' looked upon him as a manwho was to make a mark in the world. He wasalways a good listener, the best I ever knewof late years, I think, he talks somewhat morein those early years (1849-54) he talked verylittle indeed. When he did talk his conversationwas remarkably pointed, attractive, and clear.When ' Leaves of Grass ' first appeared Ithought it a great work, but that the man wasgreater than the book. His singular coolness wasan especial feature. I have never seen himexcited in the least decree : never heard himswear but once. He was quite grey at thirty.


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LIFE OF WALT WHITMAN xvHe had a look of age in his youth, as he has nowa look of youth in his age."" Walt's appearance used to attract greatattention from the passengers when he came onboard the boat. He was quite six feet in heightwith the frame of a gladiator, a flowing grey beardmingled with the hairs on his broad, slightlybared chest. In his well-laundried checked shirt-sleeves, with trousers frequently pushed into hisboot-legs, his fine head covered with an immenseslouch black or light felt hat, he would walkabout with a naturally majestic stride, a massivemodel of ease and independence. I hardly thinkhis style of dress in those days was meant to beeccentric ; he was very antagonistic to all show orsham, and I fancy he merely attired himself inwhat was handy, clean, economical, and comfort-able. His marked appearance, however, obtainedfor him a variety of callings in the minds ofpassengers who did not know him. 'Is he aretired sea captain ? ' some would ask ; ' an actor ?a military officer ? a clergyman ? Had he been asmuggler, or in the slave trade ? ' To amuseWalt I frequently repeated these odd speculationsupon him. He laughed until the tears ran when


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xvi SHORT NOTICE OF THEI once told him that a

very confidential observerhad assured me he was crazy ! "" On Pennsylvania Avenue or Seventh or Four-teenth Street, or perhaps of a Sunday along thesuburban road towards Rock Creek, or across onArlington Heights, or up the shores of thePotomac, you will meet moving along at a firmbut moderate pace, a robust figure, six feet high,costumed in blue or grey, with drab hat, broadshirt collar, grey-white beard, full and curly, withface like a red apple, blue eyes, and a look ofanimal health more indicative of hunting or boat-ing than the department office or author's desk.Indeed, the subject of our item, in his verse, hismanners, and even in his philosophy, evidentlydraws from, and has reference to, the influencesof sea and sky, and woods and prairies, with theirlaws, and man in his relations to them, whileneither the conventional parlour nor library hascast its spells upon him."

" Walt Whitman's dress was always extremelyplain. He usually wore in pleasant weather alight-grey suit of good woollen cloth. The onlything peculiar about his dress was that he hadno necktie at any time, and always wore shirts


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LIFE OF WALT WHITMAN xviiwith very large turn-down collars, the button atthe neck some five or six inches lower than usual,so that the throat and upper part of the breastwere exposed. In all other respects he dressedin a substantial, neat, plain, common way.Everything he wore, and everything about him,was always scrupulously clean. His clothes might{and often did) show signs of wear, or they mightbe torn or have holes worn in them ; but theynever looked soiled. Indeed, an exquisite aromaof cleanliness has always been one of the specialfeatures of the man ; it has always belonged tohis clothes, his breath, his whole body, his eatingand drinking, his conversation, and no one couldknow him for an hour without seeing that itpenetrated his mind and life, and was in fact theexpression of a purity which was physical asmuch as moral, and moral as much as physical."

" Lethargic during an interview, passive andreceptive, an admirable listener, never in a hurry,with the air of one who has plenty of leisure,always in perfect repose, simple and direct inmanners, a lover of plain, common people, ' meeterof savage and gentlemen on equal terms,' tem-perate, chaste, sweet-breath'd, tender and affec-


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xviii SHORT NOTICE OF THEtionate, of copious friendship, with a large,summery, paternal soul that shines in all waysand looks, he is by no means the ' rough ' certainpeople have been so willing to believe. Fastidiousas a high caste Brahmin in his food and personalneatness and cleanliness, well dressed, with agrey, open throat, a deep sympathetic voice, akind, genial look, the impression he makes uponyou is that of the best blood and breeding. Hereminds one of the first men, the beginners ; hasa primitive outdoor looknot so much from beingin the open air as from the texture and quality ofhis makea look as of the earth, the sea, or themountains, and ' is usually taken,' says a latechampion of his cause, ' for some great mechanic,or stevedore, or seaman, or grand labourer of onekind or another.' His physiognomy presents verymarked featuresfeatures of the true antiquepattern, almost obsolete in modern facesseen inthe strong, square bridge of his nose, his higharching brows, and the absence of all bulging inhis foreheada face approximating in type tothe statued Greek. He does not mean intellectmerely, but life ; and one feels that he mustarrive at his results rather by sympathy and


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LIFE OF WALT WHITMAN xixabsorption than by hard intellectual processesby the effluence of power rather than by directand total application of it.""For years past, thousands of people in New

York, in Brooklyn, in Boston, in New Orleans,and latterly in Washington, have seen, even as Isaw two hours ago, tallying, one might say, thestreets of our American cities, and fit to have forhis background and accessories their streaming-populations and ample and rich facades, a man ofstriking masculine beautya poetpowerful andvenerable in appearance ; large, calm, superblyformed ; oftenest clad in the careless, rough, andalways picturesque costume of the common people ;resembling, and generally taken by strangers forsome great mechanic or stevedore, or seaman, orgrand labourer of one kind or another ; andpassing slowly in this guise, with nonchalantand haughty step along the pavement, with thesunlight and shadows falling around him. Thedark sombrero he usually wears was, when I sawhim just now, the day being warm, held for themoment in his hand ; rich light an artist wouldhave chosen, lay upon his uncovered head,majestic, large, Homeric, and set upon his strong


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xx SHORT NOTICE OF THEshoulders with the grandeur of ancient sculpture.I marked the countenance, serene, proud, cheer-ful, florid, grave ; the brow seamed with noblewrinkles ; the features massive and handsome,with firm blue eyes ; the eyebrows and eyelidsespecially showing that fulness of arch seldomseen save in the antique busts ; the flowing hairand fleecy beard, both very grey, and temperingwith a look of age the youthful aspect of one whois but forty-five ; the simplicity and purity of hisdress cheap and plain, but spotless, from snowyfalling collar to burnished boot, and exhalingfaint fragrance ; the whole form surrounded withmanliness as with a nimbus, and breathing, inits perfect health and vigour, the august charm ofthe strong."

These notices are culled from various sources.*The repetition of the same points in them is thestrongest evidence of Whitman's remarkablepersonality. His health in early manhood seemsto have been absolutely perfect, and mere exist-ence was perpetual joy

In 1847-48 he edited the Daily Eagle news-paper at Brooklyn, and in 1849 he set forth on* See Dr. Bucke's " Life of Walt Whitman," pp. 25, 33, 43, 50, 57, 99.


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LIFE OF WALT WHITMAN xxian excursion through the middle, southern, andwestern States. " He passed slowly," says Dr.Bucke, " through Pennsylvania and Virginia,crossed the Alleghany Mountains, took a steam-boat at Wheeling, descended by leisurely stagesthe Ohio and Mississippi rivers to New Orleans,and lived there some time, employed edi-torially on a newspaper, the Crescent." On hisreturn journey, he took a different route, reach-ing New York by way of St. Louis, Chicago,Milwaukee, Detroit, the great Lakes, andNiagara. Referring to these wanderings in aletter which he empowered me to publish (datedAugust 19, 1890), Whitman says: "My life,young manhood, mid-age, times south, &c., havebeen jolly bodily, and doubtless open to criticism."After this sentence there follow details con-cerning his domestic circumstances, which provethat, although he never married, his youth andmanhood were not passed without episodes ofpassion and permanent attachment.

It must be remembered that Whitman de-pended on labour for his bread. All throughthese journeyings, then, he was brought intoimmediate contact with the people. The United


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xxii SHORT NOTICE OF THEStates, in their breadth and length and largeness,became known to him, and he laid amplefoundations of experience for the work of hisprime.

Settling down again at Brooklyn in 1851 heedited a newspaper called the Freeman, and alsobegan to build and sell houses. That proved,commercially, a paying speculation. But Waltalready felt that he had something different todo in life than to make money. " Leaves ofGrass " was taking shape, and of this work hesays in the letter to myself already quoted :" The writing and rounding off of ' Leaves ofGrass ' has been to me reason-for-being and life'scomfort below all." Some years elapsed beforehe determined upon the form which this bookshould assume. He made many experiments,wrote and re-wrote, testing his compositions bycomparison with open nature, until at last heshaped that peculiar style which has been thesubject of so much criticism.

In 1855 the first edition appeared at Brooklyn,a thin quarto volume, containing twelve poemsand the prose-preface, which ranks among hismost poetical performances. Whitman assisted


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WALT WHITMAN ON THE WHARFAT CAMDEN, NEW JERSEY, JULY 1S9O.


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LIFE OF WALT WHITMAN xxiiiat the printing of the book. It was greetedwith howls of execration and roars of laughter."When the book aroused such a tempest ofanger and condemnation everywhere," he told afriend, " I went off to the east end of LongIsland, and spent the late summer and all thefallthe happiest of my lifearound ShelterIsland and Peconic Bay. Then came back toNew York with the confirmed resolution, fromwhich I never afterwards wavered, to go on withmy poetic enterprise in my own way, and finishit as well as I could." The rest of his life isinextricably interwoven with the "writing androunding-off of 'Leaves of Grass." Edition fol-lowing edition, at irregular intervals, between1855 and 1892, added form and substance tothe nucleus of the first twelve poems. Whatis most remarkable in the history of this workis the way in which the original conceptionadmitted of infinite extension and adjustment.You feel, on looking through the slender volumeof 1855, that the author already contemplatedadditions, and that the extremely singular styleand form of his poems were adapted to thismethod of treatment. The growth of " Leaves


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xxiv SHORT NOTICE OF THEof Grass

"might fancifully be compared to thatof a stag's antlers, which put forth yearly snags

or prongs, until the stag of ten attains thefulness of majestic maturity.Among other eminent men to whom Whitman

addressed a copy of " Leaves of Grass " wasEmerson. He replied in a private letter of greatcordiality, which he never afterwards retractedor modified, even though Whitman and hisprinters adopted the rather questionable measureof publishing it in the enlarged edition of 1856.It must be inserted here, for the part this letterplayed in the history of Whitman's fame wasimportant.

"Concord, Mass., July 21, 1885." Dear Sir,I am not blind to the worth of

the wonderful gift of 'Leaves of Grass.' I findit the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdomthat America has yet contributed. I am veryhappy in reading it, as great power makes ushappy. It meets the demand I am alwaysmaking of what seems the sterile and stingyNature, as if too much handiwork or too muchlymph in the temperament were making our


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LIFE OF WALT WHITMAN xxvWestern wits fat and mean. I give you joy ofyour free and brave thought. I have great joyin it. I find incomparable things, said incom-parably well, as they must be. I find the courageof treatment which so delights us, and whichlarge perception only can inspire." I greet you at the beginning of a great career,which yet must have had a long foreground some-where, for such a start. I rubbed my eyes alittle, to see if this sunbeam were no illusion ;but the solid sense of the book is a sober cer-tainty. It has the best meritsnamely, of forti-fying and encouraging."

I did not know, until I last night saw thebook advertised in a newspaper, that I could trustthe name as real and available for a post-office." I wish to see my benefactor, and have feltmuch like striking my tasks, and visiting NewYork to pay you my respects.

"K. W. Emebjson."Emerson, I may add, sent a copy of " Leaves

of Grass " to Carlyle, and presented one toArthur Hugh Clough. Thoreau also began totake notice of Whitman. He was puzzled by


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xxvi SHORT NOTICE OF THEthe poet's audacities. " There are two or threepieces in the book which are disagreeable, to saythe least ; simply sensual." But he adds : "Idonot belieye that all the sermons, so-called, thathave been preached in this land put together areequal to it for preaching. We ought to rejoicegreatly in him." It was Thoreau, too, who said"He is Democracy." And here I may recallPresident Lincoln's remark on seeing Whitmanfrom the windows of the White House : " Well,he is a man." Napoleon, it may be remembered,said the like to Goethe.But the public were not of the same opinion

as Emerson, Thoreau, Lincoln. The fury rousedby the edition of 1856 frightened Whitman'spublishers, who refused to sell the book. Hemeanwhile continued to compose chants in thesame triumphant tone of self-complacent egotism,until he had enough new material to producethe enlarged and beautifully printed editionof i860.

If Walt had written nothing after this, hisimmortality as poet would have been secured,and his thoughts in their mass and detail wouldhave been adequately expressed. Among the


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LIFE OF WALT WHITMAN xxviimost important matter added in the i860 editionwas the section entitled " Calamus."

Copies soon found their way to England, andwithin the space of a few years, we were allreading and discussing Walt.

Walt's life as a creative poet was rudely inter-rupted by the national convulsion of the greatSecession War. What happened to him at thatperiod, determined his subsequent career ; partlyby condemning him to the long and tedious illness,which checked his marvellous vitality at its high-tide ; partly by supplying him with themes forthe sweetest and purest, if not the most impres-sive, of his poems ; partly by consecrating andennobling a personality which the public hithertomisunderstood. This does not mean that Whit-man needed purification or rehabilitation onaccount of anything that he had previously said,or done, or published. He remained the sameman, followed the track traced out at the begin-ning of his poet's life, abated no jot or tittle ofthe doctrine he felt called on to deliver. But hislife during the war, his service in the cause ofsufferers, his practical exemplification of principlesin circumstances trying to the sturdiest and the


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xxviii SHORT NOTICE OF THEbravest, the sacrifice of his health, the test of hisreligion by unwearied acts of love and charityand comradeship, forced society to recognise theessential worth and dignity of the poet, who hadbeen condemned as a New York rowdy, a freelover, a disseminator of lawless and immoralparadoxes. No one, however prejudiced, canstudy Specimen Daysthe unaffected and spon-taneous record of his experiencewithout feelingthat the grounds of common hostility to theauthor of Children of Adam must be overhauledand reconsidered. Disciples of his doctrine appealwith confidence to those pages, and say : the manwho lived and acted thus, was sound to the coreand worthy of a patient hearing.How this came about, may be briefly related.Walt's brother George volunteered for the armyof the north, and was wounded in the firstFredericksburg battle, December 1862. Waltstarted for the camp upon the Rappahannock,nursed his brother through, and then went downto Washington in charge of wounded Brooklynsoldiers. There he stayed, as an attendant in themilitary hospitals, bestowing the same care onmen of both sides, and visiting the battle-fields.


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John Addington Symonds, Walt Whitman, A Study

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