The young journalist and reformer Horace Traubel visited Whitman nearly every day at his home in Camden, New Jersey. Whitman liked to talk, especially about the big issues, spiritual, political - all he'd learned over seven decades of peace and war. To mark the bicentenary of Walt Whitman's death, Carcanet presents Brenda Wineapple's distillation from these conversations with the great American poet. Whitman speaks from the heart, an old man who changed the course of American poetry and, by extension, the poetries of Europe ...
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The young journalist and reformer Horace Traubel visited Whitman nearly every day at his home in Camden, New Jersey. Whitman liked to talk, especially about the big issues, spiritual, political - all he'd learned over seven decades of peace and war. To mark the bicentenary of Walt Whitman's death, Carcanet presents Brenda Wineapple's distillation from these conversations with the great American poet. Whitman speaks from the heart, an old man who changed the course of American poetry and, by extension, the poetries of Europe, Asia, Latin America. Here, too, is the poet's worldly side - recalling the opprobrium heaped on Leaves of Grass for its poetic risks and sexual frankness; memories of Thoreau, Emerson and Lincoln; his judgments of Shakespeare, Goethe and Tolstoy; and his sense of the Nation.
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The Library of America aptly celebrates the 200th anniversary of the birth of Walt Whitman (1819 -- 1892) with this short new book, "Walt Whitman Speaks: His Final Thoughts on Life, Writing, Spirituality, and the Promise of America". Whitman is no stranger to the LOA which includes a large volume of Whitman's poetry and prose, a selected volume of poetry in the American Poets Project series, and more. Yet this volume shows a new side of Whitman which will help readers think about his importance in the 200th year of his birth. Brenda Wineapple, the volume's editor, has written extensively on 19th century American history and literature, including her 2013 history, "Ecstatic Nation: Confidence, Crisis, and Compromise, 1848 -- 1877". The title "Ecstatic Nation" itself is an appropriate way for thinking about Whitman.
This new book consists of selections from Whitman's conversations during the last four years of his life with Horace Traubel. Whitman had been living in Camden, New Jersey from 1873. He met the adolescent Traubel ( 1858 -- 1919,) and the two gradually became trusted friends. Beginning when Traubel was 29, he would visit Whitman daily and meticulously take down the results of their wide-ranging conversations. Traubel eventually accumulated over 5000 pages consisting of his discussions with Whitman, and these conversations were published in nine large books, each titled "With Walt Whitman in Camden". Traubel's first book was published in 1906, and the final volumes of the series were published at last in 1996. Traubel's books documenting his association with Whitman has dwarfed Traubel's own considerable literary output which has been almost forgotten.
The nine volumes of Traubel are far too much even for the most avid student of Whitman. The LOA and Wineapple have performed a service by radically pruning Traubel's work to create this short book of under 200 pages. The volume consists of Whitman's short statements, many of which are under a paragraph in length, on a variety of subjects. The selections are arranged by subject matter and include only Whitman's own words rather than any interplay with Traubel.
The 35 sections in the volume allow the reader to share the companionship of Whitman in his old age. The book begins with some thought of Whitman on "Nature" and continue with his observations ranging over other literary figures, his own writing, including "Leaves of Grass", and on literature, poetry, and criticism. Further selections offer Whitman's thoughts on human relationships, including, markedly, sexual relations, friendship, love, and self-reliance. Wineapple presents some of Whitman's thoughts on his beloved United States, including discussions of democracy, the Civil War, Abraham Lincoln, politics, internationalism, radicalism, and the promise of America. The latter selections in the book take a philosophical cast as Whitman discusses science, religion, spirituality, the mystery of life, and his own response to old age and impending death.
The book offers the reader an excellent, short opportunity to spend time and to think with Whitman. If the nine volumes of Traubel are too much, however, my feeling was that this volume was too short and that there was more from Whitman that might be said. Still, this volume is a treat to make the elderly Whitman accessible to a wide readership in the LOA. In her perceptive introduction to the volume, Wineapple shares her own reaction to getting to know Whitman through Traubel.
"I found him to be a remarkable man, alert and engaged and without regret, a democrat in all things although not without his prejudices. .... In reading through his observations and declarations, I believe now more than ever that Walt Whitman remains an original, a man far ahead of his time who insisted on being himself. Proud never to have backed down or away from what he wanted to do, he did not mask his own wish, even his burning need to be recognized. So he collaborated with Horace Traubel, and hence with me, and with all of us who can for a little while eavesdrop on Whitman speaking about Whitman and his work, about other poets, about critics, about religion, and about his beloved America."
I was grateful for the opportunity to spend time with Whitman. In this time of polarization, it is a gift to hear his voice. Whitman reminds us of the importance of patriotism and of the value and promise of the United States even when Americans may criticize one another and disagree. Whitman's breadth, love of country and spirituality speak more clearly than ever to our rowdy, diverse, and sometimes divided nation.
