WALT WHITMAN
(p. 5103.
WALT WHITMAN. AN ADDRESS BY
ROBERTO. INGERSOLL LIBERTY
IN
LITERATURE.
Delivered in Philadelphia, Oct. 21, 1890. Alo Funeral dress Delivered at Harleigb, Camden, N. J.,
March
30, 1892.
WITH PORTRAIT OF WHITMAN. AUTHORIZED EDITION.
NEW YORK;
THE TRUTH SEEKER COMPANY, 28
LAFAYETTK PLACE.
Ad
Copyrighted, 1890,
BY
THE TRUTH SEEKER COMPANY.
TESTIMONIAL TO
WALT WHITMAN. OF
all
the placid hours in his peaceful
those that Walt
Whitman spent on
life,
the stage of
Horticultural Hall last night must have been
among
the most gratifying, says the Philadel-
phia Press of October
To
22, 1890.
a testi-
monial, intended to cheer his declining years,
not only in a complimentary sense, came some
eighteen hundred or more people to listen to a tribute to the aged poet by Col. Robert G.
seldom
Ingersoll, such as living
On
man
to
falls to
the lot of
hear about himself.
the stage sat
many admirers
able torch-bearer of
of the vener-
modern poetic thought, as
LIBERTY
4;
IIST
MTERATURE.
Colonel Ingersoli described him, young and old,
men and women.
There were white beards,
but none were so white as that of the author of "
He
Leaves of Grass."
sat calm
and sedate
in
his easy wheeled chair, with his usual garb of
gray, with his cloudy white hair falling over
turned-down collar that must have
his white,
been three inches wide. from the orator's ity
No
burst of eloquence
lips disturbed that
equanim-
no tribute of applause moved him from his
;
habitual calm.
And when
"We
said,
the lecturer,
having concluded,
have met to-night to honor our-
by honoring the author of 'Leaves of " and the audience started to leave the Grass,' selves
hall,
the
ward with
man
they had honored reached for-
his cane
and attracted Colonel Inger-
soll's attention.
"
" 1
'
Do
not leave yet," said Colonel Ingersoli,
Mr. Whitman has a word This
istic
is
what he
thing ever
said,
fell
flowed from his pen
;
to say."
and no more character-
from the poet's
lips or
TESTIMONIAL TO WALT WHITMAN. "After
all,
my
friends,
being the curious presence
come here
and to
main
factors
testimony called personal
face
be
the
5
to
face
meeting, I have
among you and show
and thank you with
my
myself,
living voice for coming,
and Robert Ingersoil for speaking.
And
so
with such brief testimony of showing myself,
and such good hail
will
and farewell."
.
and gratitude, I bid you
TESTIMONIAL TO WALT WHITMAN.
THE ADDRESS. Let us Put Wreaths on the Brows of the Living.
I.
knew
IN the year 1855 the American people
but
little of
books.
were English.
Their
Young and
ideals,' their
models,
Pollok, Addison and
Watts were regarded as great poets. Some of the more reckless read Thomson's "Seasons" and the poems and novels of Sir Walter
A
few, not
quite
orthodox,
Scott.
delighted in the
mechanical monotony of Pope, and the really
wicked
those lost to
all religious
worshipers of Shakespeare.
The
shame
were
really ortho-
dox Protestant, untroubled by doubts, considered
Milton the greatest poet of them
Byron and Shelley were hardly respectable to
be read by young persons.
It
all.
not
was admitted
LIBERTY IN LITERATURE.
k
hands that Burns was a child
on
all
of
whom
of nature
mother was ashamed and proud.
his
In the blessed year aforesaid, candor,
and
sincere
were
speech,
under
the
free
ban.
Creeds at that time were entrenched behind statutes, ity,
prejudice, custom, ignorance, stupid-
and slavery
Puritanism
slavery of
it
of injustice, to
of verse
this time a
makers and writers on the
gave
young man
given
snows
of genius.
he to
whom
this
he upon whose head have
to the
of
world a book, "Leaves of Grass."
This book was, and soul.
men
but they
more than seventy winters man, born within the sound of the sea,
fallen the
this
is
There are
enemies of progress
wrong
testimonial
any kind or form
produce a great poet.
are not poets, they are not
At
to say,
always has been, and forever will
be, impossible for slavery, or
side of
is
mind and body.
Of course
hundreds
that
;
The man
is
is,
the true transcript of a
unmasked.
No
hypocrisy, no pretense, no fear. as original in form as in thought.
drapery of
The book was All customs
TESTIMONIAL TO WALT WHITMAN. were forgotten or disregarded,
nothing
no
mechanical
neous, running and winding
tudinous in
rules broken
imitation
sponta-
like a river, multi-
thoughts as the waves of the
its
nothing mathematical
sea
all
9
In
or measured.
everything a touch of chaos
lacking what
is
called form as clouds lack form, but not lack-
ing the splendor of sunrise or the glory of sunIt
set.
was a marvelous collection and aggre-
gation of fragments, hints, suggestions,
memo-
ries,
and prophecies, weeds and flowers, clouds
aijd
clods,
sights
passions, waves,
and sounds, emotions and
shadows and
constellations.
His book was received by many with disdain, with horror, with indignation and protest
by
few as a marvelous, almost miraculous,
the
message
to the
world
-
full of
thought, philos-
ophy, poetry and music.
In
the
republic
A
dangerous.
of
mediocrity genius
great soul appears and
fills
world with new and marvelous harmonies. his
words
is
the old Promethean flame.
heart of nature beats and throbs in his
is
the
In
The line.
LIBERTY IN LITERATURE.
10
The respectable prudes and pedagogues sound the alarm, and cry, or rather screech
" :
Is this
a book for a young person?"
A poem
true to
as nature
They
fills
life
Greek statue
as a
candid
these barren souls with fear.
forget that drapery about the perfect
was suggested by immodesty. The provincial prudes, and others mold, pretend that love passion
a
mastering
cerity, of truth,
down
they cast
is
of pre-
In the presence of sin-
feel immodest*.
beautiful thing
not an over-
They preach the gospel
tense and pantalettes.
like
a duty rather than a
kind of self-denial
joy.
endeavor to
is
of
their eyes and
To them,
the most
hypocrisy adorned with a
blush.
They have no idea glorying in
its
of
an honest, pure passion,
strength
intense,
intoxicated
with the beautiful, giving even to inanimate things pulse and motion, and that transfigures, ennobles, and idealizes the object of its adoration.
They do not walk the
streets of the city of
TESTIMONIAL TO WALT WHITMAN. life
they explore the sewers
the gutters and cry
"
Unclean
that beauty is a snare
;
that the highway of joy
with flowers and
filled
;
!"
H
they stand in
They pretend
that love is a Delilah is
;
the broad road, lined
with perfume, leading to
the city of eternal sorrow.
Since the year 1855 the American people
have developed
;
they are somewhat acquainted
with the literature of the world.
They have
witnessed the most tremendous of revolutions, not only upon the fields of battle, but in the
world of thought.
The American
concluded that
hardly worth while being a
it is
citizen has
sovereign unless he has the right to think for himself.
And now, from
this hight,
with the vantage-
ground of to-day, I propose to examine this book and to state, in a general way, what Walt Whitman has dne, what he has accomplished, and the place he has won in the world thought.
of
LIBERTY IN LITERATURE.
12
II.
THE EELIGION OF THE BODY. Walt Whitman book, where ually
all
where
He was
prophecy begins.
very tips of his fingers
pyous the
full
of
philosophy
ends and
of life
to the
brave, eager, candid,
acquainted with
He knew something
past.
story,
history
He was
with health.
his
on the perpet-
stand to-night line
moving
when he published
stood,
and
art
of
song and
much
of
the
heroic dead, of brave suffering, of the thoughts of
men, the habits of the people
as poor
rich as well
familiar with labor, a friend of
wind
and wave, touched by love and friendshipliking the
open road, enjoying the
paths, the crags
that he willing
was
friend of the forest
free
that all
fields
and
feeling
neither master nor slave
should know his thoughts
open as the sky, candid as nature
and he gave
TESTIMONIAL TO WALT WHITMAN.
13
his thoughts, his dreams, his conclusions, his
hopes, and his mental portrait to his fellow-
men.
Walt Whitman announced the gospel
He
body.
He
confronted the people.
He
the depravity of man.
not a crime
;
that
proudly natural
;
of the
denied
insisted that love is
men and women should be
that they need not grovel on
the earth and cover their faces for shame.
He
taught the dignity and glory of the father and
mother
;
the sacredness of maternity.
Maternity, tender and pure as the tear of pity,
the crown, the flower,
holy as suffering
the ecstasy of love.
People had been taught from bibles and from creeds that maternity was a kind of crime the
woman
;
that
should be purified by some cere-
some temple
built in
honor of some
mony
in
god.
This barbarism was attacked in
"
Leaves
of Grass."
The glory tion
of
and alL
of simple life
independence
was sung
was
made
;
a declarafor
each
LIBERTY IN LITERATURE.
14
And
manhood and
yet this appeal to
womanhood was misunderstood.
It
nounced simply because
in
was
it
It
in our language is celibacy.
was not the fashion
write their thoughts.
for people to
We
The
They endeavored
ionable world. tage or palace,
the
hut in which
their
the real, of what
and
;
make a
that the cot-
little
area in which
domain, their
They were ashamed
their
of
world actually was.
that is to say, they told
these lies filled
fash-
they dwelt was a
their
slops
realm, their empire.
They imitated
to
They pretended
and they called the
they threw
writers did
describe the worlds in which
faithfully
they lived.
speak or
were flooded with
the literature of hypocrisy.
not
was de-
harmony To me, the
with the great trend of nature.
most obscene word
to
the
literature
of
lies,
most
lands.
Walt Whitman defended the sacredness love,
the purity of passion
builds every
and song.
home and
fills
of
the passion that the world with art
TESTIMONIAL TO WALT WHITMAN.
They
he
sion
He
cried out
"
He
:
a libertine
is
lacks spirituality
a defender of pas-
is
He
!
15
lives in the mire.
!"
Whoever differs with
the multitude, especially
with a led multitude multitude of taggers
that is to say, with a will find out
from their
leaders that he has committed an unpardonable It is a
sin.
especially
if
crime to travel a road of your own,
you put up guide-boards
for the
information of others.
Many, many centuries ago Epicurus, the greatest man of his century, and of many centuand
ries before
only good
;
noble
" :
is
happiness
man was
This
after, said
Happiness
all
the
the supreme end."
temperate, frugal,
and yet through
is
generous,
these years he has
been denounced by the hypocrites of the world as a
mere eater and drinker.
was said that Whitman had exaggerated the importance of love that he had made too It
much
of this passion.
Lat me say that no poet
not excepting Shakespeare
has had imagi-
nation enough to exaggerate the importance of
LIBERTY IN LITERATURE.
16
human and
all
which
a passion that contains
love
depths
it
all
hights
ample as space, with a sky in
glitter all constellations,
within
all
lightnings, all wrecks
all
storms,
and that has
and
ruins, all griefs, all sorrows, all shadows,
and
all
the joy and sunshine of which the heart
and brain are capable.
No
writer must be measured by a wr ord or
He
paragraph.
is to
be measured by his work
by the tendency, not tendency of
for
one
line,
but by the
all.
Which way does it
of
good or
the great stream tend?
evil ?
Is
Are the motives high and
noble, or low and infamous
?
"We cannot measure Shakespeare by a few lines, neither
can we measure the Bible by a
" few chapters, nor " Leaves of Grass by a few
paragraphs.
In each there are many things
that I neither approve nor believe
books you
will find a
but in
all
mingling of wisdom and
prophecies and
foolishness,
of
other words,
among the The mine
be defects.
:
mistakes
in
excellencies there will is
not
all
gold, or all
TESTIMONIAL TO WALT WHITMAN. silver,
The
or
all
diamonds
17
there are baser metals.
trees of the forest are not all of one size.
On some
of
the highest there are dead and
useless limbs, and there
neath the bushes, weeds,
may be growing beand now and then a
poisonous vine. If
I were
edit the
to
world, I might leave out leave out the best.
my
of
great
some
and I might
lines
I have no right to
make
brain a sieve and say that only that
which passes through belongs the
books of the
human
to the rest of
I claim the right to choose.
race.
I give that right to
all.
Walt Whitman had the courage his
thought
the
And
here
me
let
candor say
it
of perfect satisfaction
to
gives to look
tell
me
to express
the joy
truth.
a kind
above the big-
oted bats, the satisfied owls and wrens and chickadees, and see the great eagle poised, circling higher
existence.
and higher, unconscious
And
it
fect satisfaction, to
gives
me
joy, a
of their
kind of per-
look above the petty pas-
sions and jealousies of small and respectable
LIBERTY IN LITERATURE.
18
above the considerations of place and power and reputation, and see a brave, intrepid people
man. It
must be remembered that the American
people had separated from the Old World that
we had declared not only the independ-
ence of colonies, but the independence of the individual.
We
had done more
we had
de-
clared that the state could no longer be ruled
by the Church, and that the Church could not be ruled by the state, and that the individual could not be ruled by the Church. larations were
We
in
These dec-
danger of being forgotten.
needed a new voice, sonorous, loud
clear, a
new poet
somebody new day.
for
to chant
America
gives a true transcript of
and
suppress individuality. the public.
They
instructs.
market
Most writers
They wish
flatter the
to
please
stupid and pander
to the prejudice of their readers.
for the
new epoch,
the morning song of the
The great man who his mind, fascinates
for the
and
They
write
making books as other me-
TESTIMONIAL TO WALT WHITMAN. chanics
make
shoes.
they bear no torch of customers.
They have no message they are simply the slaves
The books they manufacture
handled by " the trade harmless.
19
The
pulpit
;"
are
they are regarded as
does not
object;
the
young person can read the monotonous pages without a blush
or a thought.
On
the
title
pages of these books you will find the imprint of
the great publishers
pages, nothing.
on the rest of the
These books might be pre-
scribed for insomnia.
LIBERTY IN LITERATURE.
20
III.
Men
of talent,
men
of business, touch life
upon few sides. They travel but the beaten The creative spirit is not in them. They path. regard with suspicion a poet
on every
side.
They have
who touches
little
life
confidence in
that divine tiling called sympathy, and they do
not and cannot understand the
man who
enters
and the feelings
into the hopes, the aims,
of all
others.
In little
all
of
genius there
the vagabond
tradesman, the
the touch of chaos
is ;
and
the
successful
man who buys and
manages a bank, does not care
a
or
sells,
to deal with a
person who has only poems for collaterals they have a
little
fear of such people,
and
re-
gard them as the awkward countryman does a sleight-of-hand performer.
In every age in which books have been pro-
TESTIMOX AL TO WALT WHITMAN.
21
cluced the governing class, the respectable, have
been opposed
to the
works
of real genius.
If
what are known as the best people could have had their way, if the pulpit had been consulted the works of Shake-
the provincial moralists
speare would have been suppressed.
would have reached our time.
may be
a line
the same
said of every dramatist of his age.
If the
Scotch Kirk could have decided, noth-
ing would have been If the
And
Not
known
of
Robert Burns.
good people, the orthodox, could have
had their
say, not
now be known.
one line of Voltaire would
All the plates of the French
Encyclopedia would have been destroyed with the thousands that were destroyed.
would have been known Diderot, or
any
of
of
the
Nothing
D'Alembert, Grimm, Titans
who warred
against the thrones and altars and laid the
foundation of modern literature not only, but
what
is of far
greater moment, universal educa-
tion.
It is not too
now held
much
to say that every
in high esteem
book
would have been de-
LIBERTY ix LITERATURE.
22 stroyed,
if
those in authority could have had
Every book
their will.
of
modern
times, that
has a real value, that has enlarged the
intel-
lectual horizon of mankind, that has developed
has furnished real food for
the brain, that
thought, can be found in the Index Expurgatorius of the Papacy,
been commended
and nearly every one has
to the fi^ee
minds
of
men by
the denunciations of Protestants. If the
guardians of society, the protectors of
"young persons," could have had their way, we should have known nothing of Byron or Shelley. The voices that thrill the world would now be
had
its
ignorant
silent.
If
authority could have
way, the world would have been as
now
as
lived in holes or
prehensile
it
was when our ancestors
hung from dead limbs by
tails.
But we are not forced If
their
to
go very
far back.
Shakespeare had been published for the
time now, those divine plays
first
greater than con-
tinents and seas, greater even than the constellations of the midnight sky
would be excluded
TESTIMONIAL TO WALT WHITMAN.
23
from the mails by the decision of the present enlightened postmaster-general.
The poets have always
lived
in
an ideal
world, and that ideal world has always been far
As a consequence,
better than the real world.
they have forever roused, not simply the imagination,
the
the enthusiasm of
but the energies
human
race.
The great poets have been on the oppressed
of
the
downtrodden.
side of the
They have
suffered with the imprisoned and the enslaved,
and whenever and wherever man has suffered for
the
stricken
right,
wherever the
down
whether on
some man
of genius has
hero has
been
field or scaffold
walked by his
side,
and some poet has given form and expression, not simply to his deeds, but to his aspirations.
From
the Greek and
Roman world we
hear the voices of a few. losophers, speak.
the
artists
The
and
still
poets, the phi-
the orators
still
Countless millions have been covered
by the waves
of
oblivion,
but the few
uttered the elemental truths,
who
who had sym-
LIBERTY IN LITERATURE.
24
pathy for the whole human race, and who were great enough to prophesy a grander day, are as alive to-night as
when they
roused, by their
bodily presence, by their living voices, by their
works
of
art,
the enthusiasm of their fellow
men.
Think
of the respectable people, of the
of wealth
and position, those who dwelt
sions, children of success,
less
Think
man-
who went down
the grave voiceless, and whose
know.
in
men
to
names we do not
of the vast multitudes, the end-
processions, that entered the caverns of
eternal night
leaving no thought
a legacy to mankind
no truth as
!
The great poets have sympathized with the people.
human
They have uttered cry.
Unbought by
in
gold,
all
ages the
unawed by
power, they have lifted high the torch that illuminates the world.
TKSTIMONIAL TO WALT WHtTMAN.
25
IV. Walt Whitman
the highest sense a be-
is in
liever in democracy.
He knows
but one excuse for government tion of liberty
;
He knows
for
institution, secular
that there
preservation of liberty
is
the preserva-
end that man may be
to the
happy.
any
that there
;
is
but one excuse
and religious
and that there
is
the
but
one excuse for schools, for universal education, for the ascertainment of facts, namely, the pres-
He resents the arrogance and cruelty of power. He has sworn never to be tyrant or slave. He has solemnly declared ervation of liber ty.
:
I speak the pass-word
By God!
I will
primeval, I give the sign of democracy,
accept nothing which
all
cannot have their
counterpart of on the same terms.
This one declaration covers the entire ground. It is a declaration of independence,
and
it
is
'
\
LIBERTY IN LITERATURE.
26
also a declaration of justice, that is to say, a
declaration of the independence of the individual,
and a declaration that
The man who has I
have taken
I
am
is
off ray
hat to nothing
known
free.
or
:
unknown.
have never been master'd.
Whitman what he
in
be
shall
this spirit can truthfully say
for those that
There
all
calls
boundless impatience of restraint"
"
The
together
with that sense of justice which compelled him to say,
"Neither a servant nor a master
He was
wise enough to
know
am
I."
that giving
others the same rights that he claims for him-
harm him, and he was great " As if it were not indispensaenough to say ble to my own rights that others possess the self
could not
:
same."
He
felt
no man
There
as all should feel, that the liberty of
is safe is in
unless the liberty of each
our country a
little of
is safe.
the old ser-
bowing and cringing Many Americans do not understand
vile spirit, a little of the
to others.
that the officers of the government are simply
TESTIMONIAL TO WALT WHITMAN. the servants of the people.
Nothing
moralizing as the worship of place.
is
27 so de-
Whitman
has reminded the people of this country that they are supreme, and he has said to them
:
The President
is
is
you who
The
there in the
White House
for you,
it
not
are here for him,
Secretaries act in their bureaus for you,
not you here for
them. Doctrines, politics
and
civilization
exurge from you,
Sculpture and monuments and any thing inscribed anywhere are tallied in you.
He
describes the ideal American citizen
the
one who Says
indifferently
and
alike
u
How
are you, friend ?" to
the
President at his levee,
And he
says "Go.>d-day,
my
brother," to
Cudge that hoes
in
the sugar- field.
Long ago, when the politicians were wrong, when the judges were subservient, when the pulpit was a coward, Walt
Man The
shall not hold property in least develop'd
pors
>n
Whitman shouted
man.
on earth
is
just as
important and
sacred to himself or herself as the most develop'd
son
is
:
to himself or herself.
per-
LIBERTY IN LITERATURE.
28
This
is
the very soul of true democracy. is
Beauty
not
all
there
contain the truth.
It
is of is
rude and grand, neither is
both.
Around the oak
poetry.
It
must
not simply an oak,
is it
simply a
vine.
It
of truth runs the vine
of beauty.
Walt Whitman and
is
utters the elemental truths
the poet of democracy.
poet of individuality.
He
is
also the
TESTIMONIAL TO WALT WHITMAN.
v
29
i
INDIVIDUALITY. In order to protect the liberties of a nation,
we must is
A
protect the individual.
democracy
The individuals
a nation of free individuals.
are not to be sacrificed to the nation. tion exists only for the
The
na-
purpose of guarding
and protecting the individuality of men and
women. "
Walt Whitman
The whole theory
has
told
us that
:
of the universe is directed
unerringly to one single individual
namely
to
You."
And he has city is
also told us
the greatest nation
that the greatest
is
"
where the
citizen
always the head and ideal."
And
that
A
great city
If
it
is
that
which has the greatest men and women,
be a few ragged the whole world,
huta
it
13
still
the
greatest
city in
LIBERTY IN LITERATURE.
30
By
this test
maybe
continent to-night
the greatest city on the
Camden.
is
This poet has asked of us this question What do you suppose free
and
own no
will
satisfy
superior
The man who asks
the
soul,
:
walk
to
except
?
this question has left
no
impress of his lips in the dust, and has no dirt his knees.
upon
He was The
great enough to say
soul has that
lesson
He
measureless pride which revolts from every
but
its
What do you
own.
the idea of individuality to
carries
utmost hight
that there
its
:
suppose I would intimate
dred ways, but that
And
:
is
man
or
woman
to is
a
hu'n^
as good as
God?
you
in
no God any more divine than Yourself?
Glorying in individuality, in the freedom of the soul, he cries out to struggle against great
To be
entirely
can stand
To look
strife,
alone
with
:
odds, to meet enemies undaunted!
them,
to
find
how much one
1
torture,
prison, popular odium, face
to face
I
TESTIMONIAL TO WALT WHITMAN. To mount with
tho
scaffold,
perf(
i-t
31
advance to the muzzles of guns
to
nonchalance
I
To be indeed a God!
And
again
;
the joy of a manly self-hood
To be
servile
known To walk with
To
to
or
none, to defer
to
none,
not to any tyrant
unknown,
erect carriage, a
step springy and elastic,
look with calm gaze or with a flashing eye,
To speak with To
1
full
and sonorous voice out of a broad
confront with your personality
all
chest,
the other personalities of
the earth.
Walt Whitman is
sufficient
Henceforth
ask not good-fortune,
I
I travel
Those that look carelessly ernors, as to say
to say
not only " :
I
myself
am
He
:
good-fortune.
the open road.
one of
is
And
stand alone.
unto himself, and he says
Strong and content
He
is willing to
in
the faces of Presidents and Gov-
"Who
this,
are
you?"
but he has the courage
Nothing, not God,
than one's
self."
is
greater to one
LIBERTY IN LITERATURE.
32
Walt Whitman
is
the poet of Individuality
the defender of the rights of each for the
sake of as
all
and his sympathies are as wide
the world.
whole
race.
He
is
the
defender
of
the
TESTIMONIAL TO WALT WHITMAN.
33
VI.
HUMANITY. The great poet
is
intensely
human
entering into the joys and
nitely sympathetic
know-
griefs of others, bearing their burdens,
Brain without heart
ing their sorrows.
much
they must
;
infi-
act
together.
is
When
not the
respectable people of the North, the rich, the successful, were willing to carry out the
Slave law, Walt
gitive I
am
the hounded slave,
I
Whitman
said
Fu-
:
wince at the bite of the dogs,
and despair are upon me, crack and again crack the
Hell
marksmen, I clutch
the
rails of
the ooze of I
fall
The
my
the fence,
my
gore dribs, thinn'd with
skin,
on the weeds and stones,
riders spur their unwilling horses,
Taunt
my
dizzy ears, and
with whip-stocks.
beat
me
haul close,
violently over
the
head
LIBERTY IX LITERATURE.
34
Agonies are one of I
my
changes of garments,
wounded person -how
do not ask the
become the wounded person. I
...
And For
feel
me
.
lie
feels,
I
myself
.
.
see myself in prison shaped like another man,
the dull uninterrnitted pain.
the keepers of
convicts shoulder their
carbines
and
keep watch, It is I let
out in the morning and barr'd at night
Not a mutineer walks handcuffd to
him and walk by
to jail
but I
Judge not as the judge judges, but as the sun helpless
I
will
In
life
;
these
falling
upon a
" :
Not
until the
infinite tender-
sun excludes you
exclude you." this
lands,
handcuff'd
thing.
Of the very worst he had the *ness to say
am
his side.
age
of
greed when
houses
and
and stocks and bonds, outrank human
when gold
is
more
of value
words should be read by
than blood, all
:
When
the psalm sings instead of the singer,
When
the script preaches instead of the preacher,
TESTIMONIAL TO WALT WHITMAN. When
35
the pulpit descends and goes instead of the carver that
carved the supporting desk.
When
I
can
touch the body of books by night or
when they touch my body back
When
day,
and
again,
a university course convinces like a slumbering
woman
and child convince,
When
the minted gold
the vault smiles like the night-
in
watchman's daughter,
When
warrantee deeds loafe
.
in
chairs opposite
and are
my
friendly companions, 1 intend
to
reach them
as I do of
my
hand, and
men and women
make
like you.
as
much
of them
LIBERTY IN LITERATURE.
36
VII. The poet
is
too, deals in is
of
also a painter, a sculptor
The great poet a great artist. With a few
form and
necessity
color.
words he creates pictures, with living feel
filling
men and women
and speak.
it
canvas
his
with those
Have you ever read
count of the stage-driver's funeral? read
lie,
who
the ac-
Let
me
:
of waves at the ferry-wharf, posh and ice in the
Cold dash
river, half-frozen
mud
in the streets,
A
gray discouraged sky overhead, the
A
hearse and stages, the funeral of an old Broadway stage-
short last daylight of
December,
driver,
the cortege mostly drivers.
Steady the trot
The gate
is
to the cemetery,
duly rattles the death-bell,
pass'd, the new-dug grave
ing alight, the hearse uncloses,
is
halted
at,
the
liv-
TESTIMONIAL TO WALT WHITMAN. Tho
coffin
pass'd out, lowcr'd and settled, the
is
on the
coffin,
The mound above
A
is
decently put
He was
swiftly shovel'd
is
with the spades
flatted
no one moves or speaks
minute
He
is
the earth
away
is
it
is
whip
37 is laid
in,
silence,
done,
more?
there any thing
a good fellow, frec-mouth'd, quick-temper'd, not
bad-
looking,
Ready with
life
or death for a friend, fond of
women, gambled,
ate hearty, drank heart)-,
Had known what toward the
was
it
lasr,
sicken'd,
aged forty-one years
Died,
be
to
grew
low-spirited
was helped by a
contribution,
flush,
and that was
his
funeral.
Let me read you another description of a
woman
one
:
Behold a woman!
She looks out from her quaker
cap,
her face
is
clearer
and
more boautiful than the sky.
She
sits
an
in
armchair under
the shaded
porch
of the
farmhouse,
The sun
shines on her old white head.
just
Her ample gown Her grandsons spun
it
is
of cream-hued linen,
raised
with
tlie
the
flax,
distaff
and
her
grand-daughters
and the wheel.
LIBERTY IX LITERATURE.
38
The melodious character The
finish
The
to
and
cannot go
does
go,
mother of men.
justified
Would you hear Would you
earth,
which philosophy
beyond
not wish
of the
of
an old-time sea fight
who won by
learn
the light of
?
moon and
the
stars ?
List to the yarn, as it
Our
foe
grandmother's father the sailor told
to me.
was no skulk
His was the surly or
my
truer,
in his ship I
English phick,
tell
you, (said
and there
and never was, and never
will
be
;
Along the lower'd eve he came horribly raking
us.
We
the
closed
with
him.
the
yards
entangled,
he,)
no tougher
is
cannon
touched,
My
We
captain lash'd fast with
had
receiv'd
some
his
owm
eighteen
hands.
pound
shots
under
the
water,
On
our
lower-guu-deck
first fire,
killing all
two large pieces had burst
at
the
around and blowing up overhead.
Fighting at sun-down, fighting at dark,
Ten
o'clock at night, the Full gain,
and
moon
live foot of water
well up, our leaks on the reported,
TESTIMONIAL TO WALT WHITMAN. The master-at-arms
39
loosing the prisoners confined in the after-
hold to give them a chance for themselves.
The
transit
to
and from the magazine
is
now
stopt
by the
sentinels,
They see so many strange
faces they do not
know whom
to
trust
Our
frigate
takes
The other usks
fire,
if
we demand quarter? struck and the
If our
colors are
Now
laugh content, for
I
I
fighting
done?
hear the voice of
my
little
cap-
tain,
"We
have not
struck,''
he composedly
begun our part of the Only three guns are
in
cries,
"we
have just
fighting."
use,
himself against the enemy's
One
is
Two
well serv'd with grape and canister silence his
directed
by the captain
mainmast,
and
The
musketry
clear his decks.
tops alone second the
fire
of this
little
battery, especially
the main-top,
They hold out bravely during the whole Not a moment's
The
leaks gain
of the action.
cease, fast
on the pumps, the
powder-magazine.
fire
eat*
toward the
LIBERTY IN LITERATURE.
40 One of
pumps has been shot away,
the
thought we Serene stands the
He
little
is
generally
captain,
not hurried, his voice
is
it
are sinking.
His eyes give more light
Toward twelve there
to
neither high nor low,
is
us than our battle-lanterns.
the beams of the
in
moon they
sur-
render to us.
Stretch'd
and
still lies
the midnight,
Two
great hulls motionless on the breast of the darkness,
Our
vessel
riddled and
to the one
The
on
captain
slowly sinking, preparations to pass
we have the
conquer'd,
quarter-deck
coldly
giving
his
orders
through a countenance white as a sheet,
Near by the corpse of the child
The dead
face of
an old
salt
that serv'd in the cabin,
with long white hair and care-
fully curl'd whiskers,
The flames
spite of all
that can
be done flickering
aloft
and
below,
The husky
voices
of
the two or three officers yet
fit
for
duty,
Formless stacks of bodies and bodies by themselves, dabs of flesh
upon the masts and
spars,
Cut of cordage, dangle of rigging, slight shock of the soothe of waves,
Black
and scent,
impassive guns,
litter
of powder-parcels,
strong
TESTIMONIAL TO WALT WHITMAN.
A
few large stars overhead,
silent
41
and mournful shining, of sedgy grass and
Delicate sniffs of sea-breeze, smells
by the shore, death-messages
given
m
charge
fields
to sur-
vivors,
The
hiss
of the
surgeon's knife,
the
gnawing teeth of
his
saw,
Wheeze, cluck, swash of
falling blood, short
wild scream, and
long, dull, tapering groan.
Some people that
it
say that this
is
not poetry
lacks measure and rhyme.
LIBERTY IN LITERATURE.
42
VIJL
WHAT The whole world commerce
is
engaged in the
That
of thought. of
exchange
colors
sounds,
POETRY?
IS
thoughts
and
is
invisible
to say, in t]^
by words, symbols, The motions of
forms.
the silent, invisible world, where feeling glows
and thought flames of
are
action
and
that contains all
made known only by sounds and
colors, forms, objects, relations, uses
so that
qualities
dictionary,
an
the visible universe
aggregation
which and through which invisible
commerce
capable of in
seeds
to
is
of thought.
many meanings,
many ways
of
is
symbols,
a
by
carried on the
Each
object
is
or of being used
convey ideas or states of
feeling or of facts that take place in the world of
the brain.
The
greatest poet
is
the one
who
selects
TESTIMONIAL TO WALT WHITMAN. the best, the most
convey the
symbols to
appropriate
the highest, the sublimest
best,
Each man occupies a world
thoughts.
He
own.
43
is
of his
He
the only citizen of his world.
subject and sovereign, and the best he can
is
to give the facts concerning the world
do
is
in
which
he
No two
worlds. are
They
to
lives
the citizens of
worlds
these
of
kinds, from the
of all
are alike.
flat,
eled and worthless
to those
whose
rivers
mountains and seas and constellations
ants of
these
barren,
from the small and shriv-
and uninteresting
and cheapen the
other
visible world.
The
marvelous worlds
and
belittle
inhabit-
have been
the singers of songs, utterers of great speech the creators of art.
And
here lies the difference between cre-
ators and
passes in his not.
The
the
creator tells what
own world
the imitator does
imitators
:
imitator abdicates, and
of imitation falls
upon
his knees.
one who, hearing a traveler others that he
talk,
has traveled.
by the
He
is
fact like
pretends to
LIBERTY IN LITERATURE.
44
In
all
nearly
the
lainls,
poet
been
has
for the sake of beauty, they have
privileged
allowed him to speak, and for
reason
that
the story of the oppressed, and
he has told
has excited the indignation of
and even the pity
of
added
others, has of
the world.
of
language,
tyrants.
to the
He
men
honest
He, above
intellectual
all
beauty
has been the true creator
and
has
left
his
on
impress
mankind.
What
have
I
said
it
is
true
of
compelled
to
use
the
poetry
being
not
all
only
speech.
visible
true All
world
of
are as
a
Words have been invented and
dictionary.
are
is
invented
for the reason that
new
powers are found in the old symbols, new The qualities, relations, uses and meanings. growth of the
of
language
necessary on account
is
development of the human mind.
savage needs but few symbols the poet most of
many The
old
must
be
the civilized
all.
idea was, however, that the a
rhymer.
The
Before
printing
poet
was
TESTIMONIAL TO WALT WHITMAN.
known,
the
judgment, rhyme
The rhymer
pression.
introduce
to
interferes
and
exists.
of
In
poetry?
a hindrance
is
the
to
ex-
compelled to wander
is
to say more or less than he
from his subject
means
assists
rhyme
rhyme a necessary part
Is
tion
:
That excuse no longer
memory.
my
was said
it
45
irrelevant matter
that
the dramatic ac-
continually with
a perpetual obstruction to sincere
is
utterance.
All
poems,
of
necessity,
The highly and purely
must be is
poetic
short.
the sudden
bursting into blossom of a great and tender
The
thought.
growth, the
planting
bud and
of
the
seed,
flower must be rapid.
The spring must be quick and warm soil
the
perfect, the sunshine
the
and rain enough
everything should tend to hasten, nothing to delay. tion
In poetry, as in wit, the crystalliza-
must be sudden.
The greatest poems rhyme
is
are rhythmical.
a hindrance, rhythm
the comrade of
the poetic.
While
seems to be
Khythm has
a,
\
LIBERTY IN LITERATURE.
46
Under emotion, the blood
natural foundation. rises
and
falls,
relax,
and
this
muscles
the
rhythmical as the rise and
In
the
form
highest
be
should
thought
in
blood
the
action of
and
contract is
as
the
sea.
expression,
the
harmony with
this
of
of
fall
natural ebb and flow.
The highest
poetic truth
rhythmical form.
expressed in
I have sometimes thought
own words, chooses own garments, and that when the thought
that an its
is
idea selects
its
has possession, absolutely, of the speaker or
he unconsciously allows the thought
writer,
to clothe itself.
The
great
poetry
of
the
world
keeps
time with the winds and the waves. I
do not
accent
at
Perfect time
mean
by rhythm a accurately measured is
the
recurring intervals.
death of music.
There
should always be room for eager haste and delicious
may be itself
delay, in
the
and
whatever change there
rhythm or
should suggest
time,
the action
perfect freedom.
TESTIMONIAL TO WALT WHITMAN.
A
word
more
about
movements
ular
is
thought
produce
revenge,
Now
may be
it
molec-
certain
that
every
by certain physical
accompanied
phenomena.
joy, grief,
brain
the
in
believe
I
rhythm.
that certain feelings and passions
emulation,
47
that
certain
sounds, colors, and forms produce the same
molecular action
in
brain
the
accom-
that
panies certain feelings, and that these sounds, colors and forms produce
movements and these the
of
capable
the
So
states
same that
mind
of
or
like
what
we
heroic music, produces the same molec-
call
ular action ical
and
producing
movements.
molecular
the molecular
in their turn reproduce
emotions
feelings,
first,
in
changes
feeling
of
plaintive
ment
in
the
brain
the
that are produced
heroism
;
same
phys-
by the
real
we
call
that the sounds
produce the same molecular movethe
brain that
grief,
or the twi-
light of grief, actually produces.
There may
be a rhythmical molecular movement belonging to each state of mind, that accompanies
LIBERTY IN LITERATURE.
48
each
thought
that
music, or
duces that
or
music
by
or
feeling
or
painting
the same
producing
pro-
sculpture,
or
be
may
it
mind
of
state
the
produces
sculpture,
or
painting,
same
the
and
passion,
molecu-
movements.
lar
All arts are born of the same
express
like
that
to
is
mind and
say,
different
in
thoughts
The
and
ways states
like
they produce
feeling.
spirit,
of
sculptor, the painter,
composer, the poet, the orator, work to
the
the same end, with different materials.
painter
expresses
and relation
words
and
form
color
the sculptor through form and
The poet
relation.
his
;
through
The
give
also
form,
and chisels
paints
and
relation
color.
His statues and his paintings do not crumneither do they fade, nor
ble,
long
as
language
will
The
endures.
they as
composer
touches the passions, produces the very states of
feeling
produced
sculptor, the
by
the
poet and orator.
painter
In
all
and these
TESTIMONIAL TO WALT WHITMAN. there must be that is
portion
that
rhythm to
is to
the
ings to old
pro-
the one
is
who
common, who gives new mean-
who
symbols,
ordinary things of
hopes and
the
say,
harmony, melody.
say,
So that the greatest poet idealizes
49
He must
life.
and with
fears,
the
transfigures
deal with
the experi-
ences of the people.
The fect
poem must
charm
not
great labor. that
a perfect day.
is like
undefinable It
A
poetic is not the exceptional.
to
appear
man does
feel, in
best
be
the
spite of
which
that
per-
has the
naturalness and
of
We
It
ease.
result
of
ourselves,
he
does
easiest.
The great poet
always of his time, time,
is,
but of the best of his
and he must be in unison and accord
with the ideals of
he
the instrumentality, not
is
the
simpler he
the people must of feeling
his
the
race. is.
be clad
The sublimer
The thoughts in
the
of
garments
words must be known,
apt,
LIBERTY IN LITERATURE.
50
The hight must be
familiar.
in the thought,
in the sympathy.
In the olden time they used to have
day
and
parties,
the
crowned Queen of
and
blacksmith little
daughter
with roses.
looked at
of
clad
looking
and
white
in
a child. the
clothes
ideals
Imagine
wife
his
the
It
is
their
of
an at
old their
crowned
thus that
people.
flowers and
or
They must not
be
parents.
the recogni-
Out from
must
beauty
the
children
intellectual
gemmed and garlanded beyond tion
was
They would wonder while they her, how they ever came to have
so beautiful
poet
prettiest
May.
May
child
the
all
look the eyes of
the child they know.
We
have grown
desses in cites
art.
tired
of
gods and god-
Milton's heavenly militia ex-
our laughter.
Light-houses have driven
sirens from the dangerous coasts.
We
have
found that we do not depend on the imagination
for
wonders
miracles under our
there
feet.
are
millions
of
TESTIMONIAL TO WALT WHITMAN.
51
Nothing can be more marvelous than the
common and everyday women
are
Men and
tragedy and
the
all
is
The
men and women.
for
enough
their lives
life.
been cast aside.
have
phantoms
of
facts
all
In the
comedy that they can comprehend. The painter no longer crowds his canvas with the winged and life
as he sees
and
the
gelus,"
but
whom
in
two
it,
he paints
impossible
people as he knows them,
he
is
"The An-
interested.
perfection of pathos, their
bending
peasants
is
nothing
heads
in
thankfulness as they hear the solemn sound of the
distant bell
nothing
be
to
two peasants, who have
thankful
for
nothing
but
weariness and want, nothing but the crusts soften
that
they
And
yet as
feel
their tears
look
at
that
nothing.
picture you
that they have something besides to be
thankful for
hope
you
with
that they
have
life,
love,
and
and so the distant bell makes music
in their simple hearts.
LIBERTY IN LITERATURE.
52
IX. The
attitude
of
Whitman toward
has not been understood.
towards
of worship,
all
Towards
creeds, he
religion
all
forms
has main-
tained the attitude of absolute fairness.
He
does not believe that Nature has given her
message to man.
last
that
that any sect has
He
truth.
We
He
denies
written
down the
entire
believes in progress, and, so
he says
lieving,
does not believe
been ascertained.
has
all
He
be-
:
consider bibles and religions divine
I
do not say they
are not -divine, I say they have all
you It is not
His
grown out of you, and may grow out of
still,
they
who
[the poet's]
give the
life,
it is
thoughts are the
you who give the
hymns
of the praise of
things,
In the dispute on
God and
eternity
he
is
life.
silent
TESTIMONIAL TO WALT WHITMAN. Have you thought
there could be but a single supreme?
There can be any number of supremes vail
53
one does not counter-
another any more than one eyesight countervails
another.
the great questions, as to the great
Upon
problems, he feels only the serenity of a great
and well-poised No
array of terms
soul.
can say
God and about I
hear and behold not in the
Nor do
I
am
at peace about
every object, yet understand
in
God
least,
.
.
who
be more wonderful than
there can
.
men and women
In the faces of
I
death.
God
understand
myself.
how much
I
see God, and
in
my own
face in the glass, 1
find
letters is
from
God
dropt in
the street, and every one
sign'd by God's name.
The whole
visible
world
is
regarded by him
as a revelation, and so is the invisible world,
and with Not
this feeling
objecting
to
special
smoke
or a
hair
he writes
revelations
on
the
curious as any revelation.
:
considering
back of
a curl
my hand
just
of
as
LIBERTY IN LITERATURE.
54
The creeds do not
satisfy, the old
ogies are not enough at
best,
they are too narrow
;
and suggestions
hints
giving only
mythol-
;
and feeling this lack in that which has been written and preached,
Whitman
Magnifying and applying come
I,
says
:
Outbidding at the start the old cautious hucksters,
Taking myself the exact dimensions of Jehovah, Zeus
Kronos,
Lithographing
his
and
son,
Hercules
his
grandson,
Buying
drafts of Osiris, Isis, Belus,
In
portfolio placing Manito
my
crucifix
Odin
"With
Brahma, Buddha,
loose,
Allah on a
leaf,
the
engraved,
and
the
hideous-faced
Mexitli,
and
every idol
and image,
them
Taking
all
for
what they are worth, and not a cent
more.
Whitman keeps open
He
lectually hospitable. to a
new
because
idea. it
is
He
extends
and
He knows
old
and masks
intel-
his
hand
and
has a
that hypocrisy
has a venerable look, and that looks
is
does not accept a creed
wrinkled
long white beard.
He
house.
on stupidity
it
relies
and
on
fear.
TESTIMONIAL TO WALT WHITMAN. he
reject
new.
He
Neither does
because
it
is
so he welcomes
and what they
all until
are.
or
accept
the
55
new
wants the truth, and
he knows just who
LIBERTY IN LITERATURE.
56
X.
PHILOSOPHY. Walt Whitman
is
a philosopher.
The more a man has thought, the more he has studied, the more he has traveled the less certain
intellectually,
he
is.
Only
the very ignorant are perfectly satisfied that
they know.
To
the
problems are easy. accounting
for
the
common man
He
no trouble in
has
He can man and
universe.
you the origin and destiny of why and the wherefore of things. he
is
is
egotistic
a believer in
enough
special to
the great
As a
tell
the rule,
providence, and
suppose
that every-
thing that happens in the universe happens in reference to him.
A the
colony of red ants lived at the foot of Alps.
It
happened one
day,
that
an
avalanche destroyed the hill; and one of the
TESTIMONIAL TO WALT WHITMAN.
was
ants
heard
to
"
remark
:
57
Who
could
have taken so much trouble to destroy our
home ?" Walt Whitman walked by the side of the " where the fierce old mother endlessly sea her castaways," and endeavored to
for
cries
think out, to fathom the mystery of being;
and he said I too
A
:
but signify at the utmost a
few sands and dead leaves
little
wash'd-up
drift,
to gather,
Gather, and merge myself as part of the sanda and
Aware now
me I
that
amid
all
that blab
whose echoes
have not once had the
I
least
idea
drift.
recoil
who
or
upon
what
am,
But that before
my
all
arrogant
poems the
real
Me
stands
yet untouch'd, untold, altogether unreach'd,
Withdrawn
far,
mocking mo with mock-congratulatory signs
and bows,
With
peals of distant ironical laughter at every
word
I
have
written,
beneath. I perceive I
.
.
have not
object,
these
to
Pointing in silence
songs,
and then to the sand
.
really understood
any
and that no man ever can.
thing, not
a single
LIBERTY IN LITERATURE.
58
There
poem
in our
is
than
the
effort
to
no
language one
profounder
"Elemental
entitled
Drifts."
The been,
and
that
has
origin
he
if
the
in
looking
enough he could grasp
of
the
be
image
re-
life
who
mirror,
could
only
ever
Those
fruitless.
be,
to find the secret
man
semble a thinks
forever
will
who endeavor
the
find
quick
that
he
sees behind the glass.
The
latest
word
of
subject is as follows "
To me
this
and functions
is
this
upon
poet
this
:
life
with
finally
all
its
realities
a mystery, the real
something yet to be evolved, and the stamp
and shape and important,
inside
of
material, sense.
the
perhaps
something further. everything
here
life
else, all
.
and
facts,
is
main,
Somehow
the
this
stands
and
and the worldly
That
somehow
the
giving an
outline
hangs over
behind
it,
concrete
affairs of
purport
to
and
life
is
and anc)
meaning
TESTIMONIAL TO WALT WHITMAN.
behind
all
other
the
59
LEAVES
of
meanings
OF GRASS."
As a matter gin and
distance tinct
;
the questions of ori-
fact,
are
destiny
human
the
of
We
mind.
beyond
can
destiny,
origin,
a
is
everything
and
the intelligent, honest "
I
say,
man
a few
a
few
;
compelled to
is
a
few
truths like the brain
gleams
of
everything
is
momentary sparks. that
others that everything
is
matter
again, others have maintained that
matter and a part
was ter
first
was
as
far
concerned
are
struggling
Some have contended spirit
so
and from
shine on forever
light
the un-
do not know."
man come
of
indis-
mysteries
mystery
In the great midnight stars
is
these
nature
certain is
everything
that,
In the presence of
seen.
grasp of a
see
and beyond the indistinct
;
and
the
beyond
is
spirit;
and matter after first
and
spirit
;
;
and
a part is
some that
spirit
others that mat-
after
;
and
others
that matter and spirit have existed together.
LIBERTY IN LITERATURE.
60
But none
of
what matter
tell
sibility
these people can by any pos-
or what the
or what spirit
is,
difference is
between
is,
and
spirit
matter.
The ists
look
upon the spiritualand the spiritsubstantially crazy
materialists
as
ualists
;
regard
the
These
groveling.
materialists spiritualistic
matter in contempt quite
a mystery.
little
earth
what
it
is ?
a
but, after
;
You 4
In
this
hold
people
matter
all,
Do you know
dust you put a seed
it;
the seed grows
bursts into blossom
produces
What
;
;
the light strikes it;
the rain falls upon it
is
take in your hand a dust.
little
low and
as
;
it
fruit. is
understand
this
dust
it?
Is
this
there
Do you
womb? anything
in
the
wide universe more wonderful than this?
Take a grain
of
take the smallest it
sand, reduce
possible
to
powder,
particle,
look at
it
with a microscope, contemplate
part for days, and a secret
it
its
every
remains the citadel of
an impregnable
fortress.
Bring
all
TESTIMONIAL TO WALT WHITMAN. the theologians, philosophers, and
ranks against
serried
in
it;
let
61
scientists
them attack
on every side with all the arts and arms of thought and force. The citadel does not fall.
Over the battlements
floats the flag,
and the
smiles at the baffled hosts.
victorious secret
Walt Whitman did not and does not imagine
end
he
that
reached
has
of the road traveled
He knows
the
by the human
race.
that every victory over nature is
but the preparation for another truth was in
me
sence of
things,
no
mind when he
his
derstand
success,
the
limit
well
;
it
that
matter
is
battle.
said
This "
:
Un-
provided in the es-
from
what,
any fruition shall
come
of
forth
something to make a greater struggle necessary."
This
is
the generalization of
all history.
LIBERTY IN LITERATURE.
62
XL THE TWO POEMS. There are two have first
time is
to
of
these
call
special
"A Word
entitled,
The boy, coming out
mystic
of
play
Out
of
the
of
sponses of
birds
his
heart
The Sea."
of the rocked cradle, fields,
out
shadows,
patches of briers and blackberries
memories
which I
attention.
wandering over the sands and the
to
poems
from
the
up from the
of
from the
thousand
re-
goes back to the sea
and his childhood, and sings a reminiscence.
Two
guests
from
Alabama
two
build their nest, and there were
birds
four
light
green eggs, spotted with brown, and the two birds sang for joy
:
Shine! shine! shine!
Pour down your warmth, great sun! "While
we
bask,
we two
together.
TESTIMONIAL TO WALT WHITMAN. Two
63
together!
Winds blow
south, or winds
blow north,
Day come white, or night come Home, or
minding no time,
all time,
Singing
black,
and mountains from home,
rivers
While we two keep together.
In a
while one of the birds
little
and
never
the
summer
appeared again, and
!
blow
!
all
through
the mate, the solitary guest, was
singing of the lost Blow
missed
is
blow
:
!
Blow up sea-winds along Paumanok's shore; I
wait and I wait
And
till
you blow
my mate
to me.
the boy" that night, blending himself
with the shadows, with bare to the sea,
feet,
went down
where the white arms out
breakers were tirelessly tossing
;
in the
listening to
the songs and translating the notes.
And
the singing bird called loud and high
for the mate,
wondering what the dusky spot
was
brown and
in
the
yellow,
seeing
the
mate whichever way he looked, piercing the
woods and the earth with
his song,
hoping
LIBERTY IN LITERATURE.
G4
mate might hear his cry
that the
;
stopping
that he might not lose her answer ; waiting and " Here I am then crying again And this :
gentle call
is
for
by the whistle shadows ;" and happy
past!
In the
air, in the
!
Do
you.
wind
the
of
be deceived
not
those are the
;
at last crying
:
songs of joy!
life!
woods, over
fields,
Loved! loved! loved! loved! loved!
mate no more, no more with me!
But
my
We
two together no more.
And
then the boy, understanding the song
that had
awakened
his breast a thousand
in
songs clearer and louder and more sorrowful
than the bird's, knowing that the cry of unlove
satisfied
from him all,
and
;
would
thinking
and asking the
sea
of
never
be absent
again
then of the destiny of the
sea
answering,
the
final
delaying
word,
not
and
hurrying not, spoke the low delicious word
"Death!" "ever Death!"
The next poem, one as
our
language,
that will live as long
entitled
" :
When
Lilacs
TESTIMONIAL TO WALT WHITMAN.
Last
in
the
Dooryard Bloom'd,"
is
65
on the
death of Lincoln, The
sweetest, wisest soul of
One who reads odor of the
and
"
the
this
" lilac,
all
ray days and lands.
never forget the
will
the lustrous western star
bird
grey-brown
in
singing
"
the
pines and cedars."
In this poem the dramatic unities are perfectly preserved, the in
atmosphere and climate
harmony with every Never
he forget the solemn journey of
will
the coffin through great
pomp and
event.
cloud
day and night, with
the
nor
the
darkening
of inlooped flags,
winding,
torches'
unbared
heads,
the the
land,
the processions long
flambeaus
the
flames,
the
silent
of
sea of
thousand
night,
the
faces,
the
voices
rising
strong and solemn, the dirges, the shuddering organs, the tolling
bells
and the sprig
of lilac.
And then
for a
moment they
grey-brown bird singing
will hear the
in the cedars, bash-
LIBERTY IN LITERATURE.
66 ful
and tender, while the lustrous
in
the
West, and
they
star lingers
remember the
will
hung on the chamber walls
pictures
adorn
to
the burial house
pictures of spring and farms
and homes, and
the grey
bright,
and the floods
smoke
of yellow gold
gorgeous indolent sinking sun
bage under foot
dapple
the river with the wind-
of.
and the most excellent sun so the violet and purple
calm and haughty just-felt
breezes
the
all
delicious
the
gentle
morn
soft
born
the miracle spreading, bath-
measureless light ing
the sweet her-
here and there, and the varied and
ample land
with
of the
the green leaves of the trees
the breast
prolific
and
lucid
fulfill'd
noon
the
welcome
and the
coming eve
night
and
the
stars.
And the
then again they will hear the song of
grey-brown
bird
amid the cedars and
remember the lilac.
star,
in
the
pines.
dusk
limitless
Again they
and again the odor
will
of the
TESTIMONIAL TO WALT WHITMAN.
But most
of all, the
song of the bird trans-
becoming the chant
lated and
67
for death
:
A CHANT FOR DEATH.
Come
lovely
and soothing death,
Undulate round the world, serenely arriving, arriving, In the day, in the night to
all,
to each,
Sooner or later delicate death. Prais'd be the fathomless universe,
For
and
life
And
joy,
and for objects and knowledge curious,
sweet love
for love,
but praise! praise! praise!
For the sure-enwinding arms of cool-enfolding death.
Dark mother always gliding near with
Have none chanted Then I
chant
I
it
thee
bring
come
fullest
welcome ?
for thee, I glorify thee
above
all,
a
song
is
it
when thou must indeed come,
that
unfalteringly.
Approach strong
When
soft feet,
a chant of
for thee
so,
deliveress,
when thou
hast taken them I joyously sing
the dead,
Lost in the loving floating ocean of thee,
Laved
in the flood of thy bliss
From me Dances
death.
to thee glad serenades,
for
thee
feastings
I
for
propose thee,
saluting
thee,
adornments and
LIBERTY IN LITERATURE.
68 And
the sights of the open
sky are
And
life
fitting,
and the
The night
in
fields,
I
and the huge and thoughtful night
under many a
silence
The ocean shore and voice
and the high spread
landscape
star,
husky whispering wave whose
the
know,
And
the soul turning to thee
And
the body gratefully nestling close to thee.
Over the tree-tops
Over the
float
death,
thee a song,
and sinking waves, over
rising
and the
I
vast and well-veil'd
prairies
wide,
Over the dense-pack'd
cities
all
and
the
the
myriad
fields
teeming wharves
and ways, I float this carol with joy,
This
with joy to thee
poem, in memory
of
"
death.
the sweetest,
wisest soul of all our days and lands," and for
whose sake
lilac
and star and bird entwined,
will last as long as the
memory
of Lincoln.
TESTIMONIAL TO WALT WHITMAN.
69
XIT.
OLD AGE. Walt Whitman
is
not only the poet of child-
hood, of youth, of manhood, but, above
He
old age.
Now
his
by the
sitting
neither calumny nor
fireside, in the
is just
as brave
manhood's
still
seven steps.
winter of
beating in his
breast,
proudest
when
days,
He
has taken
He
is
"
enjoying
old
in
roses
Now, as the gamester might
on velvet."
life,
and calm and kind as
blossomed in his cheeks. "
;
has made him revengeful or arrogant.
His jocund heart
he
of
has not been soured by slander
or petrified by prejudice flattery
all,
life's
say,
age ex-
panded, broad, with the haughty breadth of the universe
;
old age, flowing free, with the
delicious near-by freedom of
death
;
old age,
superbly rising, welcoming the ineffable aggregation of dying days."
LIBERTY IX LITERATURE.
70
Ke
is
" taking the loftiest look at last," and
before he goes he utters thanks For
the
health,
mere*
For
precious
all
my
the
sun,
air
impalpable
for
life,
life,
dear
For
midday
:
memories,
ever-lingering
you, father
you,
(of
brothers,
sisters,
days -not those of peace alone
my
you
mother
friends,)
the days of
war
the same,
For gentle words, caresses,
For
shelter,
(You
distant,
wine and meat
dim unknown
specified,
We
from foreign lands,
for
sweet appreciation,
or
young or old
beings,
long,
close
groups,
countless,
un-
belov'd,
never met, and ne'er shall meet brace,
For
readers
gifts
-
and yet our souls em-
and long.)
love,
deeds,
words,
books
for
colors,
forms,
For a
1
!
the
brave st-ong men-devo'ed,
forward sprung
in
freedom's help,
For braver, stronger, more dovoted men I
go,
to
life's
hardy men all
year.",
(a special
who've all
lands,
laurel ere
war's chosen ones,
The cannoneers of SMig and thought
the great artillerists
the foremost leaders, captains of the soul).
It is a great thing to preach philosophy
greater to live
it.
far
The highest philosophy
TESTIMONIAL TO WALT WHITMAN.
71
accepts the inevitable with a smile, and greets it
as though
To be The
it
were desired.
satisfied
This
:
wealth
is
success.
knows that everything
real philosopher
has happened that could have happened
He
sequently he accepts.
is
glad that he has
moment on
glad that he has had his
lived
In this spirit
the stage.
con-
Whitman has accepted
life.
I
shall
go
I
shall
traverse the States awhile, but I cannot
how
long,
soon
some day or night while
or
Perhaps
forth,
am
I
tell
whither
singing
ray
voice will suddenly cease.
chants
book,
Must we barely it
soul,
is
!
enough,
we have
must
all
at
arrive
soul
then amount to but this
this
beginning of us
?
?
and
yet
;
appear'd
positively
that
is
enough.
Whitman has appeared. He has upon the stage. The drama is not
Yes, "Walt his place
ended.
His voice
Poet of Democracy poet of
the
is
still
heard.
of all people.
body and
soul.
He
He He
is is
the the
has sounded
LIBERTY IN LITERATURE
72
He
the note of Individuality.
He
pass-word primeval.
Intellectual
of
manity
is
has given the
the Poet of
Hu-
He
has
Hospitality.
voiced the aspirations of America all,
he
the poet of Love and Death.
is
How
how bravely he has given and how superb is his farewell
grandly,
thought,
leave-taking
after the
from friends his
friend
his
his
:
After the supper and talk
As a
and, above
day
is
done,
withdrawal prolonging,
final
Good-bye and Good-b} e with emotional r
lips repeating,
no more will
(So hard for his hand to release those hands
they meet,
No more
A
for
communion of sorrow
arid joy, of old
far-stretching journey awaits him, to return
Shunning, postponing severance
word ever so
seeking
to
and young,
no more,)
ward
off
the last
little,
E'en at the exit-door turning
-
charges superfluous calling back
e'en as he descends the steps,
Something fall
to
eke out a minute additional
shadows of night-
deepening,
Farewells, messages
lessening
dimmer the
forthgoer's visage
and form,
Soon
to
be lost
depart
1
for
aye in
the darkness
loth,
so loth to
TESTIMONIAL TO WALT WHITMAN.
And
Will the forthgoer be
is this all?
and forever
?
Is
73
death
the end
lost,
Over the
?
grave beiids Love sobbing, and by her side
Hope and whispers
stands
We
shall
meet
death, and after
all
:
Before
again.
death
leaf,
autumn's death,
fies of
is,
life
The
is life.
touched with the hectic
all
is
falling
flush, that testi-
in a subtler sense, a
of spring.
prophecy
Walt Whitman has dreamed great dreams, told great truths and uttered sublime thoughts.
He
has held aloft the torch and bravely led
t':e
way.
As you read the marvelous book, or the " Leaves of Grass," you feel person, called the freedom of the antique world the voices of the
morning, of the
you hear
;
first
great
singers
voices elemental as those of sea and
storm.
The
grow
ample,
horizon
enlarges,
limitations
realization of the will, the
are
the
heavens
forgotten
the
accomplishment of
the ideal, seem to be within your power.
Ob-
become petty and disappear.
The
structions
LIBERTY IN LITERATURE.
74
chains and bars are broken, and the distinccaste are
tions of
open of
air,
and
philoso-
theories
Creeds,
be examined, contradicted,
to
constructed.
and
vanish places
desires
clasp
custom
become
Authority
priest the
The
abdicates.
highways, duties and
become
and
hands
friends.
the
drops
and
miter,
comrades
the
scepter,
purple
The inanimate becomes
from kings.
re-
Prejudices disappear, supersti-
sacred
the
the
in
is
the flag
phies ask
and
soul
under the blue and stars
Nature.
tions
The
lost.
falls
articu-
the meanest and humblest things utter
late,
speech and the
A
song.
session
feeling
blood flows flattery
royal,
full
a lost
and superb.
voiceless burst into
independence takes pos-
of
the soul,
of
is
dumb and
and art,
the
free,
and
The
sonal possession, and
body expands, the superiors vanish, life
v.oiltl
tho
becomes
rich,
becomes a per-
oceans,
the
nents, and constellations belong to you.
conti-
You
are in the center, everything radiates from you,
and in your veins beats and throbs the pulse
TESTIMONIAL TO WALT WHITMAN.
You become
of all
life.
free.
You wander by
and hear the eternal
75
a rover, careless and
the shores of all seas
You
psalm.
silence of the wide forest,
the
feel
and stand beneath
the intertwined and over arching boughs, en-
tranced with symphonies of winds and woods.
You
are borne on the tides of eager and swift
rivers,
hear the rush and roar of cataracts as
fall
they
beneath the seven-hued
and
arch,
You
watch the eagles as they circling soar*
traverse gorges dark and dim, and climb the
scarred and threatening
orchards where the blossoms
where the birds nest and
moths make
happy till
air.
aimless
You
live
You stand
cliffs.
fall
sing,
journeys the
like
in
snow,
and painted through
the
those
who
lives of
earth, and walk amid the perfumed hear the reapers' song, and feel the
the
fields,
breadth and scope of earth and sky.
You
are
in the great cities, in the midst of multitudes, of the
wide
endless processions. plains
the
prairies
You with
are
on the
hunter
trapper, with savage and pioneer, and
you
and feel
LIBERTY IN LITERATURE.
76
You
the soft grass yielding under your feet.
many ships, and breathe the free air of You travel many roads, and countless sea.
sail in
the
You
paths.
and courts
;
visit palaces
you pity kings and
your sympathy goes out insane,
the oppressed
to the infamous.
convicts,
and
to all the suffering
and
and enslaved, and even
You hear
sounds of factory,
all
and prisons, hospitals
the din of labor,
and
field,
familiar with
men and women
ments, trades and professions burial, with
wedding
see the cloud
enjoy the
feast
of all
employ-
with birth and
and funeral chant.
and flame
ineffable
of all
You become
instruments and machines.
tools,
You
forest,
perfect
of war,
days
and you
of
peace.
In this one book, in these wondrous "Leaves of
Grass," you
find
hints and
touches and fragments, of that
lies
all
suggestions,
there
is of life,
between the babe, whose rounded
cheeks dimple beneath his mother's laughing, loving eyes, and the old man, snow-crowned,
who, with death.
a
smile,
extends
his
hand
to
TESTIMONIAL TO WALT WHITMAN.
We selves
have
met
by honoring
of Grass."
to-night the
to
honor
author of
77 our-
"Leaves
A DDR eSS AT THB Funeral
of
BY ROBERT to Harlelgh,
Walt 0.
Whitman
INGERSOLL,
Camden, New Jersey, March 30, 1892,
AGAIN, we, in the mystery of Life, are brought face to face with the mystery of Death.
A great
man, a great American, the most eminent citizen of this Republic, lies
dead before
us,
and we
have met to pay tribute to his greatness and his worth. I
know he needs no words
fame
is
of
mine.
He laid the foundations human heart and brain. He
secure.
His of
it
was, deep in the above all I have known, the poet of humanity, He was so great that he rose of sympathy.
LIBERTY IN LITERATURE.
80
above the greatest that he met without arrogance, and so great that he
stooped to the
lowest without conscious condescension.
He
never claimed to be lower or greater than any of the sons of
He came meled
men.
into our generation a free, untram-
spirit,
with sympathy for
was beneath the form
His arm
all.
of the sick.
He sympa-
thized with the imprisoned and despised, and
even on the brow of crime he was great enough to place the kiss of
One his,
human sympathy.
of the greatest lines in our literature is
and the
line is great
enough
to
do honor to
the greatest genius that has ever lived. said,
speaking of an outcast
" :
Not
He
until the
sun excludes you will I exclude you."
His charity was as wide as the ever there was fortune, the it
human
sympathy
sky,
suffering,
of
and wher-
human
mis-
Whitman bent above
as the firmament bends above the earth.
He was
built on a broad
and splendid plan
ample, without appearing to have limitations passing easily for a brother of mountains and
LIBERTY IN LITERATURE. seas and constellations little
maps and
;
81
caring nothing for the
charts with which timid pilots
hug the shore, but giving himself
freely with
the recklessness of genius to winds and waves
and tides stars
caring for nothing so long as the
;
He walked among
were above him.
among
writers,
among verbal varnishers and literary milliners
among
veneerers,
men,
and
tailors,
with the unconscious majesty of an antique god.
He was
the poet of that divine democracy
which gives equal rights to
He
daughters of men. ican voice
No man
rights of humanity,
uttered the great Amer-
has ever said more for the
more
mocracy, of real justice.
nor cringed
the sons and
uttered a song worthy of the great
;
Republic.
all
;
in favor of real de-
He
neither scorned
was neither tyrant nor
slave.
He
asked only to stand the equal of his fellows
beneath the great
flag of nature, the
blue and
stars.
He was
the poet of
to breathe.
He
life.
It
was a joy simply
loved the clouds
;
he enjoyed
LIBERTY IN LITERATURE.
82
the breath of morning, the twilight, the wind,
He
the winding streams.
sea
when
the waves burst into the whitecaps
He
of joy.
loved to look at the
loved the
acquainted with the
fields,
trees,
the hills
ing,
objects,
he was
with birds, with
the beautiful objects of the earth.
saw these
;
He
all
not only
but understood their mean-
and he used them that he might exhibit
his heart to his fellow-men.
He was ashamed every
the
poet of
Love.
He was
not
of that divine passion that has built
home; that
divine
passion
has
that
painted every picture and given us every real
work
that divine passion that has
made
the world worth living in and has given
some
of art
value to
human
He was men ural.
;
life.
the poet of the natural, and taught
not to be ashamed of that which
He was
is
nat-
not only the poet of democracy,
not only the poet of the great Republic, but he
was the poet
of the
human
race.
He was
not
confined to the limits of this country, but his
LIBERTY IN LITERATURE.
83
sympathy went out over the seas
to all the
nations of the earth.
He
stretched out his hands and felt himself
the equal of
all
the brother of
how
matter
He
kings and of
all
all
and
princes,
men, no matter how high, no
low.
has uttered more supreme words than
any writer of our century, possibly of almost any other.
He was, above
above genius, above of intelligence,
He was life
and
all
all
above
all things,
the snow-capped peaks
all art, rises
the true man.
He
the poet of Death.
death, and he justified
the courage to meet
all,
accepted
all
there
You know been, but let
is
and was great enough
and to
all
as a divine melody.
better than I
me
all
He had
all.
and splendid enough to harmonize accept
a man, and
what his
say one thing
:
life
Knowing
has
as he
what others can know and what they can not, he accepted and absorbed all theories, all did,
creeds, all religions,
and believed
in none.
philosophy was a sky that embraced
and accounted
for all clouds.
all
He had
His
clouds
a philos-
LIBERTY IN LITERATURE.
84
ophy and a religion of his own, broader, as he beand as I believe
lieved
cepted all, he understood
He was
than others. all,
He
ac-
and he was above all.
absolutely true to himself.
He had
frankness and courage, and he was as candid as light.
He was
men should be
willing that all the sons of
absolutely acquainted with his
heart and brain.
He had
nothing to conceal.
Frank, candid, pure, serene, noble, and yet for years he was maligned and slandered, simply
because he had the candor of nature.
be understood
condemned add
yet,
his
to the glory
He
and that
for
and greatness
to us
candor
the
gospel of
life,
humanity
will
of his fame.
wrote a liturgy for mankind
great and splendid psalm of
will
which he was
his
frankness,
He
;
he wrote a
and he gave the greatest
gospel that can be preached.
He was
not afraid to live
;
not afraid to die.
For many years he and Death lived near neighHe was always willing and ready to bors. meet and greet this king called Death, and for many months he sat in the deepening twilight
LIBERTY IN LITERATURE.
night; waiting for the light.
the
waiting for
He
never lost his hope.
filled
the valleys, he looked
tops,
85
When
the
mists
upon the mountain and when the mountains in darkness dis-
appeared, fixed his gaze upon the stars.
In his brain were the blessed memories of the day and in his heart were mingled the
dawn and dusk
He was
of
life.
not afraid
he was cheerful every
;
The laughing nymphs
moment.
They remained
desert him. clasp the
hands and
of
day did not
that they might
greet with smiles the
veiled and silent sisters
the night.
of
And
when they did come, Walt Whitman stretched his
hand
nymphs
to
them.
of day,
On
one
side were
and on the other the
ters of the night,
and
so,
hand
the
silent sis-
in hand,
between
smiles and tears, he reached his journey's end.
From
the frontier of
life,
from the western
wave-kissed shore, he sent us messages of content like
and hope, and these messages seem now strains of music blown by the " Mystic "
Trumpeter
from Death's pale realm.
LIBERTY IN LITERATURE.
86
To-day we give back to Mother Nature, to her clasp and kiss, one of the bravest, sweetest souls that ever lived in
human
clay.
Charitable as the air and generous as Nature,
he was negligent of
all
except to do and say
what he believed he should do and should
And
I to-day thank
but for myself, for
all
the brave words he has
him
I thank
uttered.
say.
him, not only for you
for all the
great and
splendid words he has said in favor of liberty,
man and woman,
in favor of
in favor of
moth-
erhood, in favor of fathers, in favor of children,
and I thank him
for the brave
words that he
has said of death.
He
has lived, he has died, and death
than
rible
it
was
ions will walk
shadow
Long
"
before.
down
after
we
Thousands and
into the
holding Walt
is less ter-
"
mill-
dark valley of the
Whitman by
the hand.
are dead the brave words he has
sound
trumpets to the dying. And so I lay this little wreath upon this
spoken
will
great man's tomb. love
him
still.
like
I loved
him
living,
and I
A New Book About the The Best One of All
Bible.
THE BIBLE By
JOHN
Large IQmo.
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500 pages.
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Eleven Chapters on the Authenticity of the
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Human
Origin
of the Bible.
Twenty-six pages of Index, enabling the reader an instant to any Authority quoted or
to refer in
Argument The
used.
the chapters, in detail, are: Sacred Books of the World, The Christian Bible, Formation of the Canoa, Different Versions of the Bible, Authorship and Dates, titles of
The Pentateuch, The Prophets, The Hagiographa, The Epistles, and Revelation; Pauline Epistles, Textual Errors, Two Cosmogonies of Genesis, The Patriarchal Age, The Jewish Kings, Inspired Numbers, When Did Jehoshaphat Die? Harmony of the Gospels, Paul and tbe Apostles, The Bible and H stoT, The Bible and Science, Prophetic*, Miracles,T le Bible God, The Bible Not a Moral Guide, Lying, Cheating, Stealing, Murder, War. Human Sacrifices, Cannibalism, Witchcraft, Slavtry, Polygamy, Adultery, Obscenity, Intemperance, Vagrancy, Ignorance, Injustice to women, Unkindness to Children, Cruelty to Animals, Tyranny, Intolerance, Conclusion, Appendix.
Four Gospels, Acts, Catholic
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New Testament Comically
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NEARLY 400 PAGES A PAGE OF TEXT TO EACH PICTURE ABOUT 200 PICTUKES These Pictures are the Illustrations which appeared in The Truth Seeker and were highly commended for their wit and point. The Text is in chief part bj George E. Macdonald, most favorably known to readers of The Truth Seeker. The Coyer IB from an original design by Ryan Walker, one of the best cartoonists in the whole country. Cloth covers t design in white and tint, $1.50. covers > illuminated^ $i.
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A
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