FEINBERG/WHITMAN LITERARY FILE Prose Corrections for Notes on WW: Poet & Person by Clippings Box 34 Folder 47 John Burroughs, [ Sept. 1890] Includes A.MS. notations97 1890 Corrections for Walt Whitman: Poet and Person. A. MS. (1p. 18 x 13 cm.) pasted To which galley-prrofs are [pasted] Written in ink on the inside of a torn open and discarded envelope (postmarked 5 Sept. 1890 to Whitman in Camden), 25 words: In the "Leaves of Grass" Walt Whitman himself it is said considers the war of '61-65' his central motif. Again John Burroughs: "[Paragraph follows from John Burrough's Walt Whitman: Poet and Person, p. 107, beginning 'Above all, he sings the lost. ....boy of 1861 and '2 and '3!' Whitman has [?] marked this sentence to run into the paragraph beginning 'Sure as the ages roll, America will not forget this service,' deleted the next 3 lines and 1 word, taking up 'And when the angry hatreds....art, on man."' In the margin he marks the deletion and writes] run in all. The deleted lines read: Sweeter and deeper, as time continues, will these powerful songs approve themselves and the preo-97A ous wealth, the [?] richer than California's gold, deposited in them. 99 1890 Corrections for Walt Whitman: Poet and Person. A. MS. (1 p. 14 x 10 1/2 cm.) Written in ink on the top margin of p. 94 (attached is the top of p.95, and on the back is p.93 and 96), 17 words: Here is a thumbnail sketch of him in the war-times, 1864 & '4, from John Burroughs's "Notes": [ The paragraphs beginning "An army surgeon who at...."When practical, he came..." and ending "feverish and thirsty." Ink marks indicate deletion of brackets at beginning and end, with quotes marked for beginning of passage, at beginning of second paragraph and end of passage.]In the "Leaves of Grass" x Walt Whitman himself it is [?Z...?] considers the war of '61 - '65 his central motif. Again John Burroughs: " Above all he sings the lost. Each of those heroes, though dead and unnamed, has here his fit memorial. The young saltling from bleak Cape Cod, the Philadelphia machinist, the farmer's son of Michigan or Illinois or Ohio - each sent down by fate to the black mystery of dreaded death - for each the mother's , sister's tears, the family dismay - for each the hurried trench upon the field at night by truce permitted; yet here, by this man's art, from the trench raised, redeemed, bathed with a love, a brightness warmer and clearer than the sun's - with monument for every one as high, as strong as poesy can ever build! Such for the dead volunteer - such from Walt Whitman for the fallen soldier of the ranks, the unknown demigod, the ardent boy of 1861 and '2 and '3! Sure as the ages roll, America will not forget this service. [Sweeter and deeper, as time continues, will these powerful songs approve themselves, and the precious [?wealth?], the run in all [? richer than California's gold, deposited in them.] And when the angry hatreds of the struggle shall have passed away and become altogether forgotten - when our nation, thoroughly fused, and after a long career, forms really a history for itself - and when the venerableness of time, and of more than one generation, shall have furnished a retrospective vista through which these pieces can be gazed on, and read, and felt, to the fathom of themselves - I see how the quality resident in them, looming through the haze of the past, full of the inexpressible associations of that strange, sad war, will have the effects on such American, Southern or Northern, who reads, or hears them read, as never yet have been surpassed by bard, or work of art, on man." back side of letter showing hand written address with Belgian stamp postmarked Ostende 5 Sept. 18 Mr. Walt Whitman Camden Private New Jersey U.S. of America On the other half of this page/envelope was another postmark only partially visible marked Sept. 14 PAID H ALL There is also a delicate sketch showing a small bunch of flowers in the midst of which is a round wooden door with a heart carved out in the middle. One bird is perched in the bottom edge of the heart and another bird is fling toward it with a piece of grass in his beak. Above the heart shaped opening is carved 18 + C + M + B87 Here is a thumb-nail sketch of him in the war-times 1863 & '4 from John Burrough's "Notes": "An army surgeon who at the time watched with curiosity Mr. Whitman's movements among the soldiers in the hospitals has since told me that his principles of operation, effective as they were, seemed strangely few, simple, and on a low key: to act upon the appetite, to cheer by a healthy and fitly bracing appearance and demeanor, and to fill and satisfy, in certain cases, the affectional longings of the patients, was about all. He carried among them no sentimentalism nor moralizing; spoke not to any man of his "sins"; but gave something good to eat, a buoying word, or a trifling gift and a look. He appeared with ruddy face, clean dress, with a flower or a green sprig in the lappet of his coat. Crossing the fields in summer he would gather a great bunch of dandelion blossoms, and red and white clover, to bring and scatter on the cots, as reminders of out-door-air and sunshine. "When practicable, he came to the long and crowded wards of the maimed, the feeble, and the dying, only after preparations as for a festival--strengthened by a good meal, rest, the bath, and fresh underclothes. He entered with a huge haversack slung over his shoulder, full of appropriate articles, with parcels under his arms, and protuberant pockets. He would sometimes come in summer with a good-sized basket, filled with oranges, and would go round for hours paring and dividing them among the feverish and thirsty." [93 now lying in half lethargy. Near where I sit is a suffering rebel, from the 8th Louisiana; his name is Irving. He has been here a long time, badly wounded, and lately had his leg amputated. It is not doing very well. Right opposite me is a sick soldier boy, laid down with his clothes on, sleeping, looking much wasted, his pallid face on his arm. I see by the yellow trimming on his jacket that he is a cavalry boy. He looks so handsome as he sleeps, one must needs go nearer to him. I step softly over to him, and find by his card that he is named William Cone, of the 1st Maine cavalry and his folks live Skowhegan. Mr. Whitman spends the winter of 1863-4 with the army at Brandy Station and Culpepper, Virginia, among the brigade and division hospitals, moving in the same scenes and performing similar work. The following summer, the bloody holocaust of the 96 tions among the sick and wounded just the same, down to the present time, (March 1867-) Every Sunday finds him at the hospital, and he frequently goes there during the week. For the maimed and the infirm of the war we have yet among us, in many a dreary case, and the wounds of the contest are still unhealed.]