FEINBERG/WHITMAN LITERARY FILE Prose " Agitations, Dangers in America" (undated). Box 35 Folder 30 A.MS.draft 112 Agitations, Dangers in America: pross. A.MS. (3 1/2p. 13 x 16 cm.) Written in ink on pink paper with almost no changes. About 300 words: 'Agitations, Dangers in America.--In the main, wars, as fought down to the present ages, have ceased, [upon] for the civilized world, and are to cease.--Wars have always done a work that they could only do; but greater wars will yet arouse men.--Pitched battles will be fought,--and are fought in These States to-day.-- On less terms, no strong nation is made. O I will at once admit there is something in us as a race, as races, that, against peace, against solidity, against enjoyment, restless, hungry, offensive, full of / danger, full of death, often unable to account for itself, will allow nothing long to remain established, for all we have done it well, or it has been done well for us--But heedless of risks, deaf to the warnings of the good, the orthodox, the experienced-- deaf to majorities, deaf to ridicule--this something, /over/ 112A more resolute in the hour of defeat than the hour of triumph, urges us onward to never be content with what we have, but always advance, initiating others we have not. I think that agitation awaits us, relentless, continually.--Our destiny doubtless is to walk out more and more amid strong questions--to enter combats, not like the old combats, but more exhilarating, more spiritual-- Face to face meeting many a rude shock, many a low reality of life--hardening the muscle of our young men--forcing them to acquire the quick eye and the supple joint--passing through bitterness to attain what is attained only through bitterness-- Our pride to see ourselves at last, not what was told in false prophecies, a fat, respectable, abiding-tempered unwarlike race-- but a race of / warrior-brothers, armed for such conflicts, trained to cope with danger--Race owning no law but the law of ourselves--true to that law forever--fearless, independent, haughty--Race of passion and the storm.--: Published in The Artsman, March 1904. Horace Traubel says 113 Agitations: p. 2 Walt Whitman remarked that day: 'I guess that the war eras are about or nearly past; we will have more wars, wars more important, men more warriorlike, than any recorded in history: but the new wars, the new warriors, will be spiritual wars, spiritual warriors. The fiercest wars are yet to be fought--the wars of peace; the wars of classes that honor labor with castes that don't; the wars of the arts demanding admission to common life or of the common life to be admitted to and to vivify the arts; and these wars will require the strongest men--the restrained, the self-contained, the self-mastered men.' A couple of days later he handed me four little sheets of pink paper written over one side and pinned together. 'These,' he said, 'I have just fished out from a package of old manuscripts. They come to about the same thing as our talk Tuesday about war. They were written a long time ago but they are I hope even more true than they were when they were written-- though we do seem to be still having our bloody physical /over/ 113A wars. You may think me a faulty historian--I will not admit that I am a bad prophet.' The fragment on that occasion given to me by Whitman is reproduced above. Agitations, Dangers, in America.-- In the main, wars, as fought down to the present ages have ceased, [when] for the civilised world, and are to case.--Wars have always done a work that they only could do; but greater wars will yet arouse men.-- Pitched battles will be fought,-- and are fought in these States to-day.--On less terms, no strong nation is made. O I will at once admit there is something in us as a race, as races, that, against peace, against solidity, against enjoyment, restless, hungry, offensive, full of danger, full of death, often unable to account for itself, will allow nothing long to remain established, for all we have done it well, or it has been done well for us - But heedless of risks, deaf to the warnings of the good, the orthodox, the experienced - deaf to majorities, deaf to ridicule - this something, more resolute in the hour of defeat than the hour of triumph, urges us onward to never be content with what we have, but always advance, initiating others we have not. I think that agitation awaits us, relentless, continually. -- Our destiny doubtless is to walk out more and more amid strong questions-- to enter combats, not like the old combats, but more exhilirating, more spiritual -- Face to face meeting many a rude shock, many a low reality of life -- hardening the muscle of our young men - forcing them to acquire the quick eyes and the supple joint-- passing through bitterness to attain what is attained only through bitterness-- Our pride to see ourselves at last, not what was told in false prophecies, a fat, respectable, abiding, tempered unwarlike race -- but a race of warrior-brothers, armed for such conflicts, trained to cope with danger - Race owning no law but the law of ourselves - true to that law forever -- fearless, independent, haughty - Race of passion and the storm. Transcribed and reviewed by contributors participating in the By The People project at crowd.loc.gov.