The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1896-12-27

fact which he and hia pooms illustrate-hi
everyday American human nature. The fact Y.
to be put on q pedestal by a literary fool" He
was q most non-literary author.
degree than any one know Of except Rabelair
and no one except Donaldson has made thle
apparent; He had a Gergantusn sense Of hu.
described3 In 1883 he had astrokc of peraly-
sis. and was believed to be at the point OF death.
made his literary esecutors-and he knew Il.
tiptoed to his bedside and Srce.b!e.siy asked
answer. :" Don't you want 70 mako one ~ came
next. Hove you one writf ~ was the cunning
H ious Ones. Wei n.T show nS"i Il W to me when Il IL
ready-6ut there Is no hurry" said the dying
poet; Then. as the three " exseutorsu nPtoed
Again. when Donaldson once demonstrated
t UnVts 4 R made the 'Se'G NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS.
WIND was s1s' ''nor'.n %P'ss stst or s S,%
Another strong trait of personal character
s shsilv DG 1ssSssI1.S touches %S. 9 %.I sGd S sPS. NOT ssn-
Edmund Clarence Stedman. In his Poets of
America" notes, with some apparent surprise.
that I'm q collection of sketches. articles. de-
bates, which have appeared during the last
fifteen years; relating TO American poets, the
o M4 homsfei rp@ PSi REn %srsSn. we're SsrsrS each che a %SSsS
larger than all the rest combined" Like the
and not surprising '~S you learn how i 10
done. whitman was q most assiduous T" worker
OF the press" Az an old newspaper nan him,
several samples of his work on two. newspapers.
Not alone was his own hand busy. but he stim-
ulated others. Take this paragraph as an
example OF his method:
BOSTON AND WAIT WHITMAN.
Tho Bos~tonians.perha 70 make up for their ab.
tiisrnish ss%' he area : e I" : Wal. whi.mssn sSslsty:s
enstSs9I the old sdpf poet s,t' With . a Weekly pension and to
s Sna wsIsi ssa'f sai W w R0S.1SGh, lm nRs ps eertainl ,o iooRs
with apathy on the whole buslness. as he took the
ssssS%n of Gs1s i sna I. w Hi Ressf rs PSem. s sssa'd'; axe Ike
sIasio snaP he Is "i Pers sonsf frisnais TO III. q 4af. mann.
,ss starter ana e III, the ts scSIsty ind H S,.s;n E a srn e n g, MS
Note how he advertises Leaves Of Grass"
should take their chances; how he slaps the
stanchest disciples" live in Boston. As the
press agent Of a show would say. the man who
him, This /. not walt whitman The poet, but
ssectations. Which IN" we're Ta Sincere T:V With his S.'h huns m.
bug. which was TO him reality: with his iitera-
~ defects, which were systematic and inten.
tional, Walt Whitman personally was the most
as II he were neither a fetch nor a freak, and
sio,e a"" A IS%aS dsN him 'G as Il Il he e' %ers ss a literary py
lion, and he would put on an ass's skin. APP
thorhynchus. and he would act the Mahatma.
Go to him as man to man. and you would find
Walt. Whitman the man as Tom Donaldson
found him.
Who has no diosyncrasiesf He was earnest
rs q poet and calm in his belief as to his works
future effect on the American people. With
the hand of a Titan he had wrested a solid ledge
OF rock. overgrown with lichens and soil. from
the mountain of endeavor and had hurlod 1t
into the ocean OF thought. believing that at
first 1t would cause turmoil and turbulence, but
that the circle OF Ito ouleter influence would
broaden and widen in time. He sought to have
no literary Label pasted on his back. nor did he
desire to be stuck In n literary pigeon hole.
That the name Walt Whitman should rank
high on Parnassus he had little caro-: that what
was written should effect the life OF tho Amer
lean people was his aspiration. Who shall say
he will not attain it2 Has no not in part at
talned II, even II. as tie says In Calamus:
The way 10 suspicious tho result uncertain, perhaps
destruction.
And In libraries he may:
. lie as ono dumb, q gawk, unborn, or dead.
What he wanted for himself on earth was n
frugal living, and he got IL in tho easiest way.
chiefly through friends and by the aid Of tho
press. / don't believe he cared two straws II.
after he was dead. his name should never APP
pear in n dictionary of authors or a history Of
literature. He did want his ideas to disseminate.
or course he knew that he would be written
of personally. aud / am sure that he was pleased
with the idea that Tom Donaldson would write
of Whitman the man. X. y.
PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 81.