BABETTE DEUTSCH
300 WEST 108 STREET
NEW YORK CITY

April 20, 1941

Dear Mrs. Ford:

Thank you for your letter of yesterday. I am, of course, delighted to know that you like my Whitman so well. It is particularly gratifying to please one who has made a life-long study of the poet. Clifton Furness, too, was full of good words about the book. His own work is included in my bibliography.

As for the statement about Cosmic Consciousness, please believe that I have considered the matter carefully, and discussed it with both Miss Hoke and Mr. Furness. They agree with me that in a book of this kind, intended for young people primarily, the phrase would need too much explanation. Further, the book is written as far as possible from the inside, and Cosmic Consciousness is Dr. Bucke's phrase rather than Whitman's. My effort throughout was to convey the significance of the idea without using a term that involved more metaphysics than the average young person readily grasps. Indeed, I have not really left Cosmic Consciousness out of the book, but introduced it tacitly, as it were, and interwoven it with the text as a whole. In a sense, it is the very subject of the book. I have read your enclosure with interest, and can see how well it will fit into your own work. But the nature of my book makes such a statement inappropriate. For the same reason in taking up Whitman's prose and his attitude toward labor I have not been critical or expansive, but sought to treat these matters from the subjective viewpoint. I think that if you re-read my text with its special audience in mind, and also with an eye to the fact that it is written from Whitman's angle to a large degree, you will understand why I have done as I did. And I think you will find that Cosmic Consciousness, though not explicitly mentioned, is an intimate and integral part of it.

With appreciation of your interest,

COSMIC CONSCIOUSNESS

All lovers of Whitman know that he penetrated
deeply below the surface of things. The outcome of
this spiritual understanding was an insight into the
significant matters of life. Many people have this
inner vision, but Whitman had it to an exceptional
degree. He had a cosmic understanding-- a conscious-
ness-- revealing the inner, spiritual meaning of the
universe.

When cosmic consciousness takes possession of
a man he understands all mankind, and no longer is
limited by nationalism, racialism, or sectarianism.
His whole being is universalized beyond every species
of narrowness. He becomes a <u>fraternal internationalist</u>.

"Our personality has deeps which even our own
consciousness has not plumbed, though at times it catches
a glimpse of them. And we know that there are men whose
consciousness is so much deeper than ours, as ours is
deeper than that of a babe. Whitman was one of these."

Henry Bryan Binns.

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It is interesting to know that in Astrology Neptune
is a symbol of cosmic consciousness, and Venus, born of the
foam of the ocean, is the daughter of cosmic consciousness-
the manifestation of it in perfection-- hence it is the
symbol of Beauty and Art.