Poet at Work: Recovered Notebooks from the Thomas Biggs Harned Walt Whitman Collection

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Walt Whitman Notebooks, 1847-1860s presents four of the poet's notebooks and a cardboard butterfly that were stolen from and subsequently returned to the Library's Whitman collection. These four notebooks contain notes in poetry and prose which, the user should be advised, do not always appear in sequence, as Whitman was wont to skip pages and then use them later. In addition to providing information about the poet, the collection is also a resource for studying the Civil War, nineteenth-century culture, and interrelated historical themes.

1) The Civil War

Over the course of the war, Whitman visited thousands of soldiers in Washington, D.C. hospitals. His notes from these visits give students a sense of the the times, of the great number of soldiers and scope of the war, and of the soldiers as individuals. Refer students to the following notebooks and pages:

• Notebook #101 - page 10, 18, and the rest of the notebook.
• Notebook #94 - pages 1-4, 15-18, 20-22, 24, and 32-40.

Go to page 18 of Notebook #101 and page 126 of Notebook #94 to read about how young most Civil War soldiers were. Ask students what other indications they can find of the soldiers' youth.

Students can get a better understanding of what service in the army entailed by reading a detailed account of the history of Fererro's 51st New York regiment, including its battles at Roanoke and Antietam:

• Notebook #94 - pages 97, 99, 101, 103, 106-108, 111, 114, 117, 119, and 120.

Whitman's continuing account of the regiment's loss of men will impress upon students the likelihood for survival in a regiment as active as the 51st. Another instructive highlight is Whitman's account of an exhausting 100 day march:

• Notebook #94 - the top of page 124 and pages 125, 127, 129-131, 135, and 137.

The quieter side of army life, namely camp life, is illustrated in Whitman's description of a tent dwelling and his records of the soldiers' vernacular, the food they ate, and the stories they told around the campfires. Students can make a drawing or write a soldier's journal entry based on the following pages: 109, 111, 115, 120, 124, 126, 139, and 141 of Notebook #94.

Finally, the notebooks also bring home the violence of the war through descriptions of battle, death, injury, and amputation. Refer students to a description of battle on pages 143, 145, and 147 of Notebook #94. Whitman vividly reproduces the sounds of weapons and the sight of the dead. Or, have them read some of Whitman's comments on death. Pictures from Civil War Photographs, 1861-1865 can also be helpful in bringing home the reality of war.

Spotsylvania Court House, Va., vicinity. Body of another Confederate soldier . . . .

2) Nation Building

Living not one hundred years after America declared its independence, Whitman, like Ralph Waldo Emerson and other contemporaries, was concerned with how the country would develop. Students can read Whitman's definition of true American character on pages 17-19 of Notebook #80. They can also read statements about nationhood on pages 24 and 114-116. Ask students to consider the following questions:

• How does Whitman conceive of America and its people? What are some of the words he uses to describe them? Is this a realistic description? What does Whitman want to communicate through these descriptions?
• What does Whitman mean by "scheme" on page 116 of Notebook #80? What might his scheme be and how does he hope to accomplish it?

Interest in nation building was not limited to intellectuals like Emerson, but captivated the public at large, expressed in the many reform movements of the nineteenth century. On pages 4-8 of Notebook #86 Whitman writes a long, graphic simile comparing "what has been called and is still called religion," to a corpse. Shortly thereafter, he makes reference to "religious and political improvements." Ask students to consider the following questions:

• How does Whitman's simile on pages 4-8 relate to pages 2 and 3, preceding it?
• Why does Whitman use a corpse to characterize religion? What does he suggest about religion through his description of the corpse?
• Is Whitman calling for a reform of religion? What else might he be trying to reform and how?

Refer students to David Reynolds's Beneath the American Renaissance to better see how the poet and popular culture influenced each other through the activities and rhetoric of reform.

3) The Individual

While Emerson wrote Self Reliance and Thoreau encouraged people to step to the music of a different drummer, Whitman pondered "Why can we not see (a) being who by manliness and transparence of nature disarm(s) the entire world, and brings one and all to his side, as friends and believers?" Students can read the rest of this musing on pages 61-62 of Notebook #80. Have students compare Whitman's ideas about the individual with those of his contemporaries. Ask them why this interest in the individual existed as it did in the nineteenth century.

Celebration of the common man has often gone hand in hand with celebration of the individual. Students can explore this theme in Whitman's writings on page 65 of Notebook #80. Students can also consider Whitman's notes on the Civil War, especially its soldiers, in light of the theme of the individual.

4) The Poet and Poetry

Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman's anonymous publication of the first edition of Leaves of Grass in 1855 introduced a revolutionary new form of verse. Notebook #80 contains trial flights of verse which later evolved into "Song of Myself"--the opening section of Leaves of Grass. On pages 65 and 68-72, Whitman breaks off from prose ruminations and speaks--perhaps for the first time--in the revolutionary verse form he created. Furthermore, these lines announce Whitman's unique conception of the role of the poet and the use of poetry. Have students read and discuss pages 21, 35-36, and 110 of Notebook #80. Ask them what they think Whitman is contending and what they think about it. Are his ideas novel or familiar? Realistic or impractical?

5) Transcendentalism

Many passages referenced above also apply to Transcendentalism. Additionally, students may find citations about the relation of mind and matter, body, soul, and spirit on pages 75 and 200-201 of Notebook #94 and pages 26, 29-32, and 42-44 of Notebook #80. Ask students to consider whether Whitman's ideas about the individual, nationhood, and poetry seem to express more his interest in Transcendentalism or Nation Building.