Walt Whitman's Lecture. Death of Abraham Lincoln. Philadelphia: April 15, 1880

presentation

Arguably, Whitman loved his country more than almost anything else in his life. When Lincoln, who to Whitman “saved” the nation during the Civil War, was assassinated on April 14, 1865, Whitman was quick to respond. On April 16, 1865, he wrote, “…if one name, one man, must be picked out, he [Lincoln], most of all, is the conservator of it [the Union], to the future” (Whitman, Specimen Days 788). He added that even though Lincoln had died, the Union had not. This was perhaps the only solace Whitman found in the death of his hero.

While it is apparent that Lincoln was always an icon that Whitman admired, Lincoln’s importance to Whitman’s life was catapulted by the President’s assassination in 1865. Whitman viewed Lincoln’s death as akin to the many great and tragic deaths of history – Caesar, Napolean, etc… – and saw it as the final event that saved the Union and brought to a (tragic) close the chaos and turbulence of a nation (Whitman, Prose Works). Whitman conveyed these sentiments some nineteen times between the years1879 and 1890 in what became known as his “Lincoln lectures” (Reynolds 531).

While the elegiac poems are the most popularly recognized example of Whitman’s love for Lincoln today, Whitman’s annual Lincoln lectures defined his popular status in the late nineteenth century (Reynolds 496). Beginning in April of 1879, Whitman delivered these public lectures commemorating the President’s death (Eiselein 1). His first lecture, on April 14^th, was organized by some of his friends in the New York literary social circle (Reynolds 531). He gave the speech seated on a chair in Steck Hall to an audience of sixty to eighty people. The entire speech was recited in a “conversational tone” and he ended the lecture by reciting “O Captain” (Reynolds 531).

The “Death of Abraham Lincoln” lecture begins with a statement of purpose:

“HOW often since that dark and dripping Saturday—that chilly April day, now fifteen years bygone—my heart has entertain’d the dream, the wish, to give of Abraham Lincoln’s death, its own special thought and memorial. Yet now the sought-for opportunity offers, I find my notes incompetent, (why, for truly profound themes, is statement so idle? why does the right phrase never offer?) and the fit tribute I dream’d of, waits unprepared as ever. My talk here indeed is less because of itself or anything in it, and nearly altogether because I feel a desire, apart from any talk, to specify the day, the martyrdom.…For my own part, I hope and desire, till my own dying day, whenever the 14th or 15th of April comes, to annually gather a few friends, and hold its tragic reminiscence…” (Whitman, Prose Works) [bold is our addition].

A tribute, to Whitman, is impossible because he cannot create one that is fitting enough. Instead, he hopes to remember the day and the importance of it. After this statement of purpose, Whitman begins with a history of the tumultuous conditions in the United States leading up to Lincoln’s election (Reynolds 441). Following this brief history lesson, Whitman reminisces about the times he saw the President. After this foundation is built, Whitman launches into his enthralling and vivid eyewitness account of Lincoln’s assassination (Eiselein 1).

“Through the general hum following the stage pause, with the change of positions, came the muffled sound of a pistol-shot…and yet a moment’s hush-somehow surely, a vague startled thrill-and then, through the ornamented, draperied, starr’d and striped space-way of the President’s box, a sudden figure, a man, raises himself with hands and feet, stands a moment on the railing, leaps below the stage…and disappears…

A moment’s hush-a scream-the cry of murder…” (Whitman, Prose Works)

Not present at Ford’s Theatre on April 14, 1865, Whitman looked elsewhere for this “eyewitness” information. Peter Doyle, a friend of Whitman’s who was at Ford’s Theatre the night of the assassination, gave Whitman an intimate account of the tragedy (Reynolds 440). Still, many of Whitman’s details were sensationalized. In his speech he included much of the sensational news reportage that was characteristic of nineteenth-century America (Reynolds 442). Many of these details, however, were only distantly related to Lincoln’s murder. Whitman concluded the detailed account of Lincoln’s assassination with commentary on the effects and meaning of the murder on the Nation. For Whitman, Lincoln’s assassination was “the ultimate violent American melodrama whose villain was a caricature of bad acting, whose victim was the hero of the nation’s greatest drama, and whose effect was audience frenzy on a massive scale” (Reynolds 443). Beyond this, though, Lincoln’s murder was the final event that re-solidified the nation. Lincoln, in his life and his death, achieved what Whitman had always hoped to with Leaves of Grass: unification of the Nation.

In this lecture, Whitman does not lament Lincoln’s death as much as he presents it as a culminating event in the midst of all the conflicts of the era. In essence, Whitman’s lecture positions Lincoln’s assassination as the tragic sacrifice through which the nation was reborn (Eiselein 1). In discussing the timeless and global impact of Lincoln’s life and death, Whitman paints an American tragedy. This tragedy was often punctuated with Whitman’s most famous tribute to Lincoln, “O Captain”.

The most famous of Whitman’s Lincoln lectures was his lecture on April 14, 1887 at Madison Square Theater in New York. This lecture was arranged by two businessmen who were Whitman’s friends, John Johnston and Robert Pearsall Smith. These men arranged for Major James B. Pond to publicize the event (Reynolds 558). As a result, this April 1887 appearance became a memorable spectacle and a society event. The event drew a large society crowd including Andrew Carnegie, Mark Twain, and James Russell Lowell. The entire “performance” had a dramatic theme, including an ending in which a young girl walked on stage to hand Whitman a bouquet of lilacs (Reynolds 555). The spectacle did not end there, however, as there was a reception following the lecture that was at least as spectacular as the event itself. Even though the event netted Whitman $600.00, he had mixed feelings about it (Reynolds 555). To John Johnston, Whitman said that this lecture was the culminating hour of his life, but to Traubel he remarked, “It was too much the New York jamboree – the cosmopolitan drunk” (Reynolds 555).

If nowhere else, Whitman’s dedication to Lincoln’s memory is evident through his final lecture. In April of 1890, despite his failing health, Whitman gave his “Death of Abraham Lincoln” lecture for the final time (Reynolds 575).

Reading copy "Death of Lincoln" lecture, 1879, Bound printed and manuscript pages

Partial Transcription: “. . .the true spirit, the true development of America. Life serves, & death also-even the death of the sweetest and wisest. . . . With the first breath of a great historic triumph and in murder and horror unsurpassed Abraham Lincoln died. But not only the value he gave the New World in life survives for ever, but the value of his death survives forever” (Library of Congress, “Poet of the Nation” http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/ww0035-trans.html).

Here’s a link to the full text of Walt Whitman’s speech, “The Death of Abraham Lincoln”.

Group members: Chris Countryman, Jennica Kwak, Tara Wood

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Works Cited

Eiselein, Gregory. “Lincoln’s Death.” The Walt Whitman Encyclopedia.
Eds. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings. New York: Garland
Publishing, 1998. 30 November 2009
<http://www.whitmanarchive.org/criticism/current/encyclopedia/entry_30.html> .
Reynolds, David. Whitman’s America: A Cultural Biography.
Whitman, Walt. “Death of Abraham Lincoln.” Prose Works. Philadelphia: David McKay, 1892; Bartleby.com, 2000. www.bartleby.com/229/. [30 November 2009].
Whitman, Walt. “The Death of Abraham Lincoln.” Specimen Days. Whitman
Poetry and Prose. New York: The Library of America, 1996.

All Images: Library of Congress, “Poet of the Nation: Revising Himself: Walt Whitman and Leaves of Grass.” an American Treasures exhibition: http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/treasures/whitman-poetofthenation.html

Click here to view the embedded video.

direct youtube link (if you want to watch it “fullscreen”)

Final note:

All music chosen for this cinepoem was either of the time that “City of Ships” was written (1865) or by local musicians in either Philadelphia or New Jersey.

“The drum-corps’ rattle is ever to me sweet music”

Whitman’s Drum Taps & Civil War Music

final presentation notes

Whitman napping

Where was I?

at Starbucks, in Macy’s in Center City, Philadelphia

EVER the undiscouraged, resolute, struggling soul of man;

(Have former armies fail’d then we send fresh armies—and fresh again;)

Ever the grappled mystery of all earth’s ages old or new;

Ever the eager eyes, hurrahs, the welcome-clapping hands, the loud applause;

Ever the soul dissatisfied, curious, unconvinced at last;

Struggling to-day the same—battling the same.

Just keep going!

“…commenc’d going for weeks at a time, even for months, down in the country, to a charmingly recluse and rural spot along Timber creek, twelve or thirteen miles from where it enters the Delaware river. Domicil’d at the farm house of my friends, the Staffords, near by, I lived half the time along this creek and its adjacent fields and lanes” (Whitman, “Specimen Days“ 804)

Timber Creek from Westville, NJ - t.wood 10/20/09"indescribable skies of limpid blue, with rolling silver-fringed clouds"

Undoubtedly, Camden defined much of Whitman’s later life. The sojourns he took out of Camden, though, were equally influential. While Whitman lived in Camden, he befriended the Stafford family. It was this friendship that carried Whitman further into New Jersey to Timber Creek and to what is now known as Laurel Springs. And it is this connection with Timber Creek and the Stafford house with which Whitman credits (at least somewhat) his mental and physical recovery from the effects of his first stroke – a “semi-renewal of the lease of life” (804).

At these places, Whitman sat often with pen in hand and mused on nature and on life, musings which ultimately found their way into Specimen Days. Today, over 130 years later, Timber Creek and Laurel Lake are still charming – although much less recluse than they once were – and still echo Whitman’s descriptions of 1874 & 1875.

“We had a heavy shower, with brief thunder and lightning, in the middle of the day; and since, overhead, one of those not uncommon yet indescribable skies of limpid blue, with rolling silver-fringed clouds, and a pure-dazzling sun” (Whitman, “Specimen Days” 810).

Timber Creek

“Down every day in the solitude of the creek. A serene autumn sun and westerly breeze to-day as a I sit here, the water surface prettily moving in wind-ripples before me” (Whitman, “Specimen Days” 816).

Named for the large amounts of timber that grew along its banks, Big Timber Creek is 11 miles long and drains an area of 63 sq. miles. It has 9 tributaries, 6 major lakes, and 25 waterway miles, and it forms the boundary between Gloucester and Camden counties in Southern New Jersey. Traveling through 28 communites, Big Timber Creek begins in Washington Township and Winslow Township and ends in Gloucester City and West Deptford, emptying into the Delaware River approximately 3 miles south of Camden. While some farmland and forest still surround the creek, much of it is becoming rapidly “surbubanized.”

from http://www.njconservation.org/html/gfa-timber.htm

The Armewamexes branch of the Lenni-Lennape Indians lived along the creek. Colonization around the creek began in the 1670s when the Quakers and Irish arrived. The first European Settlement along Timber Creek was Fort Nassau, established in 1623 at the mouth of the creek. It was a sensible place to settle, for it made transportation (in the absence of roads) much more feasible. South Jersey farmers also used the creek to transport crops to Philadelphia.

Today, the New Jersey Conservation Foundation has protected over 100 acres of land surrounding Big Timber Creek, essentially preserving much of what Whitman loved about the creek. The NJCF also partnered with Deptford Township and the NJ State Green Acres Program to create and preserve an 18-acre park, known as Timber Creek Park. Walking along the park trails in this unexpected refuge takes the traveler through the history of the Creek, but a study of its vegetation and wildlife – those same things Whitman wrote about in Specimen Days.

Through the trees at Timber Creek Park, t.wood 10/19/09

Laurel Springs post office, by the railroad tracks - t.wood, 10/19/09

Laurel Springs, NJ

Laurel Springs is located in Southern New Jersey, 14 miles from the Walt Whitman Bridge, which connects Philadelphia to New Jersey.

The Whitman-Stafford House - t.wood, 10/19/09

What is now known as Laurel Springs first belonged to the Lenni-Lenape Indians, and was settled by European settlers in the early to mid 17th century. Quakers were among the first settlers in the area.

Joseph Tomlinson came to the area in 1686 and after his marriage in 1690, he acquired 117 acres of land, part of which is now Laurel Springs. Ephraim Tomlinson, Jr., Joseph Tomlinson’s great-grandson, bought 819 acres, located on both sides of Timber Creek. Part of this became Laurel Springs. Joseph Tomlinson’s great-great-grandson, another Ephraim, built a home in 1844 and began a small community. He orginially chose the name Laurel Mills due to the dense growth of laurel in the area. (The Ancient Greeks used Laurel wreaths to honor poets and heroes. How apropos that Whitman would find himself in Laurel Springs…)

This marks the beginning of what is now known as Laurel Springs, New Jersey.

A railroad was built in 1877, which made Laurel Springs more accessible. Prior to this time, three farms and a pasture defined the boundaries of present-day Laurel Springs. Two of those farms, totaling 187 acres, were owned by Montgomery Stafford. It is here that Whitman converted one of the Stafford Farm buildings into his summer home (1876 and 1884). The Stafford house that Whitman eventually made his summer home still stands today at 305 Maple Avenue in Laurel Springs.

The Whitman-Stafford House - t.wood, 10/19/09

The Whitman-Stafford House from the yard - t.wood, 10/19/09

“The clear beams are now thrown in many new places, on the quilted, seam’d, bronze-drab, lower tree trunks, shadow’d except at this hour—now flooding their young and old columnar ruggedness with strong light, unfolding to my sense new amazing features of silent, shaggy charm, the solid bark, the expression of harmless impassiveness, with many bulge and gnarl unreck’d before” (Whitman, “Specimen Days” 814).

Only a few blocks from the Whitman-Stafford House is Laurel Lake, the lake Whitman once proclaimed was the “prettiest lake in either America or Europe”. A short walk from the house, Laurel Lake was yet another refuge for the ailing Whitman.

Laurel Lake, near Whitman-Stafford House - t.wood

What Whitman found at Timber Creek, Laurel Lake, and on the Stafford farm was a rejuvenated self. Although these same places are now surrounded by neighborhoods, houses, and busy roads, they still hold something of solitude and peace for the reader of Whitman. Much of what he wrote in Specimen Days of these places his readers can still see.

Whitman is still there.

After visiting these places, I’m certain that Whitman said it best:

“It seems indeed as if peace and nutriment from heaven subtly filter into me as I slowly hobble down these country lanes and across fields, in the good air—as I sit here in solitude with Nature—open, voiceless, mystic, far removed, yet palpable, eloquent Nature” (Whitman, “Specimen Days” 830).

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Works Cited

“Big Timber Creek Watershed.” New Jersey Conservation Foundation. New Jersey Conservation Foundation, 2009. 17 Oct. 2009 <http://www.njconservation.org/html/gfa-timber.htm>.

“Fact Sheet: Big Timber Creek.” Delaware Riverkeeper. Delaware Riverkeeper Network. 17 Oct. 2009 <http://www.delawareriverkeeper.org/factsheets/big_timber.html>.

“Timber Creek Park Trail Guide.” Big Timber Creek. Old Pine Farm Natural Lands Trust, Inc. 17 Oct. 2009 <http://www.bigtimbercreek.org/timber_creek_park_trail_guide.htm>.

Whitman, Walt. “Specimen Days.” Whitman Poetry & Prose. Library of America, 1996.

Wolfe, Bob. “Borough History.” Laurel Springs-NJ: News. 31 January 2004. Borough of Laurel Springs. 17 October 2009 <http://www.laurelsprings-nj.com/news.php?extend.3>.

My ties and ballasts leave me . . . . I travel . . . . I sail . . . . my elbows rest in the sea-gaps,
I skirt the sierras . . . . my palms cover continents,
I am afoot with my vision.

Prospecting, n. (from Oxford English Dictionary)

1. Mining. The action or practice of exploring a region in search of mineral deposits (esp. gold) or oil; the experimental working of a mine or reef.

1848 W. COLTON Jrnl. 18 Oct. in Three Years Calif. (1850) xxi. 292 Half their time is consumed in what they call prospecting; that is, looking up new deposits [of gold]. 1857 J. D. BORTHWICK Three Years California vi. 124 We abandoned it [sc. our claim], and went ‘prospecting’.

2. In extended use: the action of exploring or searching; the action of looking about for something.

1886 Proc. Royal Geogr. Soc. 8 633 We deemed it wise to anchor the Peace and do some prospecting in the rowing-boat..before we ventured further.

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Whitman’s evocation of the prospecting and gold-digging in this section of “Song of Myself” serves a dual purpose. Whitman, at the time of writing this 1855 version of “Song of Myself” despised materialism – and so it would seem, Whitman would disagree with the idea of prospecting for gold. Yet, whether Whitman realized it or not, prospecting brought great expansion and possibility to America – and, ultimately, he may have regarded the movement as a positive one.

During the industry and technology booms of postwar America, Whitman became fascinated with technology’s potential to create the cultural unity he had always sought (Reynolds, Ch. 15). Often, the technology of his poems served as a metaphor for “eventual poetic and religious fruition (Reynolds 499).

As such, his notion of “prospecting” here in “Song of Myself” (nearly 20 years earlier than his affirmations of technology) can also act as a metaphor for Whitman’s purpose. In the context of the poem, “Prospecting…gold-digging…girdling the trees of a new purchase…” is contained within a long laundry list of the “vistas” following his newly-found freedom of movement and vision, “My ties and ballast leave me….I travel…./I am afoot with my vision”. While “prospecting” is a part of his vision, it could also be assumed that he is not watching the “prospecting,” but participating in it. In the line directly before this, Whitman’s “I” is “hoeing my onion-patch…” not watching someone else hoe an onion-patch.

If we deduce, then, that Whitman is prospecting – is he prospecting for gold? I’d argue not. The second definition offered by the Oxford English Dictionary, however, suits Whitman’s “Song of Myself” perfectly: “the action of exploring or searching; the action of looking about for something.” What Whitman is digging and exploring for is not gold, but himself in his vision of the world around him – the bits of “gold” that his vision may afford him so that he may better and more fully understand himself. The digging is into his soul. He is afoot, he is (a work) in progress.

"Prospecting" Blythe

A quick note on David Gilmore Blythe’s painting above: The painting is dated 1861-1863, and it turns out that Blythe shared more than one similarity with Whitman. Claire Perry in her book Young America: Childhood in 19th Century Art and Culture discusses that Blythe was one of the first Americans to use the “street child” as a subject – a trail-blazer much as Whitman was. What is also particularly “Whitman-ian” about it, is that in presenting the street child in the way he does, he’s rebelling against the typical English model that most American artists of the time were following. The English model would have presented the child as a charming beggar, whereas Blythe’s is very real, very lost, and very alone. Blythe, like Whitman, “confronted the viewer and challenged middle-class complacency” (117). While I originally chose this poem, entitled “Prospecting,” for it’s “crossroads” imagery that I felt fit Whitman’s message, it is clear that it has greater resonance than I imagined.

_____________________________________Works Referenced_________

“Gold” Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press, 2009 <http://dictionary.oed.com.proxy.libraries.rutgers.edu/>.

“Mining.” Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press, 2009 <http://dictionary.oed.com.proxy.libraries.rutgers.edu/>.

“Prospecting.” Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford University Press, 2009 <http://dictionary.oed.com.proxy.libraries.rutgers.edu/>.

Reynolds, David S. Walt Whitman’s America: A Cultural Biography. New York: Vintage Books, 1995.

Perry, Claire. Young America: Childhood in 19th Century Art and Culture. viewed through Google Books.

Whitman, Walt. “Song of Myself (1855).” Whitman Poetry & Prose. Library of America, 1996. 59.

Image 1: Alaska State Library photograph PCA 44-3-15 Sourdough in stream panning for gold (Skinner)

Image 2: “Prospecting,” David Gilmour Blythe (American sculptor & painter 1815-1865 <http://www.1st-art-gallery.com/thumbnail/156245/1/Prospecting.jpg>