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Whitman on Poe:
“I have seen Poe--met him: he impressed me very favorably; was dark, quiet,
handsome--southern from top to toe: languid, tired out, it is true, but
altogether ingratiating.” (Traubel, from Whitman in his Own Time, 252)
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Alcott: Ocotber
4, 1856. I have been to see Walt
Whitman. . . A nondescript, he is not so easily described, nor seen to be
sudescribed. Broad-shouldered,
rouge-fleshed, Bacchus-browed, bearded like a satyr, and rank, he wears his
man-Bloomer in defiance of everybody, having these as everything else after
his own fashion, and for example to all men hereafter. Red flannel undershirt, open-breasted,
exposing his brawny neck; striped calico jacket over this, the collar
Byroneal, with coarse cloth overalls buttoned to it; cowhide boots; a heavy
round-about, with huge outside pockets and buttons to match; and a slouched
hat, for house and street alike. Eyes
gray, unimaginative, cautious yet sagacious; his voice deep, sharp, tender
sometimes and almost melting. When
talking will recline upon the couch at length, pillowing his head upon his
bended arm, and informing you naively how lazy he is, and slow. Listens well. … He has never been sick, he
says, nor taken medicine, nor sinned, and so is quite innocent of repentance
and man’s fall.
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