of death in “Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking”; his despairing con-
frontation with mortality in “As I Ebb’d with the Ocean of Life”; and the
sensuous ritual of his dying and trans¤guration in “So Long!” Chapter 5
reviews the Drum-Taps poems (1865–1866), which are predicated, as Whit-
man explained, on the centrality of death. We witness the invention of
the healer-persona who moves among the wounded and dying in Wash-
ington’s military hospitals and his empathetic reactions to agony and
death. The chapter also includes an extensive analysis of the magni¤cent
Lincoln elegy “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d.” And chap-
ter 6 spans the quarter century of Whitman’s post–Civil War poetry, a
rich and varied body of poems that features a renewed emphasis on reli-
gious spirituality and an eager anticipation of his approaching death.
Such poems as “Prayer of Columbus,” “Passage to India,” and an array of
charming lyrics welcome his own dying and speculate about the unknown
afterlife that may await him.
In my longtime acquaintance with Whitman I have found him always
companionable and always ready to reveal new insights, new linguistic
surprises, and new perplexities. My undertaking has been assisted by
many colleagues at California State University, Long Beach, and by its
ever-helpful library staff. My special thanks to Jerome Loving, Arnold T.
Schwab, and Sue Breckenridge.
I dedicate this book affectionately to my wife, Sylvia, and to my son,
Ira (both of whom have provided inspiration and invaluable assistance),
and to Rosie and Aaron.
Preface / xi