Walt Whitman in Mickle StreetKeller, Elizabeth Leavitt
General
Walt Whitman in Mickle Street
Keller, Elizabeth Leavitt
Poets, American -- 19th century -- Biography; Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892 -- Homes and haunts
It was not so lonesome for Warren when there was someone associated with
him in his work, and the nurse listened with interest to the stories he
told of his early escapades, and of his subsequent adventures in strange
countries and at sea. He could boast of having saved two fellow
creatures from drowning, that is, if he were at all inclined to boast,
which he was not. After awhile he confided the disappointments of his
love affair, saying he thought it hard that after being engaged for over
two and a half years, he had not, since he had assumed the care of Mr.
Whitman, had the opportunity and pleasure of inviting and escorting his
fiancée to an evening entertainment. The nurse thought so too; she
sympathized with him; and his one untrammelled evening was when, unknown
to his mother, she slipped over to Philadelphia, bought tickets and
secured seats that he might have the gratification of taking "Coddie" to
the theatre. This plot was several days in maturing, and when the secret
was disclosed Mrs. Davis was terribly exercised, fearing that something
dreadful might come up just at that particular time. She tried to
dissuade Warren from going, but it was two against one, and he went.
Nothing eventful occurred; Mr. Whitman was at his best, and when he
asked for "Warry," and was told where he had gone, he was perfectly
satisfied.
But day by day the patient steadily declined, and as one of his lungs
was nearly useless, it affected his breathing to such an extent that his
only relief was in change of position--"shifting," as he called it when
he was being turned from one side to the other. He could eat while lying
down, but could drink only when his head was raised with the pillow to
support it. Often when Mrs. Davis went into the room to turn him, or to
take him some little home-made delicacy, she came out in tears. What was
said when the two were alone--if they spoke at all--was never repeated,
never reported.
Mr. Whitman did not know that the nurse kept an account of his words, or
wrote anything whatever regarding him; for of all things he disliked,
the worst was to feel that there was someone at hand or just out of
sight with pencil and paper in readiness for instant use.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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