Whitman and the Irish

6. Boston, 1881

6 B O S T O N , 1 8 8 1 “I hear it was charged against me . . .” The Civil War took its toll on Whitman, physically and emotionally, as it did on many who found themselves drawn into it in one way or another. But like the Irish, he came out of it better off in some ways, especially for the friendships he had formed and the depth of emotion he had found himself capable of expressing in actions and in poetry. His poetry was deepened by the war experiences, and Drum-Taps showed a gravity that had not been evident in his work before. The war over, Whitman stayed on in Washington during the Reconstruction period, still working in the Treasury Department. There were, now and then, new contacts with Irish people, both in the United States and abroad. While some of these were minor and of little consequence, there was one new friendship, with the Bostonbased Fenian hero John Boyle O’Reilly, which meant a great deal to both men and which has not to this point been sufficiently examined . Unfortunately, the beginning of one Irish friendship roughly paralleled the loss of another, with William Douglas O’Connor. Before O’Reilly came on the scene, however, there were other Irish contacts. One was with Louis Fitzgerald Tasistro, an Irishman of so many talents that Whitman’s admiration led him to solicit donations of money for the man when he came on hard times. Born in Ireland in 1808, Tasistro came to the United States as a young man. In the 1840s he was a journalist, novelist, travel writer, actor, and lecturer. In New York he was known for his portrayals of Shakespearean roles, especially Othello and Macbeth. He toured the South appearing in plays and wrote two volumes on the southern states; later he lectured in New York, wrote for a Boston weekly, and published a novel. At some time prior to the Civil War he was a translator for the State Department, then returned to the New York stage. Whitman may have known him in New York, though it seems more likely that they met when Tasistro was teaching languages in Wash- ington and perhaps working in a government office. On April 26, 1872, the Washington Daily Morning Chronicle carried a letter from Walt Whitman seeking “pecuniary assistance for a man of genius, whose name, twenty or thirty years ago, was one of the bright stars.” Now, at the age of seventy, Whitman says, he is “stranded, without a dollar, lingering, disabled by injuries, and down with obstinate, longprotracted ailments, starving, slowly dying, in this city.”1 Contributions did arrive, in the amount of $122, to which Whitman added $10 before turning the money over to Tasistro. After Whitman left Washington the following year he continued to ask after the Irishman in many of his letters to Peter Doyle; later he inserted into his notebook the notice of Tasistro’s death, adding in his own hand, “died Sunday May 2 —1886.”2 Given the number of Irishmen Whitman may have met through Doyle in Washington, there is no reason beyond a tempting speculation to connect Tasistro with the badly stained letter from Doyle to Whitman dated January 18, 1878, which reads in part, “the little Irishman that was here this winter! you remember him.”3 Whoever the Irishman was, Whitman probably remembered him. In 1872 we also find Whitman writing to Alfred Webb of Dublin, Ireland, in response to a letter received offering hospitality, no doubt in Webb’s home at 77 Middle Abbey Street. Webb was the son of the Irish Quaker and abolitionist Richard Davis Webb, one of the authors of the 1841 Address from the people of Ireland urging Irish in America to denounce slavery. The letter, never previously published, reads: December 5, 1872 Alfred Webb: Dear Sir: I must write just a line of thanks for your hospitable offer — and for all the cordial letter to me, which has just come to hand. I am still working here at my daily work — keep well — entertain some (but not fully definite) prospects for public readings or lectures in the future. I send respects and love to my friends in Ireland — affectionately including yourself and wife. Shall be glad to get the letter on Froude (that new Quiscotte [sic])—and always to hear from you. Walt Whitman Solicitor’s Office Treasury Washington, D.C. U.S. America4 { 130 } b o...