Spring Fever

Peter Doyle was Whitman’s most intimate companion, and undoubtedly his most influential personal muse.  I fear I do not even know where to begin when exploring the complexities of Walt’s love life, but it is certainly important (to say the least) to attempt to understand as best we can the ever-changing state of Walt’s more romantic disposition.

Not to say that Whitman has no ‘romantic voice‘ in  “Song of Myself” but the romance he expresses is one of an intimate self-connection, or a connection regarding the universal ‘you’ rather than any particular individual.  Yet when he begins to embrace the relationship between himself and Peter Doyle, the renditions of his poems such as “Calamus” take a more positive and personal turn.  Although some critics would argue against this notion and would attribute Walt’s less pessimistic outlook to that of his immediate group of friends, I personally would have to disagree.  It seems quite obvious that Whitman (although 45 or so when meeting 21 year old Pete) fell “smitten” for the first time which drastically altered his outlook on life.  I noticed that in the beginning of “Calamus” Whitman spoke insistently of love and death, and the ramifications of knowing neither on an intimate level.  However, the introduction of Doyle into his life must have impacted him beyond artificial means, for it seems as though he finds an acceptance with death, life, and longing in knowing that he has experienced something that supersedes the superficial world in which we reside.

It is true that Walt and Doyle connected on a multitude of levels, despite their significantly contrasting political views (Doyle serving for the Confederates and what not) but most importantly I believe Doyle gave Whitman a kind of hope he never believed to exist before.  I hate to sound cliche and I really hate to sound overly sentimental, but Whitman’s blossoming relationship with this young man seemed to rejuvenate his often downtrodden spirits, and provided him with the means necessary to continue to expand along with his work as an integral artist of the spoken word.