John Addington Symonds exchanged many letters throughout his life with American poet Walt Whitman. He records his first interaction with Whitman’s Leaves of Grass with fervor: “The book became for me a sort of Bible… I … tried to invigorate the emotion I could not shake off by absorbing Whitman’s conception of comradeship” (Memoirs, 368). The idea of comradeship is something that continued to permeate Symonds’ interaction with Whitman.

Through correspondence between Whitman and Symonds, we can see that Symonds used Leaves of Grass specifically as a catalyst for his interaction with an expanding community of interlocutors. In January of 1877, Symonds wrote to Whitman,

“I do so now [i.e., write you], however, begging you to send me copies of Leaves of Grass & Two Rivulets… I shall then have copies for myself & copies to give to a friend.”(1)

This letter shows us that Symonds is beginning to expand his social circle using Whitman’s poetry. Throughout the next few years, Symonds continued to write to Whitman, developing an infatuation with the poet and his work. Through these letters we see that Symonds uses the writings as a means to interact with the kind of people to whom Whitman refers in “In Paths Untrodden” as “all who are, or have been, young men.” (2)

In June of 1886, Whitman wrote to Symonds, “I write a line to introduce & authenticate a valued personal & literary friend of mine, Wm Sloane Kennedy, who will send you this. He is every way friendly & [sic] rapport with ‘Leaves of Grass’ & with me.” (3) Whitman is responsive to Symonds’ sentiment and widens the circle of men bonding over Leaves of Grass. Within Symonds’ world this collection of poems becomes a way to unite people across countries and continents. Perhaps for Symonds this meant feeling less alone as he thinks about his sexuality.

Leaves of Grass is a way to make new connections as well as to deepen already established relationships. Symonds tells Whitman that, “I gave him [Symond’s nephew] a copy of Leaves of Grass in 1874, & he knows a great portion of it now by heart.” (4) Symonds also included some of his nephew’s poetry in the letter. The collection allows Symonds to share a sort of emotional vulnerability with people. Symonds clearly hoped that the people with whom he chose to share the poet’s words would interpret the words as he had. Symonds thus allows Whitman’s words to express his own feelings.

Symonds’ equating of Leaves of Grass to the Bible reveals that, in a way, he uses the collection as some use religious texts. It is a medium by which to spread a message and create a community. Symonds specifically cites the “Calamus” cluster of poems. He writes, “Inspired by ‘Calamus’ I adopted another method of palliative treatment, and tried to invigorate the emotion I could not shake off by absorbing Whitman’s conception of comradeship,” (Memoirs, 368) this last word being the term Whitman used and Symonds adopted as a kind of code for male-male attachment. It may have been this idea that prompted Symonds to do his best to connect with as many men as possible through the text. The poem, “In Paths Untrodden” in particular would likely have resonated with Symonds:

“That the soul of the man I speak for, feeds, rejoices only in comrades…
I proceed, for all who are, or have been, young men,
To tell the secret of my nights and days,
To celebrate the need of comrades.”(5)

Symonds’ interaction with Leaves of Grass provides us the ability to understand how he used the text to create a community. It is undeniable that the collection of poems is something profound that Symonds wishes to share.

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Footnotes:

(1) “John Addington Symonds to Walt Whitman, 23 January 1877.” The Walt Whitman Archive. Gen. ed. Ed Folsom and Kenneth M. Price. Accessed 14 October 2019. <https://whitmanarchive.org/biography/correspondence/tei/loc.04208.html>.

(2)Whitman, Walt. “In Paths Untrodden.” Leaves of Grass, Whitman Archive, 1860-1861. <https://whitmanarchive.org/published/LG/1860/poems/77>.

(3) “Walt Whitman to John Addington Symonds, 20 June 1886.” The Walt Whitman Archive. Gen. ed. Ed Folsom and Kenneth M. Price. Accessed 14 October 2019. <https://whitmanarchive.org/biography/correspondence/tei/loc.04965.html>.

(4) “John Addington Symonds to Walt Whitman, 12 July 1877.” The Walt Whitman Archive. Gen. ed. Ed Folsom and Kenneth M. Price. Accessed 14 October 2019. <https://whitmanarchive.org/biography/correspondence/tei/loc.04063.html>.

(5) Whitman, Walt. “In Paths Untrodden.” Leaves of Grass, Whitman Archive, 1860-1861. <https://whitmanarchive.org/published/LG/1860/poems/77>.

Works Cited:

Symonds, John Addington. The Memoirs of John Addington Symonds: A Critical Edition. Edited by Amber K. Regis, London: Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2016.

“The Walt Whitman Archive.” Edited by Ed Folsom and Kenneth M. Price, The Walt Whitman Archive, whitmanarchive.org.

John Addington Symonds was familiar with Greek myth and indulged a particular affection for its visual depiction. He had access to a multitude of books in his family’s home but reveals that he spent much time in his youth with European books of images and mentions John Flaxman specifically. Symonds writes, “I was very fond of picture books and drew a great deal from Raphael, Flaxman and Retzsch. Our house was well stocked with engravings, photographs, copies of Italian pictures and illustrated works upon Greek sculpture” (Memoirs, 118). Composizioni di Giovanni Flaxman Scultore Inglese Tratte Dall’Odissea di Omero (Compositions of John Flaxman, English Sculptor, Regarding the Odyssey of Homer) is a likely candidate given that it is an European picture book with multiple images of Apollo, for whom Symonds expressed an interest. The book, with engravings by Beniamino del Vecchio, was published in Italian in 1805. John Addington Symonds Senior was born in 1807 and his son in 1840. The book, or a similar edition, easily could have been purchased by Symonds senior and would not have been too old for Symonds junior to enjoy in his youth. The publication date, paired with Symonds’ explicitly stated interest in the subject, makes it a plausible candidate for either Symonds to own, though it should be noted that Flaxman’s illustrations were frequently printed, both on their own and in editions of the works they illustrate. The 1805 book has thirty-five plates depicting various scenes from the Odyssey. But there is one specific image of Apollo that, given his tastes, would surely have struck the young Symonds.

Symonds makes clear his affection for Apollo. He spent many walks and daydreams dwelling on the deity. He recalls this in the third chapter of the Memoirs,

“The kernel of my inspiration was that radiant figure of the young Apollo… A luminous haze of yearning emotion surrounded the god. His divine beauty penetrated my soul and marrow. I stretched out my arms to him in worship. It was I alone who knew him to be Olympian; and I loved him…” (114).

Symonds is obviously enchanted by Apollo and his myths. Given his deep infatuation, it is reasonable that the youth examined a multitude of images of his love. In Flaxman’s book there is a plate entitled, La Ninfa Lampesia va ad avvertire Apollo che i compagni di Ulisse gli hanno ucciso il bestiame. This translates to: The Nymph Lampesia goes to Apollo to warn him that the companions of Ulysses killed his cattle. In the Odyssey the deity from this tale is Helios who can be used interchangeably with Apollo since both are sun gods. ¹

 Symonds might have been drawn to this image in particular because it shows the god as an idealized, youthful nude flying through the sky on a glorious chariot. It is clear that Symonds would have spent time with nearly any image of Apollo, but this one is especially interesting because of the second figure in the plate. Apollo’s image is accompanied by the partially nude female figure of Lampesia. In his Memoirs, Symonds records that his father commented to him regarding what piqued his visual interest,

“I used to pore for hours together over the divine loveliness, while my father read poetry aloud to us in the evenings. He did not quite approve, and asked me why I would not choose some other statue [than the Praxitelean Cupid], a nymph or Hebe” (118).

This plate would afford Symonds the opportunity to compare Apollo with a feminine being, perhaps quieting his father. Given Symonds infatuation with Apollo it seems obvious that if he had access to this specific plate he would have adored this image of the glorious and beautiful deity.

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¹ Burkert, Walter. Greek Religion. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1985, p. 120. https://catalyst.library.jhu.edu/catalog/bib_634129

Works Cited:

Burkert, Walter. Greek Religion. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1985.

Composizioni di Giovanni Flaxman Scultore Inglese Tratte Dall’Odissea di Omero designed by John Flaxman, engraved by Beniamino del Vecchio. Published 1805. https://catalyst.library.jhu.edu/catalog/bib_537161