About this book
A Day with Walt Whitman by Maurice Clare offers an intimate, vividly drawn portrait of the poet at home—an evocative literary biography that captures a single summer morning and, through it, the spirit of 19th-century America. Clare accompanies Whitman at his New Jersey farmhouse in White Horse in 1877, tracing his slow, measured movements as he recovers from paralytic seizures, his habitual grey suit, white hair, and the "wild hawk" clarity in his eyes. Through careful observation and warm narrative detail, the book explores Whitman’s resilience, daily rituals, and the blend of physical frailty and expansive vitality that informed his verse.
Set against the post–Civil War era and the personal toll of public life and overwork, Clare’s prose situates Whitman’s poems—especially the impulse of The Song of the Open Road—within the realities of his later years. The result is both a humanizing character study and a compact meditation on creativity, health, and American democratic ideals. Ideal for fans of poetry, students of literary history, and listeners who enjoy atmospheric, character-driven nonfiction, this audiobook brings Whitman to life with grace and affection.
