During the American Civil War, which ended in 1866, Walt Whitman worked as a clerk in Washington, DC. For a period of three years, he cared for soldiers, dressing their wounds, and comforting the injured.

His 1865 publication of poetry, Drum-Taps, which drew from his experiences in the civil war, includes, “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d,” Whitman’s elegy for President Lincoln.

I took the photo of the plaque, which is one of several, commemorating his connections with the socialist movement.

https://whitmanarchive.org/criticism/wwqr/pdf/anc.00333.pdf

The book in my posession, which, I’ve pictured below, was printed in 1876, ten years after the official end of the American Civil War.

Members of the Jubilee Singers came to Britain, and sang for Queen Victoria, who, the book says, “…listened with manifest pleasure…”. 

There’s none so blind as those who will not see.

Seek beauty, and true healing you will find,

 

Beauty, being truth will set you free,

 

Untramelled minds, hearts beating unconfined.

 

Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh, 3rd July 2023.