Most artists and men of genius have some feminine traits; they do not prove the existence of inversion, nor does their absence disprove it.

Dr.Clark Bell writes to me in reference to the little book by Dr.Rivers: "I knew Walt Whitman personally.

To me Mr.
Whitman was one of the most robust and virile of men, extraordinarily so.
He was from my standpoint not feminine at all, but physically masculine and robust.

The difficulty is that a virile and strong man who is poetic in temperament, ardent and tender, may have phases and moods of passion and emotion which are apt to be misinterpreted." A somewhat similar view, in opposition to Bertz and Rivers, has been vigorously set forth by Bazalgette (who has written a very thorough study of Whitman in French), especially in the _Mercure de France_ for 1st July, 1st Oct., and 15th Nov., 1913.
[100] Lepelletier, in what may be regarded as the official biography of Verlaine (_Paul Verlaine_, 1907) seeks to minimize or explain away the homosexual aspect of the poet's life.

So also Berrichon, Rimbaud's brother-in-law, _Mercure de France_, 16 July, 1911 and 1 Feb., 1912.