For, whatever moral lines Whitman may have drawn at the time of writing these poems, it seems to me quite incredible that the possibility of certain inferences, morbid or other, was undreamed of.
"3.

That the letter was written only a few months before his last illness and death, and is the only expression of the kind that he appears to have given utterance to.
"4.

That Symonds's letter, to which this was a reply, is not forth coming; and we consequently do not know what rash expressions it may have contained--leading Whitman (with his extreme caution) to hedge his name from possible use to justify dubious practices." I may add that I endeavored to obtain Symonds's letter, but he was unable to produce it, nor has any copy of it been found among his papers.
It should be said that Whitman's attitude toward Symonds was marked by high regard and admiration.

"A wonderful man is Addington Symonds," he remarked shortly before his own death; "some ways the most indicative and penetrating and significant man of our time.

Symonds is a curious fellow; I love him dearly.
He is of college breed and education, horribly literary and suspicious, and enjoys things.