Same Sex Attraction in the 19th Century

Welcome to Celebrate Poe - My name is George Bartley, and this is Episode 247 - Same Sex Attraction in the 19th Century

As I write the script for this podcast episode, tomorrow is the first day of LGBTQ month - and similar to previous years, I decided to devote the entire month to individuals who are viewed as gay heroes.  The month of June is an appropriate time to look at some of the voices and narratives - some hidden and some not so hidden - that challenged societal norms and shaped the course of literary expression.

Transcript

Voice of George
Voice of Walt Whitman

Welcome to Celebrate Poe - My name is George Bartley, and this is Episode 247 - Same Sex Attraction in the 19th Century

As I write the script for this podcast episode, tomorrow is the first day of LGBTQ month - and similar to previous years, I decided to devote the entire month to individuals who are viewed as gay heroes.  The month of June is an appropriate time to look at some of the voices and narratives - some hidden and some not so hidden - that challenged societal norms and shaped the course of literary expression.

Now, the meaning of “queer” in the 19th century had a different connotation than its modern usage. In the 19th century, “queer” was primarily used as an adjective to describe something as strange, odd, or peculiar. It often carried a sense of “unusual” or “unexpected.” However, it is important to note that the term was not yet associated with sexual orientation or gender identity as it is today. At that time, it was more commonly used to refer to something that deviated from the norm or conventional expectations.

Let me interject my opinion here.  You could talk all day about what terminology to use - some people prefer to use the word “queer” instead of gay - claiming that LGBTQ people are taking back the word queer - but I have trouble with using a word that is still being used to bully and hurt people - the sting is still there.  So I will try and use gay or LGBTQ - sounding a little big clumsy is better than coming across as a verbal bully.

Anyway, I looked at some of the most noted gay writers of the 19th century  - and soon realized that I was going to need to really narrow it down -

First, I thought of Oscar Wilde, an Irish playwright and novelist, best known for his wit and flamboyant lifestyle. Although he faced persecution and imprisonment due to his homosexuality, his works such as “The Picture of Dorian Gray” (1890) and “The Importance of Being Earnest” (1895) showcased his brilliant writing and satirical social commentary.  Apparently, many members of Wilde’s social circle were also known homosexuals, such as Lord Alfred Douglas, Wilde’s primary lover.  Wilde wrote and actually PUBLISHED the poem Two Loves for Lord Douglas - a poem that ends with the famous phrase - the love that dare not speak its name.'

I fell a-weeping, and I cried, 'Sweet youth,
Tell me why, sad and sighing, thou dost rove
These pleasent realms? I pray thee speak me sooth
What is thy name?' He said, 'My name is Love.'
Then straight the first did turn himself to me
And cried, 'He lieth, for his name is Shame,
But I am Love, and I was wont to be
Alone in this fair garden, till he came
Unasked by night; I am true Love, I fill
The hearts of boy and girl with mutual flame.'
Then sighing, said the other, 'Have thy will,
I am

But it would really be stretching it to say that Wilde had any connection to Poe except for the fact that they were both writers.

Next, I considered John Addington Symonds, an English writer and poet, who advocated for the acceptance of same-sex relationships in the later part of the 19th century. Despite facing societal condemnation, he penned numerous essays on homosexuality and published his seminal work, “A Problem in Modern Ethics” (1891), which explored the nature and morality of same-sex attraction.  To quote from the introduction to A Problem in Modern Ethics:

No one dares to speak of it; or if they do, they bate their breath, and preface their remarks with maledictions.
Those who read these lines will hardly doubt what passion it is that I am hinting at—surely it deserves a name. Yet I can hardly find a name which will not seem to soil this paper.

Every family runs the risk of producing a boy or a girl whose life will be embittered by inverted sexuality, but who in all other respects will be no worse or better than the normal members of the home. Surely, then, it is our duty and our interest to learn what we can about its nature, and to arrive through comprehension at some rational method of dealing with it.

Not exactly very affirming. 

A great female writer who has been said to be intimate with women was the poet Emily Dickinson: While Dickinson’s sexual orientation remains a subject of debate, her poems and letters point to the possibility of intimate relationships with women, including her close friend Susan Gilbert Dickinson.  For example, in a letter to Susan Dickinson, Emily Dickinson wrote:

Susie, will you indeed come home next Saturday, and be my own again, and kiss me as you used to?… I hope for you so much, and feel so eager for you, feel that I cannot wait, feel that now I must have you — that the expectation once more to see your face again makes me feel hot and feverish, and my heart beats so fast — I go to sleep at night, and the first thing I know, I am sitting there wide awake, and clasping my hands tightly, and thinking of you.

And not surprisingly Dickinson would frequently and deliberately reassign gender pronouns for herself and her beloveds in her writings, recasting her love in the acceptable male-female view of desire.

I can somewhat relate to this because when I was a kid, I secretly harbored some childish and unrealistic thoughts - although they were real to me at the time - was that is if I somehow became a woman, it would be ok for me to fall in love with a boy.

Looking back, all I can say is what was I THINKING?

But I digress -

Unfortunately, so many aspects of Emily Dickinson’s life are unknown - and she certainly doesn’t have any connection to Poe - contrary to the Disney Channel series about Dickinson’s life that had Poe as a friend - a friendship that never existed in real life.

I then looked at Bayard Taylor - one of the most popular writers of the 19th century. In fact, as a poet, he once drew a crowd of more than 4,000 individuals  to a poetry reading, which was a record that stood for 85 years.  But his popularity took a sudden nose dive when he wrote a novel called Joseph and His Friend - often considered by scholars today to be the first American gay novel.   Quite tame by today’s standards, Joseph and His Friends ends with an encounter between the characters of Joseph and Phillip -

There was a simple, solemn conviction in Joseph's voice which struck to his heart. He had spoken from the heat of his passion, it is true, but he had the courage to disregard the judgment of men, and make his protest a reality. Both natures shared the desire, and were enticed by the daring of his dream; but out of Joseph's deeper conscience came a whisper, against which the cry of passion was powerless.

"Yes, we will wait," said Philip, after a long pause. "You came to me,
Joseph, as you said, in weakness and confusion: I have been talking of
your innocence and ignorance. Let us not measure ourselves in this way.
It is not experience alone which creates manhood. What will become of us
I cannot tell, but I will not, I dare not, say you are wrong!"

They took each other's hands. The day was fading, the landscape was
silent, and only the twitter of nesting birds was heard in the boughs
above them. Each gave way to the impulse of his manly love, rarer, alas!
but as tender and true as the love of woman, and they drew nearer and
kissed each other. As they walked back and parted on the highway, each
felt that life was not wholly unkind, and that happiness was not yet
impossible.

And to think that the previous text was considered offensive because the gay characters did not commit suicide, and that they even talked about a life where there was hope.

And I could not find a definite connection between Poe and Bayard Taylor. And like Emily Dickinson, there is a great deal of debate regarding how much that person was attracted to the same sex.

But finally I ran across a writer who had actually met Poe, is frequently referred to as America’s poet, and wrote many, many works to draw from - Walt Whitman. There is no shortage of gay oriented material related to Whitman  -- So I am going to devote the entire month of this June of Celebrate Poe to some of the many fascinating stories about Walt Whitman, along with a few of his works.  And it just so happens that today - May 31 - is the 105th anniversary of Whitman’s  birthday, in addition to being the day before Pride month begins.

Whitman was actually Poe’s contemporary, although many people feel that he lived decades after Poe.  In actuality, Poe was born in 1809, and Walt Whitman was born just 10 years later.  But Poe died in 1849 when he was only 40, while Walt Whitman died in 1892 when he was 72. 
Walt Whitman was a literary giant who has been referred to as America’s poet.  And I hope by the end of July, you will understand why Whitman has that title.  Trying to get your head around Walt Whitman is like trying to get your head around the form and beauty of the Grand Canyon - you know you are in the presence of greatness but there is no way to put it into words, although many people have tried, And not surprisingly, millions of pages have been written about Walt Whitman. To quote poet Ezra Pound, Walt Whitman IS America.”  

Regarding the styles of Whitman and Poe - well, Whitman had a more expansive - include everything and everyone - outlook, while Poe seemed to have a tension in his work - sometimes sad, sometimes almost supernatural.

Now when Edgar Allan Poe was reburied in Baltimore on November 17, 1875, most of the literary figures of the time were invited - writers such as Whitman, Lowell, Longfellow, Whittier, Bryant, and Tennyson.  Walt Whitman was the only one of the writers to actually attend.

The following account appeared in the Washington “Star” of November 16, 1875.  There occurr’d about that date in Baltimore a public reburial of Poe’s remains, and dedication of a monument over the grave.  And the author referred to Whitman with -  - Being in Washington on a visit at the time, ‘the old gray” went over to Baltimore, and though ill from paralysis, consented to hobble up and silently take a seat on the platform, but refused to make any speech, saying, ‘I have felt a strong impulse to come over and be here to-day myself in memory of Poe, which I have obey’d, but not the slightest impulse to make a speech, which, my dear friends, must also be obeyed.’ In an informal circle, however, in conversation after the ceremonies, Whitman said: ‘For a long while, and until lately, I had a distaste for Poe’s writings. I wanted, and still want for poetry, the clear sun shining, and fresh air blowing—the strength and power of health, not of delirium, even amid the stormiest passions—with always the background of the eternal moralities. Non-complying with these requirements, Poe’s genius has yet conquer’d a special recognition for itself, and I too have come to fully admit it, and appreciate it and him.

And this next part of Whitman’s words never fails to move me -

“In a dream I once had, I saw a vessel on the sea, at midnight, in a storm. It was no great full rigg‘d ship, nor majestic steamer, steering firmly through the gale, but seem‘d one of those superb little schooner yachts I had often seen lying anchor‘d, rocking so jauntily, in the waters around New York, or up Long Island sound — now flying uncontroll‘d with torn sails and broken spars through the wild sleet and winds and waves of the night. On the deck was a slender, slight, beautiful figure, a dim man, apparently enjoying all the terror, the murk, and the dislocation of which he was the centre and the victim. That figure of my lurid dream might stand for Edgar Poe, his spirit, his fortunes, and his poems — themselves all lurid dreams”

The styles of Poe and Whitman were definitely different, but Whitman, with his expansive style - was open to everyone, and Whitman knew there was room for them both.

In acknowledging the significance of 19th century LGBTQ literature, we honor the brave voices that defied societal constraints and blazed a trail for future generations. Their stories remind us that same sex attraction has always existed and deserves to be celebrated and respected.  But before I begin talking any more about into the great Walt Whitman, I would like to conclude this episode with a brief personal story - now picture this - that’s a Golden Girls reference - I am a scared kid at a local fundamentalist church camp.  One night we gathered about a campfire, and we were given paper and pencil.  The counselor told us to write down our most terrible, shameful sin - one that we would be too ashamed to say aloud - and throw the paper describing out terrible sin in the fire.  I didn’t have to think very long, and nervously wrote down “going into the bathroom, locking the door, and touching my  “  I couldn’t write down the word - as though God would be embarrassed, and couldn’t handle it.  I guess it was my version - although on a much smaller scale - of the sin that does not dare speak its name. It was as though my hangups were keeping me from having the vocabulary.

Now you might think - what does this have to do with Walt Whitman? Well, Walt Whitman faced a similar attitude from much of the public around him throughout his life - he wrote positively about parts of the body or feelings and emotions that puritanical society refused to even acknowledge.  It is only through recognizing and preserving the stories, views, opinions, and narratives of LGBTQ people that we can forge a more inclusive future for us all as a just and honest society.

Join Celebrate Poe for the first full episode dealing with Walt Whitman for this Pride month.   That episode is number 248 - America’s Poet.

Sources include: Joseph and His Friend by Bayard Taylor, The Complete Works of Walt Whitman, Leaves of Grass by Walt Whitman, and Two Loves by Oscar Wilde.

Thank you for listening to Celebrate Poe.