Note 22 — WHITMAN AND EMERSON

I may as well here transcribe my further notes of Emerson’s personal appearance at the time, as follows: “Emerson’s failure of memory for names is quite painful [his age was then 74], and there is the fixed look of age in his eye, yet he is active in body and full of fun and enjoyment of intellectual life. His eyes are greyish blue, the corners of his lips are often drawn upward, and there is a wonderful bird-like look about the face, enhanced by his way of jerking his head forward as he speaks. His eyes sometimes look very straight and intense: and then comes a moonlight smile over the face, very charming. His domestic life seems admirable.”