Emerson and Whitman

Immediately after I started reading Whitman's Song of Myself, it reminded me of Emerson's works, most of the ones we'd read for class, in fact. Right away, in section 2 of Song of Myself Whitman writes,

"Have you reckon'd a thousand acres much? have you reckon'd the earth much?
Have you felt so proud to get at the meaning of a poem?
Stop this day and night with me and you shall possess the origin of all poems,
You shall possess the good of the earth and sun, (there are millions of
      suns left,)
You shall no longer take things at second or third hand, nor look through
      the eyes of the dead, nor feed on the speakers in books,
You shall not look through my eyes either, nor take things from me,
You shall listen to all sides and filter them from your self" (1331).

This quote felt as if it almost came out of some sort of combination between Nature and Self Reliance, and as I really enjoyed reading Emerson, this felt extremely interesting to me. I started to do some research on whether or not Whitman and Emerson were friends or were in any sort of communication, and soon came upon the letter that Whitman wrote Emerson that's on page 1409 of The Norton Anthology of American Literature. In this letter Whitman refers to Emerson as "Master," and speaks of a letter Emerson sent Whitman after the first publication of Leaves of Grass. This letter is on page 348. In Emerson's letter he says to Whitman, "I find incomparable things said incomparably well, as they must be. I find the courage of treatment, which so delights us, & which large perception only can inspire" (348).

I point out this relationship, because I think that, while I'm sure Whitman was inspired by Emerson, as they were done in the 1830's and 40's (years before the publication of Leaves of Grass) the fact that Whitman's writing is able to mirror Emerson's content/message, but as poetry, take on such a different form is really intriguing to me. I also think that it's really interesting that both Emerson and Whitman both essentially say not to completely trust their writing, and to seek out one's self. I haven't quite determined what their relationship means or how Emerson's inspiration effects more specific aspects of Whitman's writing beyond their message of exploring the world/nature and one's self; however, I do think that it's always interesting to learn about the interpersonal connections between writers and the way they look at each other's work, and it's especially interesting when it took place over a hundred years ago.