Editing Walt Whitman (section)

== Camden Residence ==

Whitman moved to Camden in 1873 to care for his ailing mother, remaining in the city after her death and eventually settling permanently at the Mickle Street house that would become his final home. The relocation, following a paralytic stroke that had limited his mobility, placed him across the river from Philadelphia's cultural resources while providing the quieter environment his condition required. The Camden years, though marked by declining health, produced revised editions of "Leaves of Grass" and prose works that solidified his achievement.<ref name="loving">{{cite book |last=Loving |first=Jerome |title=Walt Whitman: The Song of Himself |year=1999 |publisher=University of California Press |location=Berkeley}}</ref>

His Philadelphia connections during the Camden years included regular visits to the city when health permitted, friendships with Philadelphia intellectuals and artists, and publication relationships that the city's printing industry enabled. The ferries across the Delaware that he celebrated in verse connected his Camden residence to Philadelphia's cultural life, the region functioning as single metropolitan area despite the state boundary. His lectures at Association Hall and his social calls in Philadelphia homes demonstrated that the river was bridge rather than barrier.<ref name="reynolds"/>

His Mickle Street house, where he lived from 1884 until his death, provided the domestic setting in which disciples gathered and the poet held court. The modest dwelling, preserved today as the Walt Whitman House, became pilgrimage site during his lifetime as admirers from around the world sought audience with the poet whose work they celebrated. His Camden tomb, which he designed and which sits in Harleigh Cemetery, established his permanent connection to the region where he chose to end his days.<ref name="loving"/>