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Question 1

Quienes pasan de la obra poética de Whitman a su biografía se sienten algo defraudados.

Answer 1

Those who pass from the poetic works of Whitman to his biography feel somewhat cheated.

Question 2

Ello se debe a la circunstancia de que el nombre de Whitman corresponde realmente a dos personas: el modesto autor de la obra y su semidivino protagonista.

Answer 2

This is due to the fact [It must owe to the circumstance] that the name of Whitman really corresponds to two persons: the modest author of the work and its semi-divine protagonist.

Question 3

Ya veremos la razón de esta dualidad.

Answer 3

Already we see the reason for this duality.

Question 4

Empecemos por considerer al primero.

Answer 4

We start by considering the first.

Question 5

De linaje ingles y holandés, Walter Whitman (1819 – 92) nació en Long Island.

Answer 5

Of English and Dutch lineage, Walter Whitman (1819 – 92) was born in Long Island.

Question 6

Su padre era constructor de casas de Madera, oficio que él también ejerció.

Answer 6

His father was a builder of frame houses, a trade that he [Whitman] also practiced.

Question 7

Desde niño la atrajeron la naturaleza y los libros.

Answer 7

From childhood he [Whitman] was attracted by nature and books.

Question 8

Así leyó las Mil y una noches, las obras de Shakespeare y, naturalmente, la Biblia.

Answer 8

For this reason he [Whitman] read 1001 Nights, the works of Shakespeare and, naturally, the Bible.

Question 9

En 1823, su familia se había trasladado a Brooklyn.

Answer 9

In 1823, his [Whitman’s] family moved to Brooklyn.

Question 10

Whitman fue impresor, maestro de escuela, periodista y, a los veintiún años, director del Aguila Diaria de Brooklyn, cargo que desempeñó con algún desgano.

Answer 10

Whitman was a printer, a schoolteacher, a journalist, and when he was twenty-one, the director [editor] of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle, a position that he performed with some reluctance.

Question 11

Lo perdió en 1847.

Answer 11

He [Whitman] quit in 1847.

Question 12

Hasta entonces, su labor literaria había sido insignificante; sus biógrafos recuerdan una novella antialcoholista y unos versos mediocre.

Answer 12

Until then, his [Whitman’s] literary labor had been insignificant; his biographers recall a prohibitionist novel and some mediocre verses.

Question 13

En 1848 viajó con su hermano a Nueva Orleans.

Answer 13

In 1848, he [Whitman] travelled with his brother to New Orleans.

Question 14

Allí ocurrió algo.

Answer 14

There something occurred.

Question 15

Hay quienes hablan de una experiencia amorosa, otros de una revelación que lo transformó hondamente.

Answer 15

There are those [biographers] that talk about a loving experience, others of a revelation that deeply transformed him [Whitman].

Question 16

En 1855 publicó la primera edición de Leaves of Grass, que constaba de doce poemas y que le valió una entusiasmada y justa carta de Emerson.

Answer 16

In 1855, he [Whitman] published the first edition of Leaves of Grass, that consisted of twelve poems and that earned him an excited and appropriate letter from Emerson.

Question 17

A lo largo de su vida, Whitman publicó doce ediciones de Leaves of Grass, enriqueciéndolas cada vez con nuevas poesías.

Answer 17

Throughout his life, Whitman published twelve editions of Leaves of Grass, enriching it each time with new poems.

Question 18

A partir de la tercera edición, que data de 1860, la obra incluyó composiciones cuya franqueza erotica, acaso jamás igualada, escandalizó a no pocos lectores.

Answer 18

Starting with the third edition, which dates from 1860, the work included compositions whose erotic frankness, perhaps never equaled, scandalized no few readers.

Question 19

En una larga caminata, Emerson quiso disuadirlo; Whitman admitiría años después que las razones de su amigo eran irrefutables, pero no se dejó convencer.

Answer 19

On a long walk, Emerson wanted to dissuade him [from this]; Whitman would admit years later that his friend’s reasons were irrefutable, but he did not let himself be convinced.

Question 20

Durante la guerra civil, Whitman actuó como enfermero en los hospitals de sangre y aun en los campos de batalla.

Answer 20

During the Civil War, Whitman acted as a nurse in the hospitals of blood [front-line hospitals] and even on the battlefields.

Question 21

Se cuenta que su sola presencia calmaba los sufrimientos de los heridos.

Answer 21

It is said that his [Whitman’s] very presence calmed the suffering of the wounded.

Question 22

A principios de 1873 un ataque de parálisis lo postró.

Answer 22

At the beginning of 1873, an attack of paralysis prostrated him [Whitman].

Question 23

Hacia el 76 pudo viajar al Canadá y al Oeste, pero el 85 su salud volvió a decaer.

Answer 23

Towards [by] 1876, he [Whitman] could travel to Canada and the West, but in 1885 his health faltered again.

Question 24

Mientras tanto, su renombre se extendió por América y había llegado a Europa.

Answer 24

Meanwhile, his [Whitman’s] renown extended itself throughout America and had arrived at Europe.

Question 25

Tuvo muchos discípulos, que anotaban sus menores palabras.

Answer 25

He [Whitman] had many disciples that heeded his slightest words.

Question 26

Murió en Camden, pobre y famoso.

Answer 26

He [Whitman] died in Camden, poor and famous.