On a wintry afternoon in January 1882, in a nondescript home, in a nondescript industrial

New Jersey working class town, two men met each other for the first time. They were both poets,

one in his early 60s with a significant stream of published work behind him, and one in his late

20s who had published but one slender volume of verse. The younger man, Irish, had just recently

landed on American shores to begin what was to become a lengthy lecture tour promoting his work

and himself. The older man, American, in failing health, was curious to

receive this younger poet who had requested the meeting. Sharing a bottle of homemade elderberry

wine and in a meandering discussion, full details of which we may perhaps never quite know,

Walt Withman and Oscar Wilde, engaged in an exploration of creativity, the writer's craft,

and the intricacies and art of capturing the public's attention.

When one first hears of this meeting, the natural reaction is to scratch one's head and wonder just

what could these two men possibly have in common, and to remark just what an odd meeting

to begin with that this must have been.

But perhaps Walt Whitman and Oscar Wilde weren't so different in some ways after all.

Both gave new form and language to experience in

their writing. For both, the exact definition and representation of their sexuality has been

debated, speculated on, and discussed. Both were among the very first literary figures to use

their images to manipulate the public's perception

of them and their work. And both, with a fervor, dedication, and drive sought fame and celebrity.

And both Whitman and Wilde ultimately made us see what they wanted us to see. But there is another connection.

For both Walt Whitman and Oscar Wilde,

the city of New York and their time spent

...