I can well believe that he remains highly vital for many people. The poems in which he collects large numbers of concrete things, particularly things each of which is poetic in itself or as part of the collection, have a validity which, for many people, must be enough and must seem to them all opulence and elan. For others, I imagine that what was once opulent begins to look a little threadbare and the collections seem substitutes for opulence even though they remain gatherings-together of precious Americana, certain to remain precious but not certain to remain poetry. (L 870–71)

中文翻译：

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关于惠特曼、史蒂文斯和美国诗学的序言

我完全可以相信，他对许多人来说仍然非常重要。他在其中收集了大量具体事物的诗，特别是每一个本身或作为集合的一部分都富有诗意的事物，具有一定的有效性，对许多人来说，这一定是足够的，并且在他们看来一定是富裕和热情的。对于其他人来说，我想象曾经的华丽开始显得有点破旧，这些收藏似乎是富裕的替代品，即使它们仍然是珍贵的美国的聚会，肯定会保持珍贵，但不一定会保持诗意。(L 870–71)