The Prophet of Manahatta

By Liam Martin

Walt Whitman as prophet. A selection that highlights the wisdom side of his poetry, and his deep social conscience. Whitman (1819–1892) lived during that pivotal moment in American history, the Civil War, and was the poetic voice of his generation. He also lived at a time of momentous discoveries – the development of the science of geology, the theory of evolution, new political ideas, and great advances in astronomy.

The discovery of Uranus, Neptune, the asteroids, first calculations of the return of a comet and the distance to a star, the invention of the spectroscope and the analysis of the chemical makeup of the sun, and of the nebulae. All of this lent itself to his poetry. Even Helmholtz’s 1847 law of Conservation of Energy found expression in his poetry. The words “dinosaur” and “scientist” were coined during his lifetime. Whitman was the one who first merged science and poetry. No one since has equaled him in that.