The second article of the creed is the unity of
America. Here he voices the conceptions of Hamilton, Clay,
Webster, and Lincoln. In spite of all diversity in external
aspects the republic is "one and indivisible." This unity, in
Whitman's view, was cemented forever by the issue of the Civil
War. Lincoln, the "Captain," dies indeed on the deck of the
"victor ship," but the ship comes into the harbor "with object
won." Third and finally, Whitman insists upon the solidarity of
America with all countries of the globe. Particularly in his
yearning and thoughtful old age, the poet perceived that humanity
has but one heart and that it should have but one will. No
American poet has ever prophesied so directly and powerfully
concerning the final issue involved in that World War which he
did not live to see.
Whitman, like Poe, had defects of character and defects of art.
His life and work raise many problems which will long continue to
fascinate and to baffle the critics. But after all of them have
had their say, it will remain true that he was a seer and a
prophet, far in advance of his own time, like Lincoln, and like
Lincoln, an inspired interpreter of the soul of this republic.
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