Poetry Explorer

Classic and Contemporary Poetry

MANNAHATTA by WALT WHITMAN

Poet Analysis

First Line: I WAS ASKING FOR SOMETHING SPECIFIC AND PERFECT FOR MY CITY
Last Line: CITY NESTED IN BAYS! MY CITY!
Subject(s): ARCHITECTURE & ARCHITECTS; NEW YORK CITY; MANHATTAN; NEW YORK, NEW YORK; THE BIG APPLE;
I WAS asking for something specific and perfect for
my city,
Whereupon lo! upsprang the aboriginal name.
Now I see what there is in a name, a word, liquid,
sane, unruly, musical, self-sufficient,
I see that the world of my city is that word from of
old,
Because I see that word nested in nests of water-
bays, superb
Rich, hemmed thick all around with sail ships and
steam ships, an island sixteen miles long, solid-
founded,
Numberless crowded streets, high growths of iron
slender, strong light, splendidly uprising to-
ward clear skies,
Tides swift and ample, well-loved by me, towards
sundown,
The flowing sea-currents, the little islands, larger
adjoining islands, the heights, the villas,
The countless masts, the white shore-streamers the
lighters, the ferry-boats, the black sea-steamers
well-modelled,
The down-town streets, the jobbers' houses of
business, the houses of business of the ship-
merchants and money-brokers, the river-streets,
Immigrants arriving fifteen or twenty thousand in
a week,
The carts hauling goods, the manly race of drivers
of horses, the brown-faced sailors,
The summer air, the bright sun shining, and the
sailing clouds aloft,
The winter snows, the sleigh-bells, the broken ice
in the river, passing along up or down with
the flood-tide or ebb-tide,
The mechanics of the city, the masters, well-formed,
beautiful-faced, looking you straight in the eyes,
Trottoirs thronged, vehicles, Broadway, the women,
the shops and shows,
A million people -- manners free and superb -- open
voices -- hospitality -- the most courageous and
friendly young men,
City of hurried and sparkling waters! city of spires
and masts!
City nested in bays! my city!


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