This dust was once the Man,
Gentle, plain, just and resolute––under whose cautious
hand,
Against the foulest crime in history known in any land
or age,
Was saved the Union of These States.
– Walt Whitman
a classic poem on the axiom of transmutation:
describing the integrated mind (Lincoln) required: being (gentle, plain) + doing (just, resolute)
undergoing alchemy:
(ideal + will) > chaos = new order.
the structure reveals the full arc: dust (pure matter) → the (hu)man → the union (pure idea).
the human is the bridge, saving a union beyond “land” (on a map) or “age” (of a person)— our collective states of being. 🙏🏼
a classic on the axiom of transmutation.
it maps the integrated mind required to change the world: being (gentle, plain) + doing (just, resolute).
the alchemy is a clear formula:
(ideal + will) > chaos = new order.
but the structure reveals the full arc of this transmutation:
dust (pure matter) → the (hu)man* → the union (a pure idea)
and the (hu)man is the bridge.
saved the "union of these states"
—beyond any “land” on a map,
or an “age”, (i.e. generation, simply our own inner mental age)
a union of our collective states of being.
this is the essence of architecture: a finite life, manifesting an infinite idea.
#waltwhitman #lincoln #architectureForTheMind #transmutation #philosophy #inkAether