Andrew is a post-doctoral researcher in North Carolina focused on population and conservation genetics in hydrothermal vent communities.
Chapter 12 of the classic Moby Dick by Herman Melville, summarized in verse. Read along with us and discuss this chapter or the book as a whole in the comments.
Biographical
His island
uncharted
does not exist
on any map
true places
never do.
Son of a chief
he sought passage
by whale ship
and whale men
to a new world
and Christiandom.
To return
to his home
with the knowledge
and religion
of the west
civilized.
But whalers
and Christians
were no better
the world, wicked
he’d rather
live his life
and die pagan
harpoon in hand.
“It is not down on any map; true places never are.”
Does anyone else just get goosebumps whenever they read that line?
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