Frolic on, crested … The round masts, the swinging motion of the hulls, the slender serpentine pennants. Saw the white sails of schooners and sloops, saw the ships at anchor. how curious you are to me! The same old role, the role that is what we make it, as great as we like. Whitman understood and celebrated this intricate tessellation of being, not only across society — “every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you” — but across space and time, nowhere more splendidly than in his sweeping, horizonless masterpiece “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” — a poem that opens up a liminal space where past, present, and future tunnel into one another, a cave of forgotten … It is not upon you alone the dark patches fall. Live, old life! In Crossing Brooklyn Ferry, Walt Whitman uses connotative diction, prying questions, and critical reader engagement to convey a feeling of connection and unity of people through time.By using these certain rhetoric strategies, Whitman creates a piece of poetry that seems to be timeless. Which fuses me into you now, and pours my meaning into you? The overarching theme of "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry" is the shared human experience. We fathom you not—we love you—there is perfection in you also. Crossing Brooklyn Ferry is one of the masterpieces in Leaves of Grass. It symbolizes continual movement, backward and forward, a universal motion in space and time. Will enjoy the sunset, the pouring-in of the flood-tide, the falling-back to the sea of the ebb-tide. However, it is through the use of repetition, parallel structure, and figurative languages of metaphors and imageries, that enable Whitman to thread together generations of people within an era of rapid growth and change. cast red and yellow light over the tops of the houses! It received its present title in 1860, and Whitman revised the poem through the various editions. The large and small steamers in motion, the pilots in their pilot-houses. Ah, what can ever be more stately and admirable to me than mast-hemm’d Manhattan? It avails not, time nor place—distance avails not. What is more subtle than this which ties me to the woman or man that looks in my face? Crossing Brooklyn Ferry is nothing but a symbol that we are all connected. The poem explores the difficulties of discovering the relevance of life. drench with your splendor me, or the men and women generations after me! Just as you stand and lean on the rail, yet hurry with the swift current, I stood yet was hurried. Saw how the glistening yellow lit up parts of their bodies and left the rest in strong shadow. In Leaves of Grass (1855, 1891-2), he celebrated democracy, nature, love, and friendship. 1 . Stand up, tall masts of Mannahatta! I see you face to face! The trip takes place in winter (the poem mentions the "Twelfth-month sea-gulls," l. 28) and at the same time of day, late afternoon ("sun there half an hour high," l. 2), but the poem reverses the direction: the newspaper piece describes a trip from Manhattan to Brooklyn, whereas the ferry in the poem moves from Brooklyn to Manhattan. "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry" is a poem about a man taking the Brooklyn ferry home from Manhattan at the end of a working day. Who was to know what should come home to me? Blabb’d, blush’d, resented, lied, stole, grudg’d. The others that are to follow me, the ties between me and them. CROSSING BROOKLYN FERRY (1871) Whitman, Walt, 1819- 1892 . Lesson 4.5: “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” by Walt Whitman (two periods) Aim: To learn about transportation in mid-19th-century Brooklyn Objective: Students look at several photographs of Brooklyn transport from the era and read Walt Whitman’s poem “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry.” In addition to making critical Though he is just one person (“I was one of a crowd”), Whitman nonetheless is awestruck as a single soul by the rushing water, the huge ships in the river, and the awesome sight of the vastness of New York’s buildings and bustling activity. Was call’d by my nighest name by clear loud voices of young men as they saw me approaching or passing. The current rushing so swiftly and swimming with me far away. Walt Whitman’s “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” is a poem that not only exposes the differences within the people and the geography of the nation, but also shows the theme of equality that unites these differences. The dark threw its patches down upon me also. You have waited, you always wait, you dumb, beautiful ministers. Find the perfect Crossing Brooklyn Ferry Festival Day 1 stock photos and editorial news pictures from Getty Images. Sound out, voices of young men! FLOOD-TIDE below me! The wolf, the snake, the hog, not wanting in me. flow with the flood-tide, and ebb with the ebb-tide! Whatever it is, it avails not—distance avails not, and place avails not. This monumental work chanted praises to the body as well as to the soul, and found beauty and... Flood-tide below me! Start your 48-hour free trial to unlock this Crossing Brooklyn Ferry study guide. It was substantially revised in 1881. Appearances, now or henceforth, indicate what you are. A hundred years hence, or ever so many hundred years hence, others will see them. flow with the flood-tide, and ebb with the ebb-tide! Walt Whitman’s “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry”: Summary & Analysis. Select from premium Crossing Brooklyn Ferry Festival Day 1 of the highest quality. The similitudes of the past and those of the future. Others will enter the gates of the ferry and cross from shore to shore. The poem specifically addresses future readers who will look back on it, and the ferry ride, years hence. I too felt the curious abrupt questionings stir within me. The certainty of others, the life, love, sight, hearing of others. I too knitted the old knot of contrariety. Refusals, hates, postponements, meanness, laziness, none of these wanting. I loved well those cities, loved well the stately and rapid river. cast black shadows at nightfall! "NYC ice cream: The best shops from Morgenstern's to Ample Hills", Walt Whitman Birthplace State Historic Site, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Crossing_Brooklyn_Ferry&oldid=962336151, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 13 June 2020, at 13:01. , compact, well-join ’ d toward the lower bay to notice the vessels arriving that brings to its differences. 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