Crossing brooklyn ferry text. Leaves of Grass E 2022-10-25
Crossing brooklyn ferry text
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"Crossing Brooklyn Ferry" is a poem written by Walt Whitman, first published in his collection Leaves of Grass in 1856. The poem reflects on the experience of crossing the East River from Brooklyn to Manhattan, and the sense of connection and unity that the speaker feels with the other people on the ferry and the city itself.
The poem begins with the speaker describing the ferry's journey across the river and the sights and sounds that can be seen and heard from the boat. The speaker reflects on the changing landscape and the way that the city seems to come alive as the ferry approaches it. This depiction of the city as a living, breathing entity reflects Whitman's belief in the power of the individual and the collective to shape and change the world around them.
As the ferry crosses the river, the speaker reflects on the people who are also on the ferry with him. He speaks of the diversity of these people, who come from different walks of life and represent a wide range of ages, occupations, and backgrounds. Despite these differences, the speaker sees a sense of unity and connection among these people, as they all share in the experience of crossing the river and the journey it represents.
Throughout the poem, the speaker reflects on the idea of time and how it connects us to the past, present, and future. He speaks of the way that the ferry's journey across the river seems to connect him to the people and events of the past, and how he feels a sense of continuity with those who have come before him. At the same time, the speaker also reflects on the way that the city and its people are constantly changing and evolving, and how this sense of change and progress is a fundamental part of the human experience.
Overall, "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry" is a powerful and moving reflection on the connections that we share with each other and the world around us. Through its depiction of the city, the people on the ferry, and the journey across the river, the poem explores themes of unity, continuity, and change, and encourages us to reflect on our own place in the world and the connections we have with those around us.
Crossing Brooklyn Ferry by Walt Whitman
āĻĻāĻŖā§āĻĄāĻžā§āĻŽāĻžāĻ¨ āĻŽā§āĻ¯āĻžāĻ¨āĻšāĻžāĻāĻžāĻ¨ā§āĻ° āĻāĻāĻā§ āĻŽāĻžāĻ¸ā§āĻ¤ā§āĻ˛! I too saw the reflection of the summer sky in the water, Had my eyes dazzled by the shimmering track of beams, Look'd at the fine centrifugal spokes of light around the shape of my head in the sun-lit water, Look'd on the haze on the hills southward and southwestward, Look'd on the vapor as it flew in fleeces tinged with violet, Look'd toward the lower bay to notice the arriving ships, Saw their approach, saw aboard those that were near me, Saw the white sails of schooners and sloopsâsaw the ships at anchor, The sailors at work in the rigging, or out astride the spars, The round masts, the swinging motion of the hulls, the slender serpentine pennants, The large and small steamers in motion, the pilots in their pilot-houses, The white wake left by the passage , the quick tremulous whirl of the wheels, The flags of all nations, the falling of them at sun-set, The scallop-edged waves in the twilight, the ladled cups, the frolicsome crests and glistening, The stretch afar growing dimmer and dimmer, the gray walls of the granite store-houses by the docks, On the river the shadowy group, the big steam-tug closely flank'd on each side by the bargesâthe hay-boat, the belated lighter , On the neighboring shore, the fires from the foundry chimneys burning high and glaringly into the night, Casting their flicker of black, contrasted with wild red and yellow light, over the tops of houses, and down into the clefts of streets. Recalling the scene of the river and the people with whom he was associated, he evokes the spiritual bond that links man with his fellow men. This thought carries him into a meditation on the connection between the past and therefore the future and the way all of the people on this particular ferry fit into the equation. He realizes that the bonds between himself and other people are subtle but enduring. Cross from shore to shore, countless crowds of passengers! Flaunt away, flags of all nations! āĻāĻŋāĻ¨ā§āĻ¤ā§ āĻā§ āĻāĻžāĻ¨ā§ āĻāĻŽāĻŋ āĻāĻ¸āĻŦ āĻāĻĒāĻā§āĻ āĻāĻ°ā§āĻāĻŋ? The speaker offers some details about the remainder of his routine â living in Brooklyn and dealing in Manhattan. Gorgeous clouds of the sunset! Stand up, tall masts of Mannahatta! It is also associated with the groups of men and women who ride it, who have ridden it, and who will ride it.
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Walt Whitman
We descend upon you and all things--we arrest you all; We realise the soul only by you, you faithful solids and fluids; Through you colour, form, location, sublimity, ideality; Through you every proof, comparison, and all the suggestions and determinations of ourselves. What the push of reading could not start, is started by me personally, is it not? E-Text: Book VIII: Crossing Brooklyn Ferry E-Text Leaves of Grass Book VIII: Crossing Brooklyn Ferry 1 Flood-tide below me! āĻŦā§āĻāĻā§ āĻĨāĻžāĻ āĻĒā§āĻ°ā§āĻ¨ā§ āĻā§āĻŦāĻ¨ā§! Who was to know what should come home to me? The ferry moves on, from a point of land, through water, to another point of land. The sea-gulls oscillating their bodies, the hay-boat in the twilight, and the belated lighter? We receive you with free sense at last, and are insatiate henceforward; Not you any more shall be able to foil us, or withhold yourselves from us; We use you, and do not cast you aside--we plant you permanently within us; We fathom you not--we love you--there is perfection in you also; You furnish your parts toward eternity; Great or small, you furnish your parts toward the soul. E-Text: Walt Whitman: Crossing Brooklyn Ferry E-Text Walt Whitman: Poems Walt Whitman: Crossing Brooklyn Ferry 1. āĻ
āĻāĻŖāĻŋāĻ¤ āĻ¯āĻžāĻ¤ā§āĻ°ā§ āĻĒāĻžāĻ° āĻšā§ āĻāĻ āĻ¤ā§āĻ° āĻšāĻ¤ā§ āĻ
āĻ¨ā§āĻ¯ āĻ¤ā§āĻ°ā§! Between himself and the person who "looks in my face" is the subtlest bond.
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Crossing Brooklyn Ferry
However, there are traces of darkness in his life, as well. āĻāĻŽāĻ°āĻž āĻŦā§āĻāĻ¤ā§ āĻĒā§āĻ°ā§āĻāĻŋ, āĻĒāĻžāĻ°āĻŋāĻ¨āĻŋ āĻāĻŋ āĻŦā§āĻāĻ¤ā§? The use of the term "solution" is significant because it indicates the merging of man's existence with his spirit. On the ferry-boats the hundreds and hundreds that cross, returning home, are more curious to me than you suppose, And you that shall cross from shore to shore years hence are more to me, and more in my meditations, than you might suppose. On the ferry-boats, the hundreds and hundreds that cross, returning home, Are more curious to me than you suppose; And you that shall cross from shore to shore years hence, are more to me, And more in my meditations, than you might suppose. Come on, ships from the lower bay! By appreciating the tiny things in his life, he seems like a neighborhood of something bigger.
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Whitmanâs Poetry âCrossing Brooklyn Ferryâ Summary & Analysis
Whitman wonders what he means, as an individual, to the strangers he sees every day, as well as what he will mean to people of the future. His own experience is similar to that of the reader years from now. Thus, at the end of the poem, Whitman addresses himself to material objects, which are also part of the life process because they are useful to man. My aim is to satisfy clients and support them from beginning to end. The cheating look, the frivolous word, the adulterous wish, not wanting, Refusals, hates, postponements, meanness, laziness, none of these wanting, Was one with the rest, the days and haps of the rest, Was call'd by my nighest name by clear loud voices of young men as they saw me approaching or passing, Felt their arms on my neck as I stood, or the negligent leaning of their flesh against me as I sat, Saw many I loved in the street or ferry-boat or public assembly, yet never told them a word, Lived the same life with the rest, the same old laughing, gnawing, sleeping, Play'd the part that still looks back on the actor or actress, The same old role, the role that is what we make it, as great as we like, Or as small as we like, or both great and small.
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Walt Whitman: Poems E
In Whitman's view, both the mind and the spirit are realities and matter is only a means which enables man to realize this truth. Which fuses me into you now, and pours my meaning into you? Wishing to suggest the quality of spiritual unification, Whitman has used the metaphor of a chemical solution: "The float forever held in solution" is the infinite ocean of spiritual life which contains the "potential" of all life. Gorgeous clouds of the sunset! The union with the reader is mystical and beyond the bounds of rational thought or philosophy. Who knows but I am as good as looking at you now, for all you cannot see me? Clouds of the westâsun there half an hour highâI see you also face to face. In the second section, the men and women on the ferryboat become the eternal "impalpable sustenance" of the poet. Who was to know what should come home to me? Crowds of men and women attired in the usual costumes! What is more subtle than this which ties me to the woman or man that looks in my face? Who knows but I am enjoying this? He, too, lived in Brooklyn and walked the Manhattan streets.
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Crossing Brooklyn Ferry by Walt Whitman
Physical objects, like "dumb, beautiful ministers," wait for their union with the poet's soul. Gorgeous clouds of the sun-set! I see you face to face! The tide, the cloud, and the sun become integral characters in this spiritual drama between the poet and the elements. In section 6 the poet tells us that he has been engulfed by the same "dark patches" of doubt which have engulfed the reader. What the study could not teachâwhat the preaching could not accomplish, is accomplish'd, is it not? Stand up, tall masts of Mannahatta! Feel free to text me so that we can talk in details about your project. Consider, you who peruse me, whether I may not in unknown ways be looking upon you; Be firm, rail over the river, to support those who lean idly, yet haste with the hasting current; Fly on, sea-birds! Clouds of the westâsun there half an hour highâI see you also face to face. Appearances, now or henceforth, indicate what you are, You necessary film, continue to envelop the soul, About my body for me, and your body for you, be hung out divinest aromas, Thrive, citiesâbring your freight, bring your shows, ample and sufficient rivers, Expand, being than which none else is perhaps more spiritual, Keep your places, objects than which none else is more lasting.
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Crossing Brooklyn Ferry Poems Summary & Analysis
Play the old role, the role that is great or small according as one makes it! Wordsworth accompanies his sister, and is able to take delight in seeing her repeat his experience. . Stand up, tall masts of Mannahatta! Who knows but I am enjoying this? Who was to know what should come home to me? Would not people laugh at me? I see you face to face! His best actions have appeared "blank" and "suspicious. Flaunt away, flags of all nations! These thought processes will eventually lead to the mystical fusion between the poet and the reader. Steamships and buildings are described in the same terms as seagulls and waves.
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Crossing Brooklyn Ferry Poem Summary and Analysis
This sense of repetition and revisiting reinforces the thematic content of the poem, which looks at the possibility of continuity within humanity based on common experiences. The description of the journey on the river is very vivid. Closer yet I approach you: What thought you have of me, I had as much of you-- I laid in my stores in advance; I considered long and seriously of you before you were born. Summary and Form This poem first appeared in the 1856 edition and received its final modifications for the 1881 edition. The round masts, the swinging motion of the hulls, the slender serpentine pennants, The large and small steamers in motion, the pilots in their pilot-houses, The white wake left by the passage, the quick tremulous whirl of the wheels, The flags of all nations, the falling of them at sunset, The scallop-edged waves in the twilight, the ladled cups, the frolicsome crests and glistening, The stretch afar growing dimmer and dimmer, the grey walls of the granite store-houses by the docks, On the river the shadowy group, the big steam-tug closely flanked on each side by the barges--the hay-boat, the belated lighter, On the neighbouring shore, the fires from the foundry chimneys burning high and glaringly into the night, Casting their flicker of black, contrasted with wild red and yellow light, over the tops of houses and down into the clefts of streets.
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Crossing Brooklyn Ferry
Who knows but I am as good as looking at you now, for all you cannot see me? āĻāĻ° āĻā§ā§ā§ āĻā§ āĻāĻŽāĻžāĻā§ āĻāĻ°ā§ āĻ¸ā§āĻā§āĻˇā§āĻŽāĻāĻžāĻŦā§ āĻŦāĻžāĻ§āĻ¤ā§ āĻĒāĻžāĻ°ā§ āĻĒāĻ°āĻŋāĻāĻŋāĻ¤ āĻ¨āĻ°āĻ¨āĻžāĻ°ā§āĻĻā§āĻ° āĻ¸āĻžāĻĨā§? I see you face to face! I loved well those cities; I loved well the stately and rapid river; The men and women I saw were all near to me; Others the same--others who look back on me because I looked forward to them; The time will come, though I stop here to-day and to-night. I see you face to face! Crossing New York's East River one day, the poem's speaker is struck by the realization that the people of the past, present, and future are all deeply connected: one day, long after the speaker's gone, other people will stand just where he's standing, with the same thoughts and feelings he's having right now. āĻŦā§ā§ āĻ¯āĻžāĻ āĻ¨āĻĻā§, āĻŦā§ā§ āĻ¯āĻžāĻ āĻĒā§āĻ°āĻŦāĻ˛ āĻā§ā§āĻžāĻ°ā§āĻ° āĻ¸āĻžāĻĨā§ āĻāĻ° āĻāĻžāĻāĻžāĻ° āĻāĻžāĻ¨ā§! āĻā§ā§ āĻ¯āĻžāĻ āĻāĻāĻĒāĻžāĻļā§, āĻāĻŋāĻāĻŦāĻž āĻāĻā§āĻ°āĻžāĻāĻžāĻ°ā§ āĻā§ā§ āĻāĻāĻžāĻļā§; āĻ¤ā§āĻŽāĻžāĻ° āĻāĻ˛āĻ°āĻžāĻļāĻŋāĻ¤ā§ āĻĒā§āĻ°āĻ¤āĻŋāĻĢāĻ˛āĻŋāĻ¤ āĻšāĻŦā§ āĻā§āĻ°ā§āĻˇā§āĻŽā§āĻ° āĻāĻāĻžāĻļ, āĻ§āĻ°ā§ āĻ°āĻžāĻ āĻļāĻā§āĻ¤ āĻāĻ°ā§ āĻāĻšāĻžāĻā§ āĻ¯āĻ¤āĻā§āĻˇāĻŖ āĻ¸āĻāĻ˛ āĻ¨āĻŽāĻŋāĻ¤ āĻĻā§āĻˇā§āĻāĻŋ āĻ¤ā§āĻŽāĻžāĻ° āĻĨā§āĻā§ āĻĢāĻŋāĻ°āĻŋā§ā§ āĻ¨āĻž āĻ¨ā§ā§! I loved well those cities; I loved well the stately and rapid river; The men and women I saw were all near to me; Others the sameâothers who look back on me, because I look'd forward to them; The time will come, though I stop here to-day and to-night. āĻ
āĻāĻŋāĻ¨ā§ āĻāĻ° āĻ¸ā§āĻ āĻā§āĻŽāĻŋāĻāĻžā§ āĻ¯āĻž āĻĢāĻŋāĻ°ā§ āĻ¤āĻžāĻāĻžā§ āĻ
āĻāĻŋāĻ¨ā§āĻ¤āĻž āĻ āĻ
āĻāĻŋāĻ¨ā§āĻ¤ā§āĻ°ā§āĻ° āĻĒāĻžāĻ¨ā§! For the first time in this poem he becomes emotionally involved in his relationships with other people and things. Cross from shore to shore, countless crowds of passengers! Whatever it is, it avails not--distance avails not, and place avails not.
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4.23.2: ÃĸâŦÅCrossing Brooklyn FerryÃĸâŦÂ
Which fuses me into you now, and pours my meaning into you? What the push of reading could not start, is started by me personally, is it not? Suspend here and everywhere, eternal float of solution! Others will enter the gates of the ferry and cross from shore to shore, Others will watch the run of the flood-tide, Others will see the shipping of Manhattan north and west, and the heights of Brooklyn to the south and east, Others will see the islands large and small; Fifty years hence, others will see them as they cross, the sun half an hour high, A hundred years hence, or ever so many hundred years hence, others will see them, Will enjoy the sunset, the pouring-in of the flood-tide, the falling-back to the sea of the ebb-tide. āĻŽā§āĻā§āĻŽā§āĻāĻŋ āĻšā§ā§ āĻĻā§āĻāĻŋ āĻ¤ā§āĻŽāĻžā§! Stand up, tall masts of Mannahatta! And perhaps now, though he cannot be seen, the poet is watching the reader. I was call'd by my nighest name by clear loud voices of young men As they saw me approaching or passing, Felt their arms on my neck as I stood, or the negligent leaning of their flesh against me as I sat, Saw many I loved in the street, or ferry-boat, or public assembly, yet never told them a word, Lived the same life with the rest, the same old laughing, gnawing, sleeping, Play'd the part that still looks back on the actor or actress, The same old role, the role that is what we make it, as great as we like, Or as small as we like, or both great and small. The speaker feels as if these shared experiences can unite people across different historical eras. It is not you alone who know what it is to be evil; I am he who knew what it was to be evil; I too knitted the old knot of contrariety, Blabb'd, blush'd, resented, lied, stole, grudg'd, Had guile, anger, lust, hot wishes I dared not speak, Was wayward, vain, greedy, shallow, sly, cowardly, malignant; The wolf, the snake, the hog, not wanting in me, The cheating look, the frivolous word, the adulterous wish, not wanting, Refusals, hates, postponements, meanness, laziness, none of these wanting.
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