An Analysis of the Crossing Brooklyn Ferry Record by Walt Whitman Essay

Crossing Brooklyn FerryCrossing Brooklyn Ferry is a sensitive, detailed record of Whitmans thoughts and observations about the continuity of nature and brotherhood while aboard a ferry between Brooklyn and Manhattan. Through the use of exclamation , repetition, and apostrophe, Whitman conveys his joyful belief in world solidarity and mans acceptance of god through truth, nature and beauty.Whitman begins the poem by describing his love and curiosity for the people that board the hundreds of ferry boats which cross back and forth each day. While aboard the ferry, Whitman is at peace with himself in his own solitary world. He sits back and admires every small detail while thinking of the connection between he and those who have or will cross Brooklyn Ferry. This connection exists because the feelings that are felt (being part of the crowd, leaning on the rail) and the images that are viewed on the ferry (the sunset, the flood tide, heights of Brooklyn) never change and are the similitudes between passengers past, present and future. Whitman uses the ferry as a means for joining people together, allowing them, regardless of their cultural differences to be one unified society. Through the use of imagery, Whitman paints the reader many different pictures of the different sites and scenes he has experienced while aboard the ferry. From the Twelfth-month sea-gulls to the large and small steamers in motion he effectively describes the reflection of the sun, the different ships, and the fires from the chimneys in perfect detail. The scene of the harbor is now set as the reader has been shown the true beauty that Whitman and his countrymen have experienced. As the description concludes, the short fourth section serves mainly to reiterate the point that these afore mentioned images are the same to all people. The author also restates his profound love for both Manhattan and Brooklyn Harbor.In the following section, Whitman poses the question What is it then between us? in...

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