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Crossing Brooklyn Ferry By Walt Whitman Essay

622 Words3 Pages

Forever on the Ferry In the poem, “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” written by Walt Whitman, he mentions the ferry several times throughout his poem. This is one of the main components in his poem, he focused on the ferry as much as he did because the ferry represented many things and one of those was change. Change in perspective and outlook of life. In the same way, the surrounding area and ferry are in constant motion, our thoughts are also in constant motion and changing. “Crowds of men and women, how curious you are to me” (Whitman. W. 1856). Whitman used words that showed how his thoughts and views may have changed through the passing of time. “Just as you feel when you look on the river and sky, so I felt” (Whitman. W. 1856). Whitman painted a picture with his words. He spoke of the flood tides, rivers, clouds, and people in his poem. He was known to use sights, sound, and energy in a lot of his writing. Whitman wanted his readers to feel what he was feeling when he placed pen to paper. “Flood-tide below me! I see you face to face! Clouds of the west-sun there half an hour high-I see you also face to face” (Whitman. W. 1856). Whitman desired for his readers to connect with him not only in what he was seeing but also what he was feeling. …show more content…

He was known to reject conformality in his attire and his writing. Did this rejection in conforming lead him to allow his thoughts to go in all directions which in turn lead to some of his pieces that are still being studied till this day? In the poem, “Crossing the Brooklyn Ferry” he speaks of his life experiences. Whitman often used the ferry on the east river to cross from Brooklyn to Manhattan. Did standing there on the ferry, watching the sun and feeling the flood-tides lead him to become a prisoner of his thoughts? How did this experience and so many others change who he was to who he

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