Crossing Brooklyn Ferry By Walt Whitman

Everyone’s life is a physical and spiritual journey—from birth to death. Each person’s experience is unique, yet very similar to those that came before and those that will come after. Whitman talks about the journey of life in “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry”, as he is taking a ferry ride. He illustrates the similarities of his life to those that will take the same trip through the visions and emotions that he ponders while on his voyage. Walt Whitman speaks to not only the physical aspects of going through life, but also the emotional and spiritual struggles that one must reconcile through the course of one’s life. Whitman takes his readers on a journey through writing about the common people and ordinary experiences that he encounters and observes.
At the beginning of the poem, Whitman observes the flood-tide and the crowds, making observations of the activity around him as if he were a mere bystander rather than a participant in the activities. He describes the crowd of people that surrounds him as curious to him as if he were not a part of his surroundings, yet he has an interest in them (Berke, Bleil, Cofer and Davis, 2015). By the second section, Whitman becomes a part of the crowd who are on a journey while pondering that all the individuals are also a part of something larger than just passengers on a ferry ride. Whitman takes the reader on the journey through describing the natural and manmade visual aspects of his surroundings. He describes the sights of the many boats on the water, the industrial age of smokestacks, the birds flying overhead, these depictions of the sights and sounds of the journey establish a commonality between the present time of his observations to the future generations that will come after him and how past generations have shared
As the sun is shining the world looks beautiful, “Saw the reflection of the summer sky in the water, Had my eyes dazzled by the shimmering track of beams”, at the beginning of the journey in life, in one’s youth, life is full of possibilities and promise. Whitman reflects that his life is intertwined with future generations who will experience the same beauty he is experiencing. By the end of the poem the sun is setting, the world takes on a different appearance of shadows and slowness, the world is winding down for sleep as we see in the line of the poem, “The flags of all nations, the falling of them at sunset” Berke, Bleil, Cofer and Davis, 2015). With the darkness brings reflection on Whitman’s life, the parts that he may not be proud. Doesn’t all men have sins that must be confessed and vices that must be overcome? The darkness brings those areas of Whitman’s life to the surface to explore and profess that he is not perfect, but neither is any human. “The same old role, the role that is what we make it, as great as we like”, Whitman gives hope to the reader that even despite our shortcomings one can make an impact on the world even though one’s time on earth is very short (Berke, Bleil, Cofer and Davis,