One and the Same
Walt Whitman asks himself and the reader of the poem, 'Crossing
Brooklyn Ferry,' what significance a person's life holds in the
scope of densely populated planet. The poem explores the
difficulties of discovering the relevance of life. The methods
that helped Whitman grasp his own idea of the importance of life
are defined with some simple yet insightful and convincing
observations. By living under and for the standards of others,
a person can never live a fulfilling life. Distinguishing
oneself from the mobs of society can be next to impossible when
every other human is competing for the same recognition with
their own similar accomplishments. The suggestion that Whitman
offers as a means of becoming distinguished, or obtaining an
identity, is to live a life of self-satisfaction. The
persuasive devices in 'Crossing Brooklyn Ferry' successfully
communicate Whitman's own theory of breaking the molds of
society by living as a self-satisfying individual.
What makes one person's life different from the next? Whitman
leaves the apprehension that the distinguishing characteristics
are few. Whitman informs the audience that he has lead the same
life as they, who lead the same life as their children will and
their ancestors did. The poet questions the significance of a
person's achievements by asking, 'My great thoughts as I
supposed them, were they not in reality meagre [sic]?' It would
be hard for any person to measure their self-accomplishments on
the planetary scale which Whitman is speaking of. The second
verse of the poem introduces the metaphor of the world being a
'simple, compact, well-joined scheme' with the people dissolved
into the 'eternal float of solution.' Like the
mechanical'scheme' that Whitman refers to, much of the poem
consists of topics that possess a repetitive or mechanical
quality. Sunrises, sunsets, tides, seasons, circling birds,
Thank you
i recently used a lot of your analysis of walden in a recent paper and i would like to thank you for it
2 out of 2 people found this comment useful.