Crossing Brooklyn Ferry:
-Repetition of “flood-tide” throughout the poem
-Passive with punctuation: interesting how he stresses a few of the words. This brings up an interesting idea of how would Whitman want his readers to read these passages out loud?
-Wants to be an immortal lover emphasizing there is no time and there are no limitations.
-“I am with you, you men and women of a generation, or ever so many generations hence” This passage shows the transcending amount of time in the past and shows a sense of complete embodiment.
-I think that Whitman’s statement: “Just as you are refresh’d by the gladness of the river and the bright flow, I was refresh’d.” This statement is a refreshing statement made by Whitman. Following this passage, he is inviting the readers to see his experiences first hand.
-“These and all else were to me the same as they are to you,
I loved well those cities, loved well the stately and rapid river,
The men and women I saw were all near to me,
Other the same- others 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.)
This passage explains how Whitman had a close relationship to the people who are near and dear to him. This passage interestingly enough leads to the following excerpt about the thought of the human bond.
A few questions that I stumbled upon is what does Whitman insist by the word “flow-tide”? What is the meaning behind the structure of Crossing Brooklyn Ferry?
