This monday we were assigned to read the poem Crossing Brooklyn Ferry by Walt Whitman. The poem first beings with the narrator describing the ferry on his way to Manhattan. What makes this part so interesting to me is that he truly focuses on his surroundings on his ferry ride. Usually, many people do not do this. They take advantage of the beautiful scenery and do not admire it like the narrator is doing in this particular poem. By describing the motion of the water below him and the types of people that surround him, he notices everything. He even says in the first stanza “Clouds of the west-sun there half an hour high” which makes me believe that he is riding the ferry early in the morning just as the sun is rising.

One important factor that  noticed about the language of the poem was that the narrator uses the words “I too” very often. For example, the narrator states “I too lived, Brooklyn of ample hills was mine, I too walk’d the streets of Manhattan island, and bathed in the waters around it.” This makes me believe that the narrator used to live in New York and is telling a fellow ferry rider of his past experiences in the city. It is almost as if he is visiting New York after some years of being away from the great city. He also reminisces about his old life in New York and refers to Manhattan and Brooklyn as “admirable” and “beautiful”.

This poem makes me realize how much I take the Staten Island Ferry ride for granted. I never truly notice or gaze at my surroundings nor do I analyze the people around me. New York is truly a beautiful place and I feel that this poem reminds us all of that. Since we all live in the city, we never admire the places or things around us because it is considered “nothing special” since we see it very often. Now, after reading this poem, I will make sure to look at New York’s beauty on my next ferry ride.

I usually have a hard time establishing a connection between my personal life and a work of poetry.  Once in a while, I am given a poem that I can connect to, like Crossing Brooklyn Ferry.  This poem frequently reminded me of my experiences on the Staten Island Ferry.

Every time I use the Staten Island Ferry, I look around and wonder what the other people on the ferry are up to.  Walt Whitman seemed to have shared my nosy characteristic,”the hundreds and hundreds that cross…curious to me.”  I assume that many others do the same when they are on a busy ferry but it is nice to know that I share this characteristic with a famous poet.

Another thing that I have in common with the poem is that Walt Whitman and I see the people in a ferry as part of a larger organism.  When I sit in the ferry, I have a tendency to sit back and think of how every person on the boat has a role to play in society.  I appreciate that this poet seems to have done something very similar, “simple, compact, well-join’d scheme…every one disintegrated yet part of the scheme.”

There are so many more connections I have with this poem but I feel like there is only one more worth talking about.  Whenever I am on the outer parts of a ferry, such as the balconies, I often stare at the passing water.  Something odd occurs when this happens; I tend to be very calm and relaxed on the ferry yet the passing water currents make me feel as if I am in a hurry. I am glad I am not the only person that experienced this, “Just as you stand and lean on the rail, yet hurry with the swift current, I stood yet was hurried.”

Crossing Brooklyn Ferry was an enjoyable read and provides strong motivation to start reading more poems revolving around New York City life and art.

In his poem, Crossing Brooklyn Ferry, Walt Whitman describes the world he sees around him, utilizing imagery masterfully, painting  a picture for us readers to see clearly. He talks of watching seagulls flying around and of looking at “the vapor as it flew in fleeces tinged with violet,” among other image-provoking statements.

He also talks about how he related to the people on the ferry and the generations of people to come. He said that he too “walk’d the streets of Manhattan island, and bathed in the waters around it,” among other things all these people have done and will continue to do. This whole message really stuck with me. I’ve taken the Staten Island Ferry countless times, and I see all the other passengers. However, I’ve never really thought of them in the way that Whitman considers his fellow passengers in the poem.

Every time I take the ferry, there are hundreds of other people on the boat. Many of these people take the ferry each and every day, and have done so for years. It’s mind-boggling to think that for decades before I was even born, the same amount of people were likely making the daily trip to and from Staten Island and Manhattan. Hundreds of thousands of people have taken the ferry, and for decades to come, hundreds of thousands of people will continue to take the ferry. People will sit where I’ve sat, and I’ve sat where other people have sat. This whole thought makes me truly realize just how small we are in this world.

Crossing Brooklyn Ferry may seem, at first glance, to be a simple poem about what a man sees on the ferry while going home from work, but I found a much deeper meaning to it. It’s really a rather thought-provoking piece, and I’m glad I read it, as it has opened up a whole new perspective to me.

Tonight’s homework assignment was to read the poem, Crossing Brooklyn Ferry, written by Walt Whitman.  My initial thought upon looking at the poem was, “Wow, this is long.  How much could he possibly have to write about riding the ferry?”  But as I read the poem, I realized that he is very observant in his writing and makes the ferry ride a more interesting experience than any other New Yorker.

I think one of Whitman’s main points of the poem is the unity and the bond shared by all people, and most specifically by all New Yorkers.  There is a certain personality and attitude shared by native New Yorkers, and you can tell just by looking at someone that he or she is from the city.  One of the first lines that stood out to me regarding this theme is in the second stanza: “every one disintegrated yet part of the scheme.”  It is as if he is saying that everybody is different and has their own thoughts and opinions, and yet, by living in New York City, you fit into a certain demographic, a certain culture in and of itself.  One of the other lines that I particularly noticed in accordance with this theme was in the sixth stanza; Whitman writes, “Lived the same life with the rest, the same old laughing, gnawing, sleeping.”  It seems to me that he is pointing out that New Yorkers share a common bond, there is a common thread that makes many New Yorkers able to relate to one another.  He continuously uses the phrase, “I too,” as if grouping himself in with this subculture of New Yorkers that he has created.

Not only does Whitman write about New Yorkers being able to relate to one another in the present day, he also reflects on the fact that New York does not only contain native New Yorkers, but that it is a “melting pot,” as the city is most commonly referred to, and that people of different nationalities can also relate to one another.  He so clearly points this out in the third stanza, with the phrase, “The flags of all nations.”  In addition, Whitman introduces the point that New Yorkers, both native New Yorkers and immigrants, can relate to those who came before them, their ancestors.  To Whitman, there is not much difference between their struggles and their lives and those of the current population.  He makes this very clear at the beginning of his fifth stanza, “What is it then between us? What  is the count of the scores or hundreds of years between us? Whatever it is, it avails not -distance avails not, and place avails not.”  I think that Whitman, at this point and even at other points in the poem, broadens the scope beyond New York to include all of humanity.  There is a common bond between all of humanity, personalities, traits, and experiences that bring us all together and make us one with each other.  I think that this poem is not so much describing the ferry ride to and from the city, but describing how an experience such as the ferry ride joins other experiences in creating unity among people of different ages, genders, cultures, ethnicities, etc.

There is something about New York; it is a symbol of hope and adventure for many people, young and old, from all different parts of the world.  I think this is another aspect of the poem that Whitman ties in with the other two themes I spoke about.  In the ninth stanza, he writes, “Cross from shore to shore, countless crowds of passengers! Stand up, tall masts of Manhattan! stand up, beautiful hills of Brooklyn!”  No matter where you come from, these landmarks are recognizable and they symbolize many things for many people. Walt Whitman used this poem to speak about the unity of people, and he incorporated New York into that unifying bond.  I think the poem is powerful and very well-written and I like the fact that it applies to the “melting pot” population of the city, taking into account all of time and space.

“Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” is basically a poem about a man standing on a ferry between Brooklyn and Manhattan and observing the view from both sides. He sees the sun and clouds, and refers to them as “you”. The crowds of men and women evokes his curiosity. He begins to wonder about how they will be traveling on the same ferry, taking on the same commute for years to come. He draws a comparison between the people on the ferry and the tides of the ocean. Even in fifty or hundred years, there will still be a steady rush of people on the ferry just like the ocean tides will continue to flow.

The speaker then explained every detail of the ferry, and related all the observations to what the reader may have seen had they ever been on the boat. The speaker goes on to paint a vivid picture of what exactly the reader would see, like the flags of all nations,  or the chimneys burning in the sky. He saw “a reflection of the summer sky in the water”, making the reader picture looking down from a boat seeing the sky’s reflection in the ocean water.

He then went on to discuss the things he did in his life as though we were there with him. He related it to the reader when he consistently said throughout the whole fifth stanza, “I too did…” He pointed out how he had some dark times in his life, when he was dishonest, greedy, and adulterous. After he finishes his confession, he went back to explaining the tides crashing. Once again, he looked out to the people and thought about how the crowd of people will always be there in the years to come. He explained that life will continue to go on, and that this ferry will always be transporting passengers between Brooklyn and Manhattan.