Crossing Brooklyn Ferry

I have read through "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry", jotting some notes in the margin, then came immediately to this post upon completion of the reading. My intention is to create a record of my thoughts prior to any influence from others with more experience in such matters.

As the poem opens, Walt seems to be expressing a fascination with the fact that he is but one of millions of humans, past and present. Instead of his thoughts making him feel small and insignificant, he somehow feels connected and purposeful. As the poem progresses, Walt describes the sheer enormity of human activity, as well as the boundless features of his (and our) environment.

Next, Walt sets out to convince the reader, no matter how distant in time or space, that a connection exists with him. He does this by giving general descriptions of personal thoughts we all have, yet we rarely discuss in public. In a sense, he is employing the use of a password. Immediately following his establishing the connection between himself and the reader, he seems to give a confession of sorts, that he does not always live the life he would like to. I interpret from his passage that he is gay, but not openly. This admission seems out of place and unnecessary until the reader progresses to the next passage, in which Walt states, "Closer yet I approach you". This made me think that he was telling me something intimate in order to further build this cosmic relationship he has with me.

By the way, I refer to the author as "Walt", as opposed to Mr. Whitman. I feel comfortable with this because Walt and I are buddies.

I will now follow-up by reading some more professional analyses and other evaluations of this piece of work. I expect to be schooled on the matter. I do not profess to have any gift or education in the area of literary analysis, but perhaps this class can change that.

Okay, I am back after reading Spark Notes. I won't spoil it for you, in case you want to do your own research. Let me say that I am not as intimate with Walt as I may have thought, but I still believe that the two of us are chummy enough that I can still call him "Walt".

There were a couple of significant points that, although I did take note of them in my initial reading, I failed to realize their significance. This was due to my own selfishness. I was more entertained by what Walt thought of me than I was by Walt's own curiosities.

Anyway, I feel pretty good about my initial stab at analysis. However, I do realize that Walt is not as cryptic or as heavy on symbolism as other authors to be studied may be.