Crossing the Brooklyn Ferry - Whitman's Catalogs

"Crossing the Brooklyn Ferry": Whitman's Catalogs

Walt Whitman uses many techniques in order to evoke emotion throughout his works. In his most popular work Leaves of Grass, many techniques such as the use of "catalogs" are fully present. Whitman supports these catalogs by using a great deal of imagery throughout his works, allowing his audience to fully grasp his sense of emotion. In Walt Whitman's poem, "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry" he uses catalogs as a way of connecting major symbols and themes to different experiences.

In the first section of "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry" taken from Walt Whitman's 1891-1892 edition of Leaves of Grass, Whitman makes critical use of his first few lines by introducing the poems main focuses. The opening stanza, "FLOOD-TIDE below me! I see you face to face!" (1.1. 1), reveal's how important the movement of the ferry is to Whitman. His recognition towards the natural ebb and flow of the ferry connects to his overall transcendental beliefs later mentioned throughout the poem. The physicality of the ferry ride is recognized in the lines, "Clouds of the west--sun there half an hour high--I see you / also face to face" (1.1.2-3). Here Whitman uses the "clouds" and "sun" as a form of visual imagery, and as one of his catalogs in order to connect natural beauty with the New York City and Brooklyn landscape. In the following line, Whitman shifts his focus from the natural beauty of the harbor, to the passengers on the ferry passing by him, as seen in the line, "Crowds of men and women attired in the usual costumes, / how curious you are to me!" (1.2.4-5). He characterizes these people into two different generations. The first generation serves as those who are journeying home, back to the city. The second generation, or rather the future generation, is represented through the actual crossing of the river, the crossing of one generation into the next. Whitman finds this generation to be just as important if not even more as the present one. Finally, at the end of the first section of "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry", Whitman attempts to establish a connection between the poems three most important symbols, those being: The ferry, New York City, Brooklyn, and the river, through the use of his catalogs mentioned throughout the poem.

In section two of "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry", Whitman presents two main catalogs. The first is the reference to those who will come in the future as witnessed in the line, "The similitude's of the past and those of the future, ... " (2.1.16). This catalog represents the journey of the ferry and what is to come once it reaches Brooklyn. It represents the continuation of generations throughout mankind. The next catalog can be viewed through all the sites the passengers on the ferry will endure on their journey. This is evident in the lines, "Others will see the shipping of Manhattan north and west, / and the heights of Brooklyn to the south and east, ..." (2.2.28-29). In this section Whitman is documenting his experience through Manhattan and Brooklyn through those traveling on the ferry. The catalog is present in what these people are seeing and through the visual description he is revealing the emotions of the passengers. Another similar example of Whitman's experience is witnessed through the section, "Others will see the islands large and small; ... " (2.2.29). These images are representative of the connection they have with the grandness of what they are about to encounter once they arrive in the city.

The third section of "Crossing Brooklyn Ferry", implements a visual catalog, connecting Whitman to those experiencing the ferry's course to Brooklyn. The illustration Whitman creates in this section is recognized in several lines. His use of imagery can be understood in the line, "Saw the reflection of the summer sky in the water, ..." (3.3.57). Then again in his reference to "the hills" in the line, "Look'd toward the lower bay to notice the vessels