I believe the central concern of this poem is the beauty in daily life and human connection. All people have a routine and a life of their own; everyone connects with the beauty of what is being seen and felt. Whitman speaks about the feeling of looking at the sun and the river. Looking at the sunset,  it’s not just one generation of people experiencing this, but all generations before and all generations to come will too. I think he wanted readers to understand how, although everyone is following their own paths, everyone is experiencing the same small things, such as the breeze and the feeling of seeing the sun or the summer sky reflecting off the water. 

Whitman uses repetition when he states, “Just as you feel when you look on the river and sky, so I felt, Just as any of you is one of a living crowd, I was one of a crowd, Just as you are refresh’d by the gladness of the river and the bright flow, I was refresh’d, Just as you stand and lean on the rail, yet hurry with the swift current, I stood yet was hurried”. This influences my understanding of the poem because it sets tone. The use of repetition allows us to truly see how he wants us to understand that just as one person can experience a small moment, so will others over time, and so will we.