In my opinion, the central concern of the poem “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry” is the connection that unites people across time and space through shared experiences. In the poem, Whitman notes that common feelings, landscapes, and lifestyles link people from the past, present, and future. I arrived at this idea because, throughout the poem, Whitman repeatedly addresses other people who will take the ferry years later, saying, “Others will enter the gates of the ferry and cross from shore to shore,” and “You that shall cross from shore to shore years hence are more to me.” I think this demonstrates that for him, there is a bond that unites all those who have and will have the same experience, and that, despite the passage of time and changes, this connects them.

In this example, Whitman uses repetition and lists : “I am with you, you men and women of a generation, or ever so many generations hence, 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, Just as you look on the numberless masts of ships and the thick-stemm’d pipes of steamboats, I look’d.”This example influenced my understanding of the poem because it helps to grasp the connection that Whitman evokes, namely how the simple act of taking a ferry contributes to sharing experiences and emotions that unite human beings across time, even if they don’t know each other.