Passage to india walt whitman. Passage to India by Walt Whitman 2022-10-29
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Passage to India by Walt Whitman is a poem that reflects the poet's thoughts and feelings about India, a country that he had never visited but was deeply fascinated by. The poem is a celebration of the cultural and spiritual richness of India, and it captures the sense of mystery and wonder that Whitman felt when he thought about this distant land.
The poem is structured as a series of vignettes, each of which captures a different aspect of Indian life and culture. Whitman begins by describing the bustling cities of India, with their crowded streets and vibrant markets. He then moves on to the natural beauty of the country, describing the lush forests, sparkling rivers, and rolling hills.
As the poem progresses, Whitman delves deeper into the spiritual and philosophical aspects of Indian culture. He speaks of the ancient wisdom of the Vedas and the Upanishads, and he marvels at the deep philosophical insights that these sacred texts contain. He also celebrates the religious diversity of India, noting the many different gods and goddesses that are worshipped in the country.
Throughout the poem, Whitman is filled with a sense of awe and wonder at the beauty and complexity of Indian culture. He sees India as a place of great mystery and spiritual depth, and he is deeply moved by the deep philosophical insights that he finds there. In the final lines of the poem, he speaks of his desire to make a "passage to India," both literally and figuratively, in order to fully explore and understand the country's rich culture and spiritual traditions.
In conclusion, Passage to India is a deeply moving and thought-provoking poem that captures the complexity and richness of Indian culture. Through his vivid imagery and philosophical insights, Whitman gives readers a glimpse into the mysteries of this ancient and vibrant land, and he invites us all to make our own "passage to India" in order to fully appreciate its beauty and wisdom.
Passage to India (Whitman)
O farther, farther, farther sail! O winding creeks and rivers! Thou mightier centre of the true, the good, the loving! Not lands and seas alone—thy own clear freshness, The young maturity of brood and bloom; To realms of budding bibles. What dreams of the ideal? What is this separate Nature, so unnatural? What aspirations, wishes, outvie thine and ours, O soul? Passage, O soul, to India! This long poem in nine sections has, as its prevailing theme mysticism, and hence its appeal has been universal. Fearless, for unknown shores, on waves of extasy to sail, Amid the wafting winds, thou pressing me to thee, I thee to me, O soul, Caroling free—singing our song of God, Chanting our chant of pleasant exploration. We too take ship, O soul! There will always be a present moment spawned by the past. Not you alone, proud truths of the world! Disportest thou on waters such as these? Have we not stood here like trees in the ground long enough? In the 1881 Leaves of Grass both the poems contained in Passage to India and Two Rivulets were distributed throughout Leaves of Grass. Ah Genoese , thy dream! Disportest thou on waters such as these? Curious, in time, I stand, noting the efforts of heroes; Is the deferment long? O soul, repressless, I with thee, and thou with me, Thy circumnavigation of the world begin; Of man, the voyage of his mind's return, To reason's early paradise, Back, back to wisdom's birth, to innocent intuitions, Again with fair Creation. O sun and moon, and all you stars! Yet, soul, be sure the first intent remains—and shall be carried out; Perhaps even now the time has arrived.
Are thy wings plumed indeed for such far flights? Sections 1-3 deal with journeys through space, the investigation of the physical environment by explorers, navigators and adventurers; Sections 4-6 deal with a journey through time. We too take ship, O soul! Fearless, for unknown shores, on waves of extasy to sail, Amid the wafting winds, thou pressing me to thee, I thee to me, O soul, Caroling free—singing our song of God, Chanting our chant of pleasant exploration. Who justify these restless explorations? For what is the present, after all, but a growth out of the past? Nor you alone, ye facts of modern science! O winding creeks and rivers! Soundest below the Sanscrit and the Vedas? Of you, O waters of the sea! Complexity and richness has been achieved by the use of a number of complex, growing and evolving symbols. Soundest below the Sanscrit and the Vedas? Once more speaking to himself, the poet is questioning his readiness to undertake such a voyage. He sees India as a mysterious and fabled place that once visited, will allow the rejuvenation of his soul. Not you alone, proud truths of the world! Alternate light and day, and the teeming, spiritual darkness; Unspeakable, high processions of sun and moon, and countless stars, above; Below, the manifold grass and waters, animals, mountains, trees; With inscrutable purpose—some hidden, prophetic intention; Now, first, it seems, my thought begins to span thee. But this unity can be grasped and explained by the mystic poets alone.
O pensive soul of me! Struggles of many a captain—tales of many a sailor dead! Leaves of Grass: A Textual Variorum of the Printed Poems, 1855-1856. Not you alone, proud truths of the world! What is this separate Nature, so unnatural? O farther, farther, farther sail! Who speak the secret of impassive Earth? O pensive soul of me! Alternate light and day, and the teeming, spiritual darkness; Unspeakable, high processions of sun and moon, and countless stars, above; Below, the manifold grass and waters, animals, mountains, trees; With inscrutable purpose—some hidden, prophetic intention; Now, first, it seems, my thought begins to span thee. The poet speaks on all the other explorers of these lands, like Marco Polo and Alexander. Greater than stars or suns, Bounding, O soul, thou journeyest forth; —What love, than thine and ours could wider amplify? Thou mightier centre of the true, the good, the loving! While the voyage might seem like a terrifying one, he is protected by God. O you fables, spurning the known, eluding the hold of the known, mounting to heaven! What is this separate Nature, so unnatural? O we can wait no longer! Cut the hawsers—haul out—shake out every sail! You too I welcome, and fully, the same as the rest; You too with joy I sing. Year of the marriage of continents, climates and oceans! What is this separate Nature, so unnatural? Ah, more than any priest, O soul, we too believe in God; But with the mystery of God we dare not dally. O you fables, spurning the known, eluding the hold of the known, mounting to heaven! In 1869, Walt Whitman saw the opening of the Suez Canal as reason for celebration, for this new passage to India was both a marvel of engineering and an opportunity to connect with the spiritual traditions of faraway lands.
You, strew'd with the wrecks of skeletons, that, living, never reach'd you. Ah, who shall soothe these feverish children? It is a The poem touches on the power of freedom and of being able to reach out and touch whatever is coming next. Passage to you, to mastership of you, ye strangling problems! Because the subject and verb of the extended opening meditation are deferred, we read with anticipation, waiting to see what will happen. The following year all of the supplement was included as part of Leaves of Grass, but it was a separate volume for the 1876 edition and the supplement Leaves of Grass. Struggles of many a captain—tales of many a sailor dead! Nor you alone, ye facts of modern science! Swiftly I shrivel at the thought of God, At Nature and its wonders, Time and Space and Death, But that I, turning, call to thee, O soul, thou actual Me, And lo! Whitman did not make much sense to back then. What dreams of the ideal? Have we not grovell'd here long enough, eating and drinking like mere brutes? O secret of the earth and sky! Passage to you, to mastership of you, ye strangling problems! Repetition plays a key role in his praise.
Cooling airs from Caucasus far, soothing cradle of man, The river Euphrates flowing, the past lit up again. Light of the light—shedding forth universes—thou centre of them! O daring joy, but safe! Down from the gardens of Asia, descending, radiating, Adam and Eve appear, then their myriad progeny after them, Wandering, yearning, curious—with restless explorations, With questionings, baffled, formless, feverish—with never-happy hearts, With that sad, incessant refrain, Wherefore, unsatisfied Soul? You too I welcome, and fully, the same as the rest; You too with joy I sing. What aspirations, wishes, outvie thine and ours, O soul? Lo, soul, for thee, of tableau's twain, I see, in one, the Suez canal initiated, open'd, I see the procession of steamships, the Empress Eugenie's leading the van; I mark, from on deck, the strange landscape, the pure sky, the level sand in the distance; I pass swiftly the picturesque groups, the workmen gather'd, The gigantic dredging machines. Are they not all the seas of God? Have we not stood here like trees in the ground long enough? Waitest not haply for us, somewhere there, the Comrade perfect? Cooling airs from Caucasus far, soothing cradle of man, The river Euphrates flowing, the past lit up again. .
Who justify these restless explorations? Reckless, O soul, exploring, I with thee, and thou with me; For we are bound where mariner has not yet dared to go, And we will risk the ship, ourselves and all. Over my mood, stealing and spreading they come, Like clouds and cloudlets in the unreach'd sky. Gigantic, visionary, thyself a visionary, With majestic limbs, and pious, beaming eyes, Spreading around, with every look of thine, a golden world, Enhuing it with gorgeous hues. Sections 1-3 deal with journeys through space, the investigation of the physical environment by explorers, navigators and adventurers; Sections 4-6 deal with a journey through time. Of you, O waters of the sea! The literal passage thus becomes a metaphorical one, bridging the continents and allowing for new kinds of communion between people of all nations. Centuries after thou art laid in thy grave, The shore thou foundest verifies thy dream! The canal promised to change the face of world commerce, but it also extended the possibilities of cultural exchange between nations. Not you alone, proud truths of the world! O sun and moon, and all you stars! O day and night, passage to you! Joyous, we too launch out on trackless seas! O Soul, voyagest thou indeed on voyages like these? Each phrase, almost hyperbolic in its sentiments, is lush in its diction.
Waitest not haply for us, somewhere there, the Comrade perfect? Of you, O woods and fields! He seeks to harmonise the past with the present, and show that the past is a part of the present. Nameless—the fibre and the breath! The far-darting beams of the spirit! Are they not all the seas of God? O farther, farther, farther sail! Nameless—the fibre and the breath! Ah, who shall soothe these feverish children? I got to enjoy the prose of Mark Twain and the poetry of Robert Frost and Walt Whitman. Alternate light and day, and the teeming, spiritual darkness; Unspeakable, high processions of sun and moon, and countless stars, above; Below, the manifold grass and waters, animals, mountains, trees; With inscrutable purpose—some hidden, prophetic intention; Now, first, it seems, my thought begins to span thee. Who speak the secret of the impassive earth? It also symbolises the place where man can achieve serenity of soul, his quest, and live a life of innocence in harmony with nature. O soul, thou pleasest me—I thee; Sailing these seas, or on the hills, or waking in the night, Thoughts, silent thoughts, of Time, and Space, and Death, like waters flowing, Bear me, indeed, as through the regions infinite, Whose air I breathe, whose ripples hear—lave me all over; Bathe me, O God, in thee—mounting to thee, I and my soul to range in range of thee.
leaves of grass with leaves of grass passage to india Full Book
The pull of exploration is like a current running through the human race and he is a part of it and wants to feel the connectivity of the earth. That May, the last spike was driven into the ground on the American transcontinental railroad, connecting the country definitively from East to West. About Walt Whitman Whitman worked as a nurse during the Civil War and traveled throughout the New York area recording what he saw. The seeming gulf—the sleepers and the shadows The past—the infinite greatness of the past For what is the present after all but a growth out of the past. . Thou mightier centre of the true, the good, the loving! Curious, in time, I stand, noting the efforts of heroes; Is the deferment long? Who bind it to us? Passage to India has several insightful and incisive section and is worth a read. Whitman's 1870 collection of poems including not only Passage to India but many Civil war poems, main selections from Leaves of Grass, and other collections.
Walt Whitman: “A Passage to India” by Robin Ekiss
Nameless—the fibre and the breath! Section 9 is in the form of a fervent appeal by the poet to his soul to sail out and achieve that spiritual union for which the rounding of the globe has been but a preparation. Cut the hawsers—haul out—shake out every sail! Light of the light—shedding forth universes—thou centre of them! After the seas are all cross'd, as they seem already cross'd, After the great captains and engineers have accomplish'd their work, After the noble inventors—after the scientists, the chemist, the geologist, ethnologist, Finally shall come the Poet, worthy that name; The true Son of God shall come, singing his songs. For what is the present, after all, but a growth out of the past? The syntactic complications also give his argument impact. Ah, who shall soothe these feverish children? The far-darting beams of the spirit! And who will be able to soothe those that desire travel? Imagining a peaceful new era, Whitman proclaims: A worship new, I sing; You captains, voyagers, explorers, yours! In one, again, different, yet thine, all thine, O soul, the same, I see over my own continent the Pacific Railroad, surmounting every barrier; I see continual trains of cars winding along the Platte, carrying freight and passengers; I hear the locomotives rushing and roaring, and the shrill steam- whistle, I hear the echoes reverberate through the grandest scenery in the world; I cross the Laramie plains—I note the rocks in grotesque shapes—the buttes; I see the plentiful larkspur and wild onions—the barren, colorless, sage-deserts; I see in glimpses afar, or towering immediately above me, the great mountains—I see the Wind River and the Wahsatch mountains; I see the Monument mountain and the Eagle's Nest—I pass the Promontory—I ascend the Nevadas; I scan the noble Elk mountain, and wind around its base; I see the Humboldt range—I thread the valley and cross the river, I see the clear waters of Lake Tahoe—I see forests of majestic pines, Or, crossing the great desert, the alkaline plains, I behold enchanting mirages of waters and meadows; Marking through these, and after all, in duplicate slender lines, Bridging the three or four thousand miles of land travel, Tying the Eastern to the Western sea, The road between Europe and Asia. The oceans to be crossed, the distant brought near The lands to be welded together This quest for unity has brought forth many struggles.
Section6 O, vast Rondure, swimming in space! The sense of inclusiveness is ultimately one of the sentiments Whitman is trying to convey here. So allow me to reword this…. These works, the Suez Canal, the great American Railway, and the transatlantic cable allowed men and women to know one another in a new way. What aspirations, wishes, outvie thine and ours, O soul? Have we not darken'd and dazed ourselves with books long enough? O farther, farther, farther sail! The poet must give a new faith, a new light, for the future generations: The Past—the dark unfathomed retrospect! But yeah, thanx for spending some time to talk about this topic here on your web site. Yet, soul, be sure the first intent remains—and shall be carried out; Perhaps even now the time has arrived. Cooling airs from Caucasus far, soothing cradle of man, The river Euphrates flowing, the past lit up again.
