Crossing Brooklyn Ferry Essay

Ferry is considered one of the greatest lyrical poems of all time. In Crossing Brooklyn Ferry, Walt Whitman uses connotative diction, prying questions, and critical reader engagement to convey a feeling of connection and unity of people through time. By using these certain rhetoric strategies, Whitman creates a piece of poetry that seems to be timeless. Whitman carefully chooses certain words and phrases that really highlight his intentions to connect himself and others readers throughout time. In part 2 of the poem, Walt chooses the words â€Å"simple† and â€Å"compact† to describe a â€Å"scheme† in which we are all â€Å"disintegrated†. These words, precise and carefully chosen, attribute to the great lyricism of the poem. A scheme that is simple is a scheme that we can all live by. And a compact, simple scheme connotes togetherness. Whitman continues to say we’re all disintegrated, but part of the scheme. Being disintegrated could also means we are all little pieces of the same body, or scheme Another simple rhetoric strategy imposed by Whitman to convey a sense of unity between he and the reader is reader engagement. Whitman involves and engages the ready by asking the reader questions, and relating to the reader. By effectively asking questions, Whitman suggest to readers from past and future times that maybe there is not much that separates them. â€Å"What is it then between us? What is the count of scores or hundreds of years between us? The use of these rhetoric strategies are just a few the devices that makes Walt Whitman’s â€Å"Crossing the Brooklyn Ferry† a timeless masterpiece.