jenniferying

Last week, Prof. Gold and Jesse Merandy took us on a walking tour to explore the places that Whitman had been in Brooklyn.
One stop that I personally enjoyed most was the the Brooklyn Promenade stop. The view looking out from the Brooklyn Promenade out to Manhattan was magnificent. Usually when I am on the BQE from Brooklyn traveling to the city, there is a part where I can see the Brooklyn Promenade above me, and I always see people with cameras snapping pictures, and last week I got to share the same views that the photographers were seeing all this time. The view is absolutely gorgeous, you can see the Manhattan skyline, the Brooklyn Bridge to the right, to the far left you can see the statue of liberty and below you can see an ongoing construction site. In the water, you can actually see the ferries too.  At the Brooklyn Promenade, we were able to see Manhattan, a city that Whitman had much interest for and wrote about in his poem “Manahatta.”

The pictures I took only shows minimal scenery of what the Brooklyn Promenade has to offer, but we can still see the Manhattan skyline and clear skies.

Manahatta
by Walt Whitman
(1819-1892)

I was asking for something specific and perfect for my city,
Whereupon lo! upsprang the aboriginal name.
Now I see what there is in a name, a word, liquid, sane, unruly,
musical, self-sufficient,
I see that the word of my city is that word from of old,
Because I see that word nested in nests of water-bays, superb,
Rich, hemm’d thick all around with sailships and steamships, an
island sixteen miles long, solid-founded,
Numberless crowded streets, high growths of iron, slender, strong,
light, splendidly uprising toward clear skies,
Tides swift and ample, well-loved by me, toward sundown,
The flowing sea-currents, the little islands, larger adjoining
islands, the heights, the villas,
The countless masts, the white shore-steamers, the lighters, the
ferry-boats, the black sea-steamers well-model’d,
The down-town streets, the jobbers’ houses of business, the houses
of business of the ship-merchants and money-brokers, the
river-streets,
Immigrants arriving, fifteen or twenty thousand in a week,
The carts hauling goods, the manly race of drivers of horses, the
brown-faced sailors,
The summer air, the bright sun shining, and the sailing clouds aloft,
The winter snows, the sleigh-bells, the broken ice in the river,
passing along up or down with the flood-tide or ebb-tide,
The mechanics of the city, the masters, well-form’d,
beautiful-faced, looking you straight in the eyes,
Trottoirs throng’d, vehicles, Broadway, the women, the shops and shows,
A million people–manners free and superb–open voices–hospitality–
the most courageous and friendly young men,
City of hurried and sparkling waters! city of spires and masts!
City nested in bays! my city!

The poem “Manhatta” is Whitman’s admiration for Manhattan and it shows his interest for the city.

In chapter 3 -“Mother, Father, Water, Earth, Me..” of Walt Whitman A Life by Justin Kaplan, there was a part which interested me a lot. It is on page 67, the last paragraph; it was about an event that occurred in June 1829 when Whitman was 10 years old. The Fulton, which was the first steam vessel to be built by a government, blew up in the morning in the Brooklyn Navy yard. It was written that a disaffected sailor had fired the powder magazine. This explosion caused the deaths of forty or fifty crew members. This event also happened to be described by Justin Kaplan as Whitman’s “most vivid recollection from his five or six years in the common school was a dull shock, something like an earthquake, he imagined.”  The funeral that was held a few days later moved Whitman to tears.

“With music strong I come, “ he wrote in “Song of Myself,”

… with my cornets and my drums,
I play not marches for accepted victors only, I play marches for
                     conquer’d and slain persons.

                                        .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .
I beat and pound for the dead,
I blow through my embouchures my loudest and gayest for them.

 Within the few lines of the excerpt from Whitman’s Song of Myself poem, we see how enthuse Whitman was for the deceased crewmembers. Being the age of 10 at the time of the incident, I can only imagine what was going through Whitman’s mind. It was a tragic incident for anyone to remember, and consider this being one of Whitman’s most vivid recollections at the age of 10; it must’ve been a rather immense experience for him. Thinking back, I cannot recall a memory from when I was 10, not even how my birthday went. For Whitman, the tragic event was still in his memory.

Yesterday I went to a farm in Long Island to go pumpkin picking and I was at a red light, the GPS said that my destination was nearby, maybe like 2-3 minutes away but the area did not look farm-ish at all. There were office buildings around so I started looking around to see if there is actually a farm nearby, and when I looked up , in front of me, was this sign that said “Walt Whitman”, the sign was a few cars ahead but it was clear enough to read that it said Walt Whitman. I was really shocked so I grabbed my camera and tried to snap some pictures. I only got to snap two pictures because the light turned green and I was on my way to the farm..

But I find it really amazing how in the randomist places, you can find Whitman because I’ve been trying to take pictures of Whitman items or things that remind me of him but I haven’t had any luck, so it was really great when i saw that street sign. It was like a sign of him telling me that he does exist.

and the  the farm was nearby and heres me with all the pumpkins 😀

And have a great columbus day everyone!

EDIT:
“In 1819, Walt Whitman was born at a farmhouse in West Hills built by his father circa 1810. The Birthplace was restored in 2001 and it is a fine example of native Long Island craftsmanship. The Birthplace is the only NYS Historic Site on Long Island listed on the National Register of Historic Places. In 1998, the White House Millennium Council named it an “American Treasure.” In 2007, the Walt Whitman Trail, which begins at the Birthplace, was designated a National Recreational Trail by the US Dept. of the Interior.”
source: http://www.waltwhitman.org/

The signs were actually pointing to a Walt Whitman historic site. The site is call The Walt Whitman Birthplace State Historic Site, and it is an attraction of the birthplace of Whitman. Whitman’s father built the house himself in 1819. The historic site is located at 246 Old Walt Whitman Road, South Hungtington, NY 11743.

Here is an image of the historic site today. Which is also the house Whitman was born in.

source: www.waltwhitman.org

Crossing Brooklyn Ferry
“Crowds of men and women attired in the usual costumes,
         how curious you are to me!
On the ferry- boats the hundreds and hundreds that cross,
        returning home, are more curious to me than you suppose,
And you that shall cross from shore to shore years hence are
          more to me, and more in my meditations, than you might
          suppose.”
                                                                                       -Walt Whitman

image source: www.fultonferry.org
Here is a picture of the fulton ferry landing from 1880’s. You can see that it is very empty, just store fronts  along the side and the Brooklyn Bridge in the back, along the right side of the image. There are no skyscrappers or pedestrains walking on the streets.

whereas, above is a picture of the fulton ferry landing today. there are still crowds of men and women in causal clothes, but yet they arent so curious to me, they just look like normal new yorkers looking to relax and a nice scenery, although maybe they are curious about their sorroundings. Also, we can see sky scrappers in the background as opposed to the old fulton ferry landing, where it was just clear skies. But one thing remains the same, the Brooklyn Bridge is still stands to the right of the picture.

Walt Whitman’s New York 

In Walt Whitman’s New York, on page 115, Whitman includes an article about one of the largest fires that occurred in Brooklyn in the early 1800’s. He states that “probably the largest and most destructive that ever occurred here up to its date, or during a number of years afterward.” This must’ve been a great fright to Whitman and everyone living in New York during that time because there was no ambulances , or fast medical help, although there was fire trucks,  Whitman writes that “in those times they had only the two fire engines,” I am sure they didn’t do much to take down the fire. Whitman also states that “in 1795, the number of firemen was increased to thirty.” This destructive fire occurred in 1806, therefore there would’ve only been thirty firemen to help save the fire.  Along with two fire trucks.

I think Whitman is writing about this incident because he wants us to get a sense of how astonishing this fire caused everyone to be.  Not only did he include the article of the fire, Whitman also includes a list of following everything that was destroyed. The list mainly includes barns, houses and stables. This fire must’ve been one of the largest because even today I’ve not read an article on Brooklyn where the fire was so destructive that the land damaged can be compared to barns and stables.

 I can see why this was a big shock at the time, because as Whitman quotes “..they had a few axes and a couple of ladders, Of course, this will seem almost ridiculous to our modern Brooklyn fire laddies, with their costly and beautiful machines.” Back in the day, fire ladders were considered modern. As compared to day, we have motorized ladders.  

According to Wikipedia.Com,

A modern fire engine is usually a multi-purpose vehicle carrying professionals and equipment for a wide range of fire-fighting and rescue tasks. Therefore, most fire engines carry equipment such as ladders, pike poles, axes and cutting equipment, halligan bars, fire extinguishers, ventilating equipment, floodlights, hose ramps, breathing apparatus (BA) and general tools. Many fire appliances are based on standard truck or lorry models with heavy duty suspensions, brakes, tires, alternator, transmission and cooling systems; audible and visual warnings such as sirens, horns, and flashing lights, and a two way radio.

As compared to an old fire engine, according to Whitman,

The above engine stood about three feet in height, was eight feet in length, three in width, and two and a half in depth. It was what is termed a long-stroke engine, and worked easy, throwing a steam 60 feet, through a pipe of three-quarter inch nozzle, of six feet length. Neither hose nor suctions were used, the supply of water being furnished in buckets, by hand, poured into the box. The box held 180 gallons.

A modern fire engine compared to an old one, I look at it like, comparing a modern car to a future car that can fly and drive across water. From the descriptions of each fire engine, modern and past, we can see why the fire of 1806 was so destructive; the equipments at the time weren’t able to handle the fire, where as today, we have more enhanced fire equipments to help us in case of fires.

Here is an image of a brooklyn fire department in the 1800’s.

Here is an image of a fire truck in front of it’s department in brooklyn, today.

Jennifer for September 22

Twenty-eight young men bathe by the shore,
Twenty-eight young men and all so friendly,
Twenty-eight years of womanly life and all so lonesome.

She owns the fine house by the rise of the bank,
She hides handsome and richly drest aft the blinds of the window.

Which of the young men does she like the best?
Ah the homeliest of them is beautiful to her.

Where are you off to, lady? for I see you,
You splash in the water there, yet stay stock still in your room.

Dancing and laughing along the beach came the twenty-ninth bather,
The rest did not see her, but she saw them and loved them.

                                                          -Walt Whitman
                                                            Song of Myself (page 38)

In class, we discussed some ideas that this particular piece could’ve been referring to. We talked about literal and figurative analysis of this piece.

In my opinion, I would analysis this piece in a figurative way. I think Whitman is writing the poem in a women’s point of way, as in what a women would feel, for example in the last line he writes “the rest did not see her, but she saw them and loved them.” I think the “she” is actually Whitman himself because in his days of time, it would not have been appropriate to write that he himself is enjoying watching men bathe, so instead he uses a woman as a figure to express what he actually feels. He is actually the twentyninth bather.

In the 3^rd line, Whitman writes “Twenty-eight years of womanly life, and all so lonesome.” I think this is a figurative way of Whitman proceeding to tell us that he’s more into men because the line right after starts with “She owns the fine house by the rise of the bank”, after writing about how twenty eight years of womanly life, the men is all so lonesome, he changes gender and starts to writing with “She”. Because of the period of time when this poem was published, homosexuality wasn’t accepted yet, therefore he uses a woman to speak his words, and the “she” in those lines is actually him.