Charlie 1

Charlie Mahoney

The Nature of Homosexuality in “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry”

Walt Whitman challenges the traditional way of thinking about human existence in

‘Crossing Brooklyn Ferry’, demonstrating that sexual desire and nature coincide with each other

in a society that does not accept homoeroticism. Although Whitman does not cite a specific

religion in his poem, the speaker’s argument questions the commonly held beliefs around the

mystical stories that explain the creation of man. Whitman references the concept of the

“Body” ,“I too had been struck from the float forever held in solution; / I too had receiv’d

identity by my Body; / That I was, I knew was of my body—and what I should be, I knew I

should be of my body”. The speaker received identity by their “Body’”, not a gift of a soul from

god but rather other motivations, personal sexual desires as a human, “‘I knew should be of my

body”. Referencing spirituality, the speaker uses ‘I too’, changing the audience of the text to

include the reader.

In the following stanza Whitman states that human desire comes from a universal part of

the Soul, something that does not exclude race, age, time or distance. Desire, a phenomenon with

no boundaries and no real explanation,

It is not you alone, nor I alone;

Not a few races, nor a few generations, nor a few centuries;

It is that each came, or comes, or shall come, from its due emission,

From the general centre of all, and forming a part of all:

Everything indicates—the smallest does, and the largest does;

A necessary film envelopes all, and envelopes the Soul for a proper time.
Charlie 2

The “necessary film” which envelopes every human comes from their identity that includes

sexual desire. The “Body” and the “Soul or the individual identity of everyone develops from a

series of decisions that the individual makes, actions and desires that the individual possesses.

Throughout the poem Whitman changes the pronouns of the text while switching

between the past and present, making the message timeless to the audience:

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-stem’d pipes of

steamboats, I look’d.

Combining the sentiments of Whitman in the moment the poem was created to the reader today

establishes Whitman’s argument as timeless. Proclaiming the personal “Body” and “Soul” as a

natural existence, the speaker believes actions and desires form naturally in everyone like the

river and the sky. The use past and present tense signify that what Whitman experienced comes

from a feeling that will continue to exist even beyond his time on earth.

Shortly after this stanza, Whitman uses another portion of his poem to show his message

defies time or situation, “It avails not, neither time or place—distance avails not; / I am with you,

you men and women of a generation, or ever so many generations hence; I project / myself—also

I return—I am with you, and know how it is”. In this section of the poem Whitman states that the

struggle for his feelings do not correspond to a certain time period, but rather form in nature and
Charlie 3

will continue to exist as long as the hegemony of heterosexuality exists. The speaker also

addresses the reader directly, stating that he supports everyone else who becomes confronted

with identity issues, who struggle with finding acceptance in their homoerotic desires.

Which identity does Whitman specifically alluding to? Homosexuality, the love of two

men which has become banned in society. Behind the text the speaker alludes to this desire,

using language that implicitly implies the desire of men. Later in the work the speaker hints at

homosexuality through the scope of the seven deadly sins,

It is not you alone who know what it is to be evil;

I am he who knew what it was to be evil;

I too knitted the old knot of contrariety,

Blabb’d, blush’d, resented, lied, stole, grudg’d,

Had guile, anger, lust, hot wishes I dared not speak,

Was wayward, vain, greedy, shallow, sly, cowardly, malignant;

The wolf, the snake, the hog, not wanting in me,

The cheating look, the frivolous word, the adulterous wish, not wanting,

Refusals, hates, postponements, meanness, laziness, none of these wanting.

Whitman, just like others with homosexual desire commit sin according to societal standards.

The “cheating look”, the “adulterous look” and the “old knot of contrariety” refer to

homosexuality from a society which believes homosexuality violates the nature of desire within

everyone. The natural world creates human desire not a God:

My river and sun-set, and my scallop-edg’d waves of flood-tide,

The sea-gulls oscillating their bodies, the hay-boat in the twilight, and the belated

lighter;
Charlie 4

Curious what Gods can exceed these that clasp me by the hand, and with voices I

love call me promptly and loudly by my nighest name as I approach;

Curious what is more subtle than this which ties me to the woman or man that

looks in my face,

Which fuses me into you now and pours my meaning into you.

What God intrudes the power of sexual desire? In the view of the speaker no God. “[N]ighest”

infers proximity to love, something close, a desire that calls the speaker by his true name. The

sun, the river, and the waves of the flood-tide allow the speaker to become curious about God

while serving as metaphors for sex.

In the following stanza the speaker uses “nighest” again, revealing the true feeling of love

he contains in his soul for other men,

But I was Manhattanese, friendly and proud!

I was call’d by my nighest name by clear loud voices of young men as they saw

me approaching or passing,

Felt their arms on my neck as I stood, or the negligent leaning of their flesh

against me as I sat,

Saw many I loved in the street, or ferry-boat, or public assembly, yet never told

them a word,

Lived the same life with the rest, the same old laughing, gnawing, sleeping,

Play’d the part that still looks back on the actor or actress,

The same old role, the role that is what we make it, as great as we like,

Or as small as we like, or both great and small.

Charlie 5

Whitman describes the young men using his “nighest” name, feeling their “arms” and

their “flesh” while loving the sight of these men on the street. Yet, this love is not accepted in a

society that grounds itself in the scripture of God, which bans sexual relations between the same

sex. So, in order for the speaker to fit in, to be accepted, he must “play the same old role of the

actor or actress,” which in this instance, serves as a metaphor for someone who cannot express

their true sexuality.

In ‘Crossing Brooklyn Ferry’ Whitman exposes his true self as a homosexual man living

in a time in which homoerotic desire seems something closer to hell than to acceptance in

society. Yet, Whitman proclaims his message as timeless and speaks to the reader directly in a

way that pervades time and distance, that literally speaks to the reader and says homoeroticism

does not determine worth or normalness in the human “Body”. Whitman, through the metaphor

of water as sex, honors homosexuality towards the end of the poem, stating that homoeroticism

deserves celebration in place of shame.

Flow on, river! flow with the flood-tide, and ebb with the ebb-tide!

Frolic on, crested and scallop-edg’d waves!

Gorgeous clouds of the sun-set! drench with your splendor me, or the men and

women generations after me;

Cross from shore to shore, countless crowds of passengers!

Stand up, tall masts of Mannahatta!—stand up, beautiful hills of Brooklyn!

Throb, baffled and curious brain! throw out questions and answers!

Suspend here and everywhere, eternal float of solution!

Gaze, loving and thirsting eyes, in the house, or street, or public assembly!

Sound out, voices of young men! loudly and musically call me by my nighest
Charlie 6

name!

Live, old life! play the part that looks back on the actor or actress!

Play the old role, the role that is great or small, according as one makes it!

The speaker again utilizes “nighest”, demonstrating the closeness of these feelings to his own.

Accepting the “gaze” of “thirsting eyes”, the speaker throws out the questions of the “curious

brain” and celebrates the role of a gay man in society as a part of human nature. Again, Whitman

believes his ideas in the poem will become timeless, the challenge of accepting homosexual

desire will continue as a problem as long as men and women exist.

Whitman finishes the poem with this line: “You furnish your parts toward eternity; /

Great or small, you furnish your parts toward the soul” (139-144). The individual develops the

soul—or sexuality, not a feeling planted inside of everyone from an almighty creator, but a

feeling that develops naturally. “Eternity” expresses the immortality and timeless nature of the

message in the work. Human desire does not come from the workings of a God that put the

‘Body’ and ‘soul’ together but rather the individual, a natural process which cannot come from

the explanation of a religion. Whitman challenges the societal expectations of sexual desire in a

time when homosexuality inferred sin, in a culture which saw love strictly between a man and a

woman. Through celebrating his own personal desires for other men in the poem, Whitman

created a piece of work which contains an immortal message. As long as marriage and religion

prevail in society, many will see homosexuality as a deviance. Despite the age of the poem,

homosexuals today can read it and understand the sentiments of speaker: to celebrate their own

sexuality.