"Passage to India"

Paper Summary:

This paper discusses Walt Whitman's "Passage to India." It particularly considers his references to technology and the soul. The paper suggests that "Passage to India" seems to be calling out to the common man, encouraging him to embrace the modern world, but to remember the capabilities of the poetic soul. The paper discusses how Whitman presents these themes.

From the Paper:

"Ultimately, Whitman clearly states that the soul will not suffer from man's intellectual restlessness. Instead it will soar to new heights on the rising tide of technology, and use these advances to reach even further than it ever has before. But even so, the reach of poetry and the soul is far beyond anything that man can make or design since it has the capability to reach into the ancient past as well as into the future. Even if time machines were finally invented, they would still not compare to the ability of the soul to understand its own existence, and to make connections with the past and with other souls. The poet's ability to connect with God and to explore all the recesses of man's existence is where the soul's true potential lay, not with the advance of machinery and technology. Though Whitman does accept and appreciate technology "I welcome, and fully, the same as the rest;/ You too with joy I sing" (28-29), he feels that the soul is the real past, present, and future of mankind."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Whitman, Walt. "Passage to India". Leaves of Grass. New York: Bantam Classics, 1983.

More papers on "Passage to India":

• Book Review # 104598 : "Sexuality in "A Passage to India"
• Analytical Essay # 53522 : "Kim" and "A Passage to India"
• Analytical Essay # 67371 : "A Passage to India" and "Season of Migration to the North"

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