Passage to India The end of the 19th century was the time when scientific and cultural progress was being strongly associated with European geopolitical expansionism. The pace of this progress, at that time, was truly amazing. Therefore, it was only natural for the poets and writers of the era to view contemporary realities as the basis of their creativeness. Walt Whitmans poem Passage to India, written in 1871, proves the validity of this statement to the full extent, because it is essentially the poetical praise of scientific progress, as such that defines the essence of Western civilization. The following passage provides us with the insight on authors understanding what represents the true nature of evolutional dynamics: Singing my days, Singing the great achievements of the present, Singing the strong, light works of engineers, Our modern wonders, (the antique ponderous Seven outvied,) In the Old World, the east, the Suez canal, The New by its mighty railroad spann’d, The seas inlaid with eloquent, gentle wires, I sound, to commence, the cry, with thee, O soul, The Past! the Past! the Past! The Past! the dark, unfathom’d retrospect! The teeming 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? (Whitman) Apparently, Whitmans rationale was not affected by considerations of political correctness, which now cause many people to feel historical guilt over the fact that their ancestors brought the light of civilization to savages that were often not able to advance beyond the Stone Age. Thus, we can say that the most important leitmotif of Whitmans poem is the promotion of White mans burden as the natural calling of those who pushed the cultural and scientific progress forward, throughout the centuries. There can no doubt as to the fact that, in his masterpiece, author remains greatly appreciative towards other cultures.
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However, he refers to the expansionist and explorative essence of Western mind as such that allowed representatives of different cultures to realize themselves within a context of global history, even despite their anti-historical mode of existence. The quoted above passage allows us to conclude that Whitman was well aware of the fact that peoples explorative drive, their commercial ingenuity and their ability to operate with highly abstract matters, derive out of each other. According to author, the creation of modern wonders was only possible by the work of engineers, which is an absolutely valid suggestion. Nowadays, there are many professions that allow individual to make a lot of money, without regard to his or her social value. For example, by giving one concert, a popular pop singer is able to earn more money then engineer at nuclear power plant makes in a year. However, it is the work of such obscure engineer that enables the continuous existence of civilization, the way we used to it, and not the jumping of a pop singer on the stage. Thus, we can say that in Passage to India, Whitman sounds as a true representative of 19th century intellectual elite, which predominantly consisted of people who were contributing to the pace of scientific progress in very practical manner.
The 19th century and beginning of 20th century, was only the time, in recent history, that such progress was able to pursue its natural course, since Christianity was not able to slow it down any longer. At the same time, there was no notion of political correctness coined up yet, which nowadays prevents scientists from discussing the social implications of their discoveries. Therefore, it is not an oddity that Whitman praises mighty railroad, at the beginning of his poem. It is only within a mainframe of the present, that we are able to realize the true significance of the past. In its turn, the present is something that is defined by the process of constant transformation. This is why, throughout the poem, author continuously refers to such non-poetic sounding things as dredging machines, steamboats and railroad locomotives.
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Apparently, peoples objective value corresponds to their ability to combat the entropy, by transforming the world, according to their wishes. In other words, when science is allowed to pursue its natural course, it obtains poetic properties, because such state of affairs is absolutely natural and makes historical sense: For what is the present, after all, but a growth out of the past?. Thus, it is only when we understand the true significance of the quoted passage that we are going to be able to realize the metaphysical essence of Whitmans poem, as whole. In the eyes of a poet, India represents the value of unexplored lands and different cultures. However, he associates even a greater value with passage, as a tool, which allows people to get the access to these cultures. Poet declares his intention to sing achievements and he perfectly understands that these achievements were only made possible by White peoples ability to think in abstract terms, which in its turn, laid the foundation for all sciences.
Therefore, this is not a pure coincidence that West initiated establishing connection with the East, and not vice versa. The building of Suez Canal was made possible by application of newest technologies that originated in the West. Thus, even though Passage to India is now often being discussed within a context of Western soul longing towards Eastern spirituality, the quoted passage suggests something entirely different. Metaphorically speaking, for Whitman, the wonders of foreign cultures only have value, for as long as he can hang them on the wall, as trophies. It is not the Eastern spirituality that his soul longs for, but the new geographical horizons. He appreciates the process of accomplishing, more than actual accomplishment, which reveals Whitman as typical idealist-intellectual of 19th century.
Author is a person who looks at the past as the source of inspiration and as something that defines present. At the same time, it is only the scientific progress, associated with present, which allows us to establish connection with the past. Thus, we can say that the quoted passage is meant to establish the proper perceptional mood, on the part of readers..
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