Passage to India (Magill’s Survey of American Literature, Revised Edition)
At a glance:
- Author: Walt Whitman
- First Published: 1871
- Type of Work: Poem
- Genres: Poetry, Lyric poetry
- Subjects: United States or Americans, Traveling or travelers, Voyages, Nineteenth century, Science or scientists, India or East Indian people, East and West, Railroads, Technology, Engineering, Telegraphs, Canals
“Passage to India” is a salute to the idea of the evolutionary progress of the human race; it celebrates the scientific achievements of the age, looks forward to the imminent dawning of an era in which all divisions and separations between people, and people and nature, will be eliminated, and heralds the spiritual voyage of every human soul into the depths of the inner universe. Whitman himself described the meaning of his poem, saying “that the divine efforts of heroes, and their ideas . . . will finally prevail, and be accomplished, however long deferred.”
The poem...
[The entire page is 908 words long]
Join eNotes
Over 3,500 study guides, question and answer forums, literature criticism, reference content, and much more!
See Also
