In his poem to the Brooklyn Bridge, Hart Crane conjures up a vision of the majestic, sweeping panorama that the bridge creates across the river. He raises images of the workers who built the bridge as well as the New Yorkers who work during the day and use the bridge to take them to their leisure activities after work.
Among the images of work are
Some page of figures to be filed away;
—Till elevators drop us from our day . . .
Here he refers to bookkeepers or accountants who write numbers on pages and put them in file cabinets when they finish work, then take the elevator down from their office.
The poet also compares the processes of building the bridge and welding the iron with acetylene torches to the brilliant light in the sky. Implicit in "Wall" are the people working in finance on Wall Street.
Down Wall, from girder into street noon leaks,
A rip-tooth of the sky’s acetylene . . .
The images of leisure concern people going to the movies. He also compares the "silver" screen of the cinema to the color of the bridge under the sun.
I think of cinemas, panoramic sleights
With multitudes bent toward some flashing scene
Never disclosed, but hastened to again,
Foretold to other eyes on the same screen;
And Thee, across the harbor, silver-paced
As though the sun took step of thee . . .
https://poets.org/poem/brooklyn-bridge
No comments:
Post a Comment