The Underground

Eli Bickford

Mr. Arcand

English III C Block

18 December 2014

The Underground

Walt Whitman was a writer who pushed the boundaries, accepted being an outlier, and only after his death, received the appreciation that his work deserved after his death; in this way, nothing is more analogous to Whitman’s poetry than the New York Underground. The New York Underground, today, is a network of beautiful, creative, boundary pushing tunnels that represent a time and place almost lost to us. These magnificent tunnels, however, were long abandoned and thus, fell into a state of decay. Only now, in a new age of urban exploration are the New York Underground is finally receiving the praise and appreciation its so rightfully deserves. The tunnels, the people, and the many other things that can be found in these tunnels have striking similarities to the kind of the style and content found in Whitman’s work

        Whitman constantly asks his reader to see and experience in a different ways. In Canto Two of “Song of Myself,” Whitman, addressing those who talk about the what will happen in the future and those who analyse the past, writes, “There was never any more inception than there is now,” (Whitman 27). Whitman sees the present as the only interesting and important aspect of life. Similarly, the New York Underground is the perfect example of living in the moment. The residents fight for daily survival and spent their time either enjoying the moment with the many others in their situation. Additionally, the movement of the trains, of the tracks, of her visitors, make the Underground a place where the present is the only thing that matters.

Another critical topic that Whitman addresses is the idea of being real. In Canto 1 of “Song of Myself,” Whitman writes, “I harbor for good or, I permit to speak at every hazard, Nature without check with original energy” (Whitman 26). Whitman uses his poetry at a platform for honesty rather than considering what his readers would have thought of him, Whitman’s poetry is bold and righteous. This quality holds true for the New York Underground. Its residents, as well as its architecture, is bold. A walk through the New York Underground's network of tunnels gives its visitor a sense of insignificance, as if the nature of the tunnel’s is confident and firm. The tunnel’s are what they are.

Whitman examines the idea of mystery in his poetry. In “As I Ebb’d with the Ocean of Life,” Whitman writes,“As the ocean so mysterious rolls toward me closer and closer,” (Whitman 45). The image of the setting of this poem is mysterious like the intricacy of the tunnels. The network of New York Underground holds a simplicity that Whitman attempts to achieve in his poems, while also exposing how mysterious and strange the system can be. More specifically, the tunnels are mapped out in a simplistic way that mirrors the general land masses of the above ground world; however, the tunnels, within the simplistic map have homes, art, and many other secrets hidden within its depths. Much of Whitman’s poetry is contains this false simplicity.  In “Out Of The Cradle Endlessly Rocking,” for example, Whitman writes, “Up from the mystic play of shadow, twining and twisting as if they were alive,” (Whitman. 47).

Additionally, Walt Whitman’s poetry and the New York Underground contain true beauty. The choice of words in Whitman’s work and the long winding Underground give whomever has the honor of experiencing either, blessed. This fact is less of a similarity than a product because while Whitman’s poetry professes to be true, honest, or bold it only achieves true beauty because its maker’s intentions were true. The mysterious, righteous, and profound tunnels of the underground are beautiful because the product of their qualities allows it.