Whitman was greatly impressed by three great engineering achievements: the opening of the Suez Canal (1869), the laying of the transatlantic undersea cable (1866), and the joining of the Union Pacific and Central Pacific railroads at Utah to produce the nation’s first transcontinental railway (1869). These events resulted in improved communication and travel, thus making possible a shorter passage to India. But in Whitman’s poem, the completion of the physical journey to India is only a prelude to the spiritual pathway to India, the East, and, ultimately, to God.
The poet, in section 1, celebrates his time, singing of “the great achievements of the present,” and listing “our modern wonders”: the opening of the Suez Canal, the building of the great American railroad, and the laying of the transatlantic cable. Yet these achievements of the present have grown out of the past, “the dark unfathom’d retrospect.” If the present is great, the past is greater because, like a projectile, the present is “impell’d by the past.”
Here Whitman presents the world of physical reality, an antecedent to the world of spiritual reality. The essential idea in emphasizing the three engineering marvels is to indicate man’s progress in terms of space. The space-time relationship is at the heart of the matter. The present is significant, but it is only an extension of the past and, therefore, its glories can be traced to times before. Man has mastered space, but he must enrich his spiritual heritage by evoking his past. His achievement in space will remain inadequate unless it is matched, or even surpassed, by his achievement in time and his spiritual values.
In section 2, Whitman envisages a passage to India which is illuminated by “Asiatic” and “primitive” fables. The fables of Asia and Africa are “the far-darting beams of the spirit,” and the poet sings of the “deep diving bibles and legends.” The spanning of the earth by scientific and technological means is only part of the divine scheme to have “the races, neighbors.” The poet, therefore, sings of “a worship new,” a spiritual passage to India.
The poet here identifies time with space and merges them in the realm of the spirit. Modern miracles of science are all part of a divine plan, of “God’s purpose from the first.” Thus the poet sings of a new religion which will combine the scientific achievements of the present with the spiritual attainments of the past.
Man’s achievements in communications are shown in the portrayal of “tableaus twain” in section 3. The first tableau, or picture, is the first passage through the Suez Canal “initiated, open’d” by a “procession of steamships.” The second picture is the journey of the railway cars “winding along the Platte” River to a junction of the Union and Central Pacific railroads. These two engineering achievements have given concrete shape to the dreams of the “Genoese,” Columbus, “centuries after thou art laid in thy grave.” Columbus dreamed of “tying the Eastern to the Western sea”; his ideal has now been fulfilled.
The underlying significance of the two events which Whitman describes here is to show that man’s material advancement is only a means to his spiritual progress. The poet seems to master the vastness of space through his visionary power. And his thoughts also span time: modern achievements are a realization of Columbus’ dream of linking East with West. His discovery of America was only a first step toward finding a shorter passage to India.
Section 4 tells how “many a captain” struggled to reach India. History seems like an underground stream which now and again rises to the surface. Thus Whitman praises Vasco da Gama, who discovered the sea route to India, and who thus accomplished the “purpose vast,” the “rondure [rounding] of the world.”
This is a tribute to the courage and adventurous spirit of the West in seeking a passage to India. The poet has a vision of history “as a rivulet running,” and this dominates his sense of space. History is conceived of as a progression of continuous events which are like a flowing stream. This stream joins the spiritual sea and the poet’s vision endows historical happenings with spiritual meaning.
Section 5 presents the spectacle of this earth “swimming in space,” endowed with incredible beauty and power. Since the days of Adam and Eve, Whitman says, man has asked the meaning of life: “Who shall soothe these feverish children?/ ... Who speak the secret of impassive earth?’ After the scientists and explorers have achieved their goals, the poet, who is “the true son of God,” will forge the links of spiritual union. “Trinitas divine” will be achieved through the visionary power of the poet; he will fuse “Nature and Man.”
The earth has been spanned by the efforts of engineers and technicians, Whitman says, and now it is for the poet to bring about the unity of East and West in the realm of the spirit. In his general survey of history, Whitman seems to encompass all time. The poet is the “true son of God” because, in visualizing the union of man and nature, he responds to the divine call within him. He is thus a true explorer and a discoverer of spiritual India.
