Passage to India by Walt Whitman Questions and Answers
Short Questions with Answers[2]
Q. 1. Ans. Mention the publication history of the poem, Passage to India.
Ans- The poem, Passage to India, by Walt Whitman was first published in 1871 as a part of an independent collection of poems. Whitman incorporated it in 1871,1872 and 1876 editions of the Leaves of Grass and then with some revision in the 1881 edition.
Q. 2. What are the three engineering achievements that Whitman praises in his poem, Passage to India.
Ans. Walt Whitman, in section 1 of Passage to India, 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.
3. Comment on the setting of the poem, passage to India.
Ans. The title suggests that the setting of the poem may be India. But it isn’t. India is but a metaphor. The poem is set throughout time. From the beginning of time, to ancient history, to modern wonders and to the unexplored future; the poem covers and traverses it all.
Q. 4…..Our modern wonders, (the antique ponderous Seven outvied,)-What is the source of this line? What is meant by the phrase ‘Seven outvied’?
This line is from the poem, Passage to India by Walt Whitman.
This line is from the poem, Passage to India by Walt Whitman. Whitman finds the modern achievements in technology to have out competed the Seven Wonders of the World.
5…Eclaircise the myths Asiatic-the primitive fables-What is the source of this line? What is meant by the word ‘Eclaircise’?
This line is from the poem, Passage to India by Walt Whitman.
From the French éclaircir, the word, ‘Eclaircise’ means to clear up or reveal obscure information or what is unknown.
6….But myths and fables of eld-What is the source of this line? What is meant by the word ‘eld’?
This line is from the poem, Passage to India by Walt Whitman. From the old English êldo, the word, ‘eld’ means old age or antiquity.
7.. You too I welcome, and fully, the same as the rest-What is the source of this line? What is meant by the line?
Ans.Having celebrated the new technological and engineering innovations, Whitman celebrates the work of poets. Fables, myths and stories from cultures across the world also serve the purpose of bridging past and present and connecting different parts of the world. While the body needs railroads, seaways and telegraph cable to be transported, the mind needs poetry.
Q. 8. ….Lo, soul! seest thou not God’s purpose from the first-What is the source of this line? What is meant by the line?
Ans. This line is from the poem, Passage to India by Walt Whitman. Whitman finds God’s purpose in everythingg that connects people to people.Whitman’s concern with the soul’s passage or his expansive and inclusive sense of religion comes from Transcendentalism.
Q. 9. ….Lo, soul, for thee, of tableaus twain-What is the source of this line? What is meant by the line?
Ans. This line is from the poem, Passage to India by Walt Whitman.
Whitman imagines a flight of the soul to the sites of the technological inovations – the Suez Canal, in Utah where the Union Pacific and thhe Central Pacific Railroad were joined. He marvels at human endeavour that sits nestled in the magnificence of nature forming the “tableaus twain”. Whiman does not see a contradiction in the existence of a built environment and the ecology of nature.
Q. 10…..Ah Genoese, thy dream! thy dream!-What is the source of this line? Who or what is referred to as ‘Genoese’?
Ans. This line is from the poem, Passage to India by Walt Whitman.
This is a reference to the explorer Christopher Columbus (1451-1506) a Genoese citizen who discovered America.
Q. 11. What is the title for the collection of poetry of Walt Whitman? In which years Whitman wrote this monumental work?
Ans. Leaves of Grass is the title for the collection of poetry of Walt Whitman. In 1855, 1891 and 1892 Whitman wrote this monumental work. The first edition of Leaves of Grass included only twelve poems.
Q. 12. What are the themes of Whitman’s Leaves of Grass?
Ans. In Leaves of Grass Whitman deals with the themes of democracy, nature, love, friendship and spirituality. A passage to India is a prime example of the poet’s transcendentalism as well as realism themes in his poems.
Q. 13. “Singing my days” (1.1). Who is singing here?
Ans. Here the poet, Walt Whitman, is singing of the great achievements of modern science. The poet sees himself as a singer. Like any other Whitman poem, Passage to India expresses the poet’s preoccupation of poetic self. The poet here celebrates his time singing of the great achievements of his times and 52 listing the modern wonders of the present time. .
Q. 14. “You lofty and dazzling towers” … (1.26) What do they stand for?
Ans. The celestial towers of fables point upwards toward heaven, emphasisng man’s yearning for spiritual knowledge. The fables of Asia and Africa are the lofty and dazzling towers to many people. They are the ‘far-darting beams of the spirit’. Here the poet identifies time with space and merges them in the realm of the spirit.
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