Born of a visit to Brooklyn, Hart Crane's The Bridge is a long poem dedicated to modern life. Critics consider the poem severely modernist, in line with the writings of James Joyce, who was a contemporary of Crane's. In this poem he muses about the progression of human society from the proverbial Eden to its present metropolitan state. He makes a multitude of literary allusions in order to trace human development throughout history. After traveling the globe and musing about various paradoxes of interest, he returns to the Brooklyn Bridge and concludes that it is a symbol of hope for progress yet to be made.
Crane focuses the majority of his attention on the irony of civilization. For example, the Brooklyn Bridge is supposed to be a piece of infrastructure which relieves traffic congestion and simplifies the city resident's daily commutes. In reality, however, the crossing of the bridge has become the main obstacle in most people's commutes, and it proves hazardous to ships, birds, planes, etc. The object which is intended to streamline and uncomplicated modern life still serves as an additional responsibility, thus inspiring Crane to theorize that there is no invention which will ever satisfy people.
Considering the poem follows the classical Greek structure for epic poems, Crane devotes the body of his poem to historical comparison. He looks at specific moments of myth or history in which people thought they were categorically defining their generation. These moments include Christ's crucifixion, Pocahontas' sacrifice, and Christopher Columbus discovering America by accident. Through all of them, Crane dutifully points out the irony of these scenes in which people take credit for advancements which really have nothing to do with their own efforts. He takes a particularly American perspective on modern life, which leads to a sense of heavy responsibility for progress and a hopefulness born of entitlement to discovery and invention. Overall he makes his point -- though lacking succinctness: America will continue to develop and make advancements in technology and society, but it will never satisfy its own craving for success.
