The wonders of the Bridge
In the first part of the poem, the author takes time to appreciate the Bridge and to praise its beauty. He describes it during daytime as well as during the night and he transmits to the reader the idea that the Bridge is a wonder that must be appreciated by everyone. The wonderful nature of the bridge is one of the main themes in the poems and the reason behind this is that the bridge was seen as a wonder for many years. When it was built, it was the longest suspended bridge and thousands of people used it every single day. It made life easier for them and some ended up trusting the bridge more than they trusted God. These descriptions show just how much the bridge impacted the people’s lives and how much things have changed because of the bridge.
Nature and the incapability to appreciate it
In one of the poems, the author analyzes nature and he describes it in very romantic like terms, just as a poet from the 18th century would have done. While nature is described in such wonderful way, it seems that no one is able to appreciate it fully and they just pass by it without really seeing the wonders around them. The reason why humanity became incapable of appreciating nature is because they became more attracted by the buildings and by the structures built by humankind and thus grew to ignore what was around them. This is, according to the writer, one of the side effects of technological advancement and one of the reasons why the poet refuses to see the technological advancements only in a positive light.
The negative effects of technology
While initially the poet praises the Bridge as being a wonder built by men, as the poem progresses he begins to explore the darker side of technological advancement. Towards the end of the poem, he describes a subway ride and the way he describes it is similar to the way Dante described the descent into hell in his book Inferno. The description is important because the author want to transmit the idea that while technology is indeed helpful, it also has the power to divide us and can make us drift further apart from our fellow citizens. Technology replaced little by little human interaction and while the bridge did link two parts of the city, it also divided people more and made them drift further apart from their families and friends.
