Trucking With Walt

           Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The Walt Whitman Bridge is not visible in standard city-scape shots of the city; the bridge lies too far south. In addition to its relatively marginal location apart from Philadelphia's heart, the bridge, constructed from 1953 to 1957, has no extraordinary background. It certainly does not serve as a great American symbol. Indeed, even a brief account of its naming and dedication is unavailable at the time of this writing.
                What is apparent is that the Walt Whitman Bridge is not a work of art. It is not a technological feat. Unlike the Brooklyn Bridge, it serves a frankly utilitarian purpose: seven lanes of asphalt, 57,000 tons of steel, it spans 2,000 feet across the Delaware River. It serves commuters between Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Gloucester, New Jersey. Indeed, it was probably not named for the great American poet as a demonstration in symbolism; it is more likely that the pairing is due to the fact that Gloucester, New Jersey is in close proximity to Camden, Whitman's home.
                 Such a way for accounting for the pairing of Walt Whitman and his bridge-- simple geography-- may seem deficient. Whitman gets a bridge named for him because he happened to have lived nearby. However, this interpretation also hits upon the phenomenon of collective pride for this poet. The Walt Whitman Bridge is possibly a manifestation of how many people feel an affinity for the poet and his poetry; they want to glory in any sort of connection to the poet.
                Indeed, this is not such a simplistic interpretation as it at first seems. It is a large part of Whitman's cultural prevalence, his image as a Democratic poet, that impels people to revel in invocations of his name. They want to acknowledge that he has effected them, touched them.

On the other hand, this pride can be easily subverted, making it apparent that the interpretation of a monument easily gives way to an entangling, sticky endeavor. Subversion seems to be the case with the Walt Whitman Truck Stop.

                This "full service truck stop" seems to stake no apparent claims in Walt Whitman the poet-- only his disembodied name. No proud invocations are implied. The only connection the truck stop reveals is that its actual physical location is "the Packer Avenue Exit off the Walt Whitman Bridge." Even furthermore, instead of at least paying a superficial sort of homage to Whitman, the Walt Whitman Truck Stop seems to purposefully affront him!
                Apparently, it being "Philadelphia's only truck stop!" and "Home of the famous South Philly Cheese Steak!" is more worthy of bragging rights. As if offering "showers, motel, lounge, expert truck detail, discount diesel, trucker's story, laundry" were more magnetic attractions than the nearby home of a great American poet!!
                Perhaps they sell souvenir volume of Leaves of Grass in that trucker's store. . .

I Dream'd in a Dream        I dream'd in a dream I saw a city invincible to
the attacks of the whole of the rest
of the earth,
       I dream'd that was the new city of Friends
       Nothing was greater there than the quality    of robust love, it led the rest,
       It was seen every hour in the action of
the men of that city,
      And in all their looks and words.

            Lastly, Walt Whitman can be found in a subway station. More precisely, a likeness, a plaster relief and a line from "I Dream'd in a Dream" (Leaves of Grass), hangs on the wall in a PATCO station, a commuter railway line in Philadelphia.
                   Philadelphia was indeed a part of Whitman' life. He published a volume of Leaves of Grass there and gained a benefactor (Allen, 14). It was a city that impacted him; therefore, he captured it in poetry.
                        However, the location of this little memorial, its association with transportation, is worthy of noting. Hearkening back to the aforementioned themes of transformation, traveling down roads and crossing bridges, this union within this monument indicates that there is more than meets the eye. Perhaps it is a bit more successful monument than it seems superficially.
                   In this memorial, the literal and the figurative converge. Indeed, this matter, the balance between literal and figurative, is what makes a monument successful or a failure. In this case, the balance frames the relief with an interesting and appealing mixture of the provocative and the reasonably appropriate. Likewise, this balance is out of whack with respect to the Walt Whitman Truck Stop; its significance lies, perhaps if at all, in that it is humorous.

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