Into the Horizon: Death and the Afterlife in “Now Finale to the Shore”.

Source: Sailing by the Shore by Leonid Afremov

With the title of his selection of poetry called, “Songs of Parting,” Whitman founded this collection around goodbyes, so longs, and farewells. With no sense of illness during this time, and thirty years prior to his actual death, it is odd that Whitman grounded many of his poems around death and the afterlife. Regardless of whether or not he thought he was dying or if this period of time was just an existential crisis, there is still much that can be explored in these poems, in particular his poem, “Now Finale to the Shore”. Situated just before the existential ramblings and crisis writing of his poem, “So Long,” is “Now Finale to the Shore,” a short poem about an old sailor and his voyage into the afterlife.

The poem begins with the reiteration of the title as the speaker describes parting ways with the shore, the land, and the life that has been connected to it. However, the speaker isn’t the one leaving, but someone else. The speaker writes, “now Voyager depart,” and this is emphasized through the capitalization of the word “Voyager” which tells the reader that this another person’s farewell (608). Normally when Whitman is writing his poetry, like in the subsequent poem, “So Long,” the reader understands that Whitman is referencing himself through various pronouns such as I or me, but this poem breaks from that understood method of writing and instead creates a narrative where the speaker, or perhaps Whitman, is watching someone else leave the land and the shore. As the poem’s narrative continues, the speaker notes the life of this “Voyager” who has “adventur’d o’er the seas” and “[studied] the charts” living a life of experience and escapade (609). To Whitman and the speaker, this person in which is being described has lived a full life and essentially been around the world on their ship and studying maps of the sea, a true hero in the eyes of the speaker. In the final lines of the poem, the speaker urges the Voyager to “obey thy cherish’d secret wish” and to “cherish” those close to them before setting sail one last time on an “endless cruise” into the horizon (609).

Whitman spent much of this era of his life in existential crisis, claiming he was dying or contemplating his place in the scope of human history. However, “Now Finale to the Shore” acts as almost an inspiration for Whitman in terms of accepting his fate and prepping for his inevitable journey away from Earth and into the afterlife. The speaker has so much concern and want for the Voyager throughout the poem knowing that there is so much “in store” for this person as they are leaving the land on one final journey. It is as if Whitman, or the speaker, believes that in death, their truly is an afterlife, or at least their is still plans in place for this Voyager. The tone of this poem is not somber or melancholic, but instead hopeful and tranquil. There is a pride in the voice of the speaker as they describe this heroic old sailor and the journey they have had in life and the many more adventures they will have after. This tranquility is seen especially in the final lines as the speaker references this journey as a “cruise” rather than something more fearful or uneasy. The speaker sees this old sailor as having a life well lived and deserves the “heaven” of his final adventure out to sea, never turning back or returning to port.

Although Whitman’s subsequent poem, “So Long,” features cryptic writings and oftentimes anxiety driven speech, there is still a core theme of farewell and the afterlife that can be derived from something like “Now Finale to the Shore”. Whitman did not place two poems next to each other without them having some sort of purpose and, as previously mentioned, this poem acts as a building block, or inspiration, for much of what Whitman will discuss in “So Long,” the final poem in his “Songs of Parting” collection. Whitman knows that he has lived a fulfilling life and sees himself in a much similar position as the old sailor. They may have gone down different paths in life, but they have still shared a common satisfying life experience. Just as the speaker tells the old sailor that there is much in store for them, Whitman also knows that there is still plans for him even as he takes his own journey away from the shore and into the afterlife. Whitman makes this point clear in “So Long” because he knows that his writings will “hold” the reader and be with them centuries forth (611). As Whitman sets sails for the great unknown, he knows that his works will, and have, still greatly influenced generations and will continue to do so as long as his works survive.