Analysis Of A Sight In Camp In The Daybreak And Grim, By Walt Whitman

Research Paper A Sight in Camp in the Daybreak and Grim written by Walt Whitman, an american poet focuses on a soldier walking through the hospital tent at camp. The soldier examines three deceased soldiers, one old, one young and one who is not young nor old. The poem was written during the Civil War and thus the setting of the poem is a campsite in the Civil War. Although a recognized American poet, essayist, and journalist Walt Whitman had little to no formal education, this however proved to be a defining characteristic in his work. This short poem seems to be simple and straight to the point but it actually lends itself to a deeper meaning.
Walt Whitman’s poem A Sight in Camp in the Daybreak and Grim was written during

He wakes up from a sleepless night and speaks of a scene taking place in a hospital tent. He speaks of three dead soldiers he saw in the tent that were unattended , one old, one young, and one nor old or young. He goes into slight detail about each of the soldiers physical characteristics which gives the reader insight on the different ages of the men. The narrator correlates the last soldier to jesus christ and states that he think he knows him and that is face is that of christ himself. The short poem ends on the line “Dead and Divine and brother of all, and here again he

Guinn’s critique starts with the fact that he first viewed the poem as a simple and straightforward piece. He goes on to add that at first he took it as it came and did not search for any further meaning because “Sometimes a duck is just a duck.” I can not agree with him more. At first glance it seems as though Walt’s short poem is simple and offers no further symbolism. But after reading into it more, one can find that it is filled will literary devices. Guinn explains that Walt chooses to explain the characteristics to bring to light that the draft brought forth men of all ages. This is spot on considering that these men were drafted from ages ranging from twenty to forty five year old. Scott goes on to state why the author, Walt Whitman chose to make the face of the third soldier that of christ. Scott's opinion is that “ it is a justification for the lost innocence.” Although, I do not agree with this part of his critique I do agree with Guinn when he goes on to say that this godly face of christ is meant to mean that the deaths of these soldiers were for a good cause, for the good of the country. However, perhaps another take on the imagery of christ is that it is symbolic to the belief that christ died for your sins and is always with you, even in war. Guinn states that “The imagery evokes the reality of war by showing how the cost was paid by