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Walt WhitmanA modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
“A Glimpse” was initially published in the 1860 Leaves of Grass edition. This was right before the start of the Civil War in April of 1861, when the nation’s tension was building towards its breaking point. Abraham Lincoln’s election in 1860 “caused seven southern states to secede and form the Confederate States of America; four more states soon joined them” ("Civil War." History.com, 12 May 2022). The election of Lincoln served as the ignited fuse for the war between the Union and the Confederacy. The tension felt by the nation at this historical moment translates into Whitman’s poem in the “winter night” that is occurring outside (Line 2). The mention of “winter” brings to mind images of bleak and biting conditions, correlating to the harsh political climate overtaking the country and its citizens. What Whitman offers in “A Glimpse” seems to be the “answer” or “antidote” to the division apparent in the United States. Instead of splitting relationships and creating strife over politics, Whitman advocates for building and maintaining human connection. Whether it’s gathering “around the stove” (Line 2) holding hands with a beloved, or partaking in “drinking and oath and smutty jest” (Line 6), keeping a sense of community is what provides shelter and solace for the speaker and the “crowd of workmen and drivers” (Line 2).
By Walt Whitman
America
America
Walt Whitman
A Noiseless Patient Spider
A Noiseless Patient Spider
Walt Whitman
Are you the new person drawn toward me?
Are you the new person drawn toward me?
Walt Whitman
As I Walk These Broad Majestic Days
As I Walk These Broad Majestic Days
Walt Whitman
Crossing Brooklyn Ferry
Crossing Brooklyn Ferry
Walt Whitman
For You O Democracy
For You O Democracy
Walt Whitman
Hours Continuing Long
Hours Continuing Long
Walt Whitman
I Hear America Singing
I Hear America Singing
Walt Whitman
I Sing the Body Electric
I Sing the Body Electric
Walt Whitman
I Sit and Look Out
I Sit and Look Out
Walt Whitman
Leaves of Grass
Leaves of Grass
Walt Whitman
O Captain! My Captain!
O Captain! My Captain!
Walt Whitman
Song of Myself
Song of Myself
Walt Whitman
Vigil Strange I Kept on the Field One Night
Vigil Strange I Kept on the Field One Night
Walt Whitman
When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer
When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer
Walt Whitman
When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd
When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd
Walt Whitman