17 pages • 34 minutes read
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.
An interstice by definition is “a space that intervenes between things,” “a gap or break in something generally continuous,” or “a short space of time between events” ("interstice." Merriam-Webster, 2022). The “interstice” is symbolic of Whitman’s poem itself, as it represents a short space of time experienced by the speaker. More specifically, this short space of time microscopes in on an intimate moment shared between the speaker and their lover. The poem is also an “interstice” for the reader, as it takes up the short amount of time in the reader’s day to consume it. The “interstice” is representative of the private life that underlies everything that occurs in the public sphere; it is the opening, or the “gap,” through which the private lives of individuals can be observed. As relayed in the first line, it is the “glimpse” that is “through an interstice caught.” This opening, or gap, breaks up the general focus on the communal life of the workers, and shifts the focus to the individual.
The setting of Whitman’s poem is described in the second line. The “workmen and drivers” gather “late of a winter night” (Line 2). Winter often symbolically connects to death, sadness, and solitude in literature.
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