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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.
Whitman indicates the wounding of the speaker’s comrade in Line 2 when he “dropt at my side that day.” The fellow soldier lingers but for a final moment to pass between them: “One look I but gave which your dear eyes return’d with a look I shall never forget, / One touch of your hand to mine O boy, reach’d up as you lay on the ground” (Lines 3-4). With this, the “boy” expires and the speaker goes back to battle. When he returns, the speaker knows that “never again on earth” will his friend return his kisses (Line 7)—a phrase he repeats in Line 23, emphasizing his awareness that his comrade has truly gone.
But death is not the end, as the speaker insists in Line 17: “I think we shall surely meet again.” This statement, which is more directly expressed than the sentiments throughout poem, provides a turning point as it not only offers consolation but allows the speaker to perform the duty of burying his friend “where he fell” (Line 26). Though it is part of a longer parenthetical that can be viewed as an aside within the poem’s dramatic
By Walt Whitman
A Glimpse
A Glimpse
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
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