A Sight in Camp
By Walt Whitman
A Sight in camp in the day-break grey and dim,
As from my tent I emerge so early, sleepless,
As slow I walk in the cool fresh air, the path near by the
hospital
tent,
Three forms I see on stretchers lying, brought out there,
untended
lying,
Over each the blanket spread, ample brownish woollen
blanket,
Grey and heavy blanket, folding, covering all.
Curious, I halt, and silent stand;
Then with light fingers I from the face of the nearest, the
first,
just lift the
blanket:
Who are you, elderly man so gaunt and grim, with well-grey'd
hair,
and flesh all
sunken about the eyes?
Who are you, my dear comrade?
Then to the second I step--And who are you, my child and
darling?
Who are you, sweet boy, with cheeks yet blooming?
Then to the third--a face nor child, nor old, very calm, as
of
beautiful
yellow-white ivory;
Young man, I think I know you--I think this face of yours is
the face
of the Christ
himself;
Dead and divine, and brother of all, and here again he lies.
Prompt: Read the following poem by ____ carefully. Then write a
well-organized essay in which you briefly summarize its content and discuss how
the diction and imagery reveal the speaker’s attitude toward _________.
I read through your poetry essay 2, and you did a good job with this essay. You connected your poem to Cold Mountain in complete detail, between the religious allusions and the war reference. I think you should have included a stronger introduction and thesis to this poem in order to show how A Sight in Camp includes the war references and biblical allusions instead of jumping straight into your essay. I also wish you would have done analysis on just the poem because it is such an interesting poem with specific allusions. I do like the points you made about how the war and the friendships between the soldiers shine light on the injustice. I also like that you talk about how the Christ allusion enhances the sacrifice that the soldiers make on the battlefield.
ReplyDeleteThe strongest part of your essay is the comparison between Cold Mountain and A Sight in Camp. They both have strong war and religious allusions that shed light on the injustice of war and fighting. In Cold Mountain, these allusions make it extremely clear that Frazier believes that war is not justified because it is just “neighbors fighting neighbors” (Carr 2). The similarities between these two works of literature are uncanny and you do a good job in explaining in full detail the nuances of both.