17 pages • 34 minutes read
Walt WhitmanA Glimpse
Fiction | Poem | Adult | Published in 1860A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Background
Historical Context
“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). Even if nothing is said between individuals, just sitting close to one another is enough to make one “content, happy in being together” (Line 7). This sense of community and solidarity would become even more essential as the Civil War raged from 1861 - 1865. Whitman himself tried to promote unity by visiting various camps in and around Washington, D.C., caring for Union and Confederate soldiers alike.
Literary Context
Walt Whitman was considered to be a poet of the Romantic period based on his prominent focus on notions of “the self,” emotions, and nature. However, he did not adhere to any particular school of literature, such as the Transcendentalism of Ralph Waldo Emerson. Roger Asselineau argues that “for geographical and social reasons, Walt Whitman was not a transcendentalist, since transcendentalism was a New England phenomenon affecting American scholars and clergymen’s relatives. Yet he can be considered the poet of transcendentalism whose coming Emerson had prophesied, but which he failed to be himself” (Asselineau, Roger. "Transcendentalism." The Walt Whitman Archive, 1998). Asselineau acknowledges that Whitman’s collection Leaves of Grass does feature some similarities and connections to Transcendentalism. However, in the end what Whitman produces with Leaves of Grass is a literary accomplishment unique unto itself. Experimental in both form and content, Leaves of Grass proposes a new conceptualization of individualism, identity, and the soul: “The individual consciousness created through the union of body and soul, an experience available to everyone, produces a prototypical personality that is spiritually prepared for union with other similar personalities. The universality of the soul provides a basis for the union, and the ‘corruption and decease’ of the body make the union desirable and necessary” (Duggar, Margaret. "Individualism." The Walt Whitman Archive, 1998). Like the figures in “A Glimpse,” Whitman’s concept of the individual is both uniquely separate and communal, able to occupy both a sphere of personal differentiation and an engagement and connection to a larger social group.
Related Titles
By Walt Whitman
