Calvary Crossing a Ford- Walt Whitman

Cavalry Crossing a Ford is written during the time of the Civil War. Walt Whitman did work as a nurse at the time of the Civil War. The "Cavalry" may represent one of the Cavalry troops that Walt Whitman may have noticed, but we do not know because the story is not written in first person. The perspective of the story is unique. A ford means a shallow river. So basically a Cavalry troop is crossing a shallow river during the time of the Civil War is the main scene of the story. The weapons flash in the sun. The author then tells the reader to hark, or listen to the musical clank of the soldiers, whose feet are becoming in sync and could also be the sound of their guns.

 During the Civil War, the troops were fighting for slavery. Even though the actual poem does not mention slavery, since we know it is during the Civil War time, we can already just assume. Henry Thoreau was very against slavery. He did not believe in violence like that, so in a sense the two are connected. Henry Thoreau also did not approve of the government, and the army is a big part of the government. So, Henry Thoreau did not have a very good view of the troops. He thought highly of resistance to violence, so fighting and things associated with the war did not please him.

Walt Whitman on the other hand is different because his story is all about the Cavalry troops, and even though the reader, or the narrator of the story, is an innocent bystander just watching, there is no downgrading comments against the troops. The reader simply just watches and can view the scene that is being presented. I think that the two are different from each other simply just because their view of government. Henry Thoreau's works are usually very opinionated and deal with his opinions and his thoughts. Walt Whitman though shows a non-individual side. He does not include personal opinions and he just lets the reader image things for themselves. He simply just tells a story through his works.


Cavalry Crossing a Ford Study Guide - Walt Whitman - ENotes.com." ENotes - Literature Study Guides, Lesson Plans, and More. Enotes.com. Web. 10 Feb. 2012. <http://www.enotes.com/cavalry-crossing>.

Whitman, Walt. "Cavalry Crossing a Ford - Walt Whitman (1819-1892)." Books & Literature Classics. About.com. Web. 10 Feb. 2012. <http://classiclit.about.com/library/bl-etexts/wwhitman/bl-ww-calvary.htm>.