With the publication of the first edition of Leaves of Grass on July 4, 1855, Walt Whitman emerged as a truly original voice. This date is not a coincidence, as the collection—and Whitman’s entire career—can be viewed as a celebration of the American experience. As a child in 1824 he attended General Lafayette’s grand tour visit to Brooklyn. The Revolutionary War hero fixated on five-year-old Whitman, lifting him from among the throng and offering a hearty embrace.

Whitman is known for his long lines, filled with lists and compendiums of information. These disquisitions seek to capture all of America, as in the poem “I Hear America Singing,” where he includes mechanics and masons, shoemakers and woodcutters, and mothers and girls. As a result, “Vigil Strange I Kept on the Field One Night” may seem anachronistic at first glance with its focus on a private moment between a soldier and his fallen comrade. However, the poem illustrates the great poet’s range. While Whitman is most known for his “barbaric yawp” and his celebration of the individual—the original title of Leaves of Grass was Song of Myself—this poem shows his ability to confront death without despairing. The speaker sheds no tears because he is confident the pair “shall surely meet again” (Line 17).