"How Solemn as One by One"

Well, I do believe I may have the "Nome Crud." Sore throat, stuffy nose, and now my ears are hurting, so this will probably be a short post. Yes, I am going for the sympathy vote!


"I see behind each mask that wonder a kindred soul / O the bullet could never kill what you really are, dear friend / Nor the bayonet stab what you really are / The soul! yourself I see, great as any, good as the best"

I like Whitman's idea that my soul will remain no matter what happens to my body. I would like to think that my spirit will watch over those I love, when my time comes - I guess I'd like to be a guardian angel. Whitman held different beliefs than mine, but he still had some great ideas. Whitman looked at things very scientifically. He had a reason for his beliefs. Sometimes I think you just have to believe blindly, you know--in faith. 

I think in this poem, he was sort of reconciling the senseless death of war with the knowledge that these soldiers who passed by him--one by one--would emerge triumphant, no matter their end. I think this was his way of helping them to know that in the end they would be ok. Going into battle, I wouldn't want to be afraid of death. I think that fear could take its grip and cause more trauma than the battle itself. 


I think this poem is an illustration of what Whitman once witnessed and his own feelings as he watched these brave young men file past him. I think of Whitman visiting the wounded, living in poverty so he could give to these men. I think it was finally with these soldiers that Whitman found a piece of the brotherhood that he so longed for.