Cavalry Crossing a Ford | Essays and Criticism

  • Why the Formal Style

    In this essay, the author examines the reasons why Whitman used a tighter, more formal style in “Cavalry Crossing a Ford” than he used in other poems.

  • Use of Diction and Image

    In this essay, the author investigates Whitman’s use of image and how it serves “Cavalry Crossing a Ford,” as well as certain sound repetitions within the poem and how they and Whitman’s diction or word choice work to formalize Whitman’s free verse and produce “an attitude of wonder and awe.”

  • A Eulogy For Soldiers

    In the following essay, the author examines how “Cavalry Crossing a Ford,” although a description of healthy men preparing for battle, is a tender eulogy for many of these soldiers who are about to fall in battle.