Cavalry Crossing a Ford | 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.”

Walt Whitman is among the greatest and most original of American poets. He is among the most daring of poets from any age or nation, has had as much influence in our tradition as Shakespeare, and in many ways single-handedly gave birth to the modern movement in American poetry. His most significant work is “Song of Myself,” but, because of its length, “Song” is rarely given the time and attention it deserves; still, students interested in Whitman should take the energies and glories offered in his shorter poems as inspiration for further reading. Much of what can be found in...

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