"Cavalry Crossing a Ford"

This poem talks about how a cavalry unit is being observed while crossing a ford. this unit is not specifically described. I would presume, that since Walt Whitman was a nurse during the Civil War, that he wrote this poem during his time as a nurse, or maybe even during combat. This poem talks about how a cavalry unit is being observed, but mainly from a distance. The use of wording and dialogue states that he isn't particularly describing one individual soldier, but mere describing them as a whole unit. The unit is being described in color and text, such as the uniforms and the lines of the soldiers and what not. it talks of the look on the face of the soldiers and what they think of the situation they are in. then in the last text, it described the guidons and the color of them to represent the individuality of the unit as a whole. I like the poem and the context of it. Even though the poem was a little short, but it had a good description of the unit itself. Whitman uses positive and very detail descriptions to the point where the reader can get a good mental image of what is being described. The unit itself is what i could picture it looking like, crossing a ford, and having a long line of soldiers in uniform, with guidons and instruments.