a sight in camp in the daybreak gray and dim

A Sight in Camp in the Daybreak Gray and grim, by Walt Whitman is a very vivid poem that expresses the title of the poem to the fullest with the setting of the poem. The first stanza gives the reader a great mental picture of the setting. The tone is an awful grim and dark feeling with the notice of death in the air. Whitman uses many kinds of symbolism in the poem; two great examples are spiritual and patriotic. Spiritual is characterized when Whitman states that the middle aged man looks like Christ himself. Furthermore with the three dead bodies represents the three stages in life as well as the trinity in Christianity. Whitman uses a patriotic theme with the setting being in the civil war and seeing these three dead soldiers that have died for their country to fulfill the American dream of being free. With the allusion of the middle aged man being Christ is especially important which ties both of the two types of symbolism as to emphasize the sacrifices soldiers commonly give in war, and the religious view of the colossal sacrifice of Christ. Whitman uses symbolism to with the great use of vivid imagery to draw the reader into the poem.