vigil of night and battle-field dim,
Yet again, Whitman's language focuses on descriptions of the environment that surrounds the narrator. This idea of a dim night sky and the interplay of light offers a direct tie to the idea of a vigil, with candles dimly bringing light to an emotional moment of reflection or honor.
Bared your face in the starlight, curious the scene, cool blew the moderate night-wind,
As one critic notes, this death is a shared space of both the soldiers and the universe that surrounds them. It can be interpreted that the beautiful descriptions of the changing night sky that had a moving impact on how the narrator interpreted his situation of death and grief.
Lulloff, William G. "Commentary, Selected Criticism." The Walt Whitman Archive. https://whitmanarchive.org/criticism/current/encyclopedia/entry_727.html
responding kisses, (never again on earth responding,)
Whitman repeating his admiration or possible sexual allusion again.
I faithfully loved you and cared for you living, I think we shall surely meet again,)
Again, another strange description of the love this narrator feels for the boy, even though they seemingly only had a brief encounter before he died. Or rather could be the sharing a much more intense father-son bond.
One look I but gave which your dear eyes return'd with a look I shall never forget
In context, Whitman has been recognized to include many allusions to his interests in sexuality and male interests in both his life and his writing. In this introduction to another male character, Whitman describes their interaction as one that has a substantial impact on him, one that will only later make it more difficult to face the brutalities of death and war. Can also be perceived as both a father and a son sharing a final goodbye over their familiar love.
folded my soldier well in his blanket,
I interpret this as both a direct image of the boy's burial being a "folding" into the earth and a connection to that of a blanket in bed.
how as day brighten'd,
Contradiction to previous imagery of night sky, brightened day following the conclusion of battle and the ultimate fate one must face.
And there and then and bathed by the rising sun, my son in his grave, in his rude-dug grave I deposited,
In context, the brutality of these battles left thousands of solider's dead, spread out across battlefield's in gruesome manners. In an attempt to still honor these soldiers, most were buried in make-shift graves, such as the one Whitman's narrator creates for this boy. The conditions of such graves were both extreme yet efficient, as it was the least these soldiers could do to honor those killed in such gruesome battles.
Ward, Allie. "Burying the Dead." The Gettysburg Complier, 2 August. 2012, https://gettysburgcompiler.org/2012/08/02/burying-the-dead-by-allie-ward-54463/
My comrade I wrapt in his blanket, envelop'd well his form,Folded the blanket well, tucking it carefully over head and care-fully under feet,
Whitman's language and descriptions of the care in which this narrator takes in preparing the boy's dead body is a theme that is reciprocated constantly throughout the piece as a whole. This is also seen as the narrator views the boy in a beautiful manner, and as he watches his body in a sort of awe once he has passed.
Vigil of silence, love and death, vigil for you my son and my soldier,As onward silently stars aloft, eastward new ones upward stole,
Whitman's illustration of a silent vigil and peaceful descriptions of the night sky that surrounds them surely contradicts with what one would expect from a battlefield scene, yet it is clear that Whitman is emphasizing the strength and impact that connection between individuals can have on one's perception of the world around them, especially when one is dealing with the loss of the other.
Then on the earth partially reclining sat by your side leaning my chin in my hands,Passing sweet hours, immortal and mystic hours with you dearest comrade—not a tear, not a word,
While this "vigil" is very moving and reflective of the emotions tied to losing someone in the war, I do find it strange in the way Whitman depicts the narrator watching this dead boy for hours and hours.
found your body son of responding kisses, (never again on earth responding,)
As Whitman describes the finding of this individual he states: "never again on earth responding" to kisses of either the narrator or in general. As the individual is dead, I interpret this line as meaning he will never respond to such kisses on earth, but rather only in heaven or some place past the death he has encountered.
Then onward I sped in the battle, the even-contested battle,
One of the main historical events taking place within Walt Whitman's time was the Civil War, and while Whitman himself did not enlist as a soldier, his brother did. He ultimately traveled to see his brother after seeing him on the injured soldiers' list, and therefore got a firsthand look at the brutalities that impacted his writing.
"Walt Whitman and the Civil War." PBS, https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/walt-whitman-and-civil-war/
The Fugitive Slave Law makes MERCY TO THEM, A CRIME; and bribes the judge who tries them. An American JUDGE GETS TEN DOLLARS FOR EVERY VICTIM HE CONSIGNS to slavery, and five, when he fails to do so.
Directly quotes the Fugitive Slave Law of 1850, where "mercy" towards slaves is considered a crime, and it is required that escaped slaves be returned to their owners. From a direct document describing this law: "to use such reasonable force and restraint as may be necessary under the circumstances of the case, to take and remove such fugitive person back to the State or Territory from whence he or she may have escaped as aforesaid" (Library of Congress). https://www.loc.gov/resource/rbpe.33700200/?st=text
To and fro in the seven chambers there stalked, in fact, a multitude of dreams. And these {{1842-01: , //1845-02: — }} the dreams — writhed in and about, taking hue from the rooms, and causing the wild music of the orchestra to seem as the echo of their steps.
Dreams are personified as if dancing throughout the party, similar to the descriptions of visual light in the story, and an added fantastical element that keeps with the stories' theme.
Gothic window looked out upon a closed corridor which pursued the windings of the suite. These windows were of stained glass whose color varied in accordance with the prevailing hue of the decorations of the chamber into which it opened.
Gothic art/architecture of the time may have had a major impact on the dark themes of Poe's work.
here were {{1842-01: ballêt-dancers //1845-02: ballet-dancers }} , there were musicians, {{1842-01: there were cards, }}
Changes represent even more added examples of the lush lifestyle that those secluded away were able to obtain.
Do I not distinguish that heavy and [page 154:] horrible beating of her heart? Madman!” — here he sprang furiously to his feet, and shrieked out his syllables, as if in the effort he were giving up his soul — “Madman! I tell you that she now stands without the door! “
Yet another climax of madness as the narrator describes a horrible beating heart, connection to final outburst in "The Tell-Tale Heart"
An irrepressible tremor gradually [page 149:] pervaded my frame; and, at length, there sat upon my very heart an incubus of utterly causeless alarm.
Similar to the inescapable feeling of dread and fear that the narrator experienced in "The Tell-Tale Heart"
as well as in that of the many fungi which overspread them, and of the decayed trees which stood around
decaying home just as Usher is decaying himself
But evil things, in robes of sorrow, Assailed the monarch's high estate; (Ah, let us mourn, for never morrow Shall dawn upon him, desolate!) And, round about his home, the glory That blushed and bloomed Is but a dim-remembered story Of the old time entombed.
This song depicts and connects to the beauty and happiness that once filled this home, yet then describes the dark current experiences that took over this joy and turned it into a much more present sorrow.
an effect which the physique of the gray walls and turrets, and of the dim tarn into which they all looked down, had, at length, brought about upon the morale of his existence.
This is the same sensation that the narrator first experienced when he viewed and entered the house himself.
I felt that I breathed an atmosphere of sorrow.
Yet another use of "atmosphere" to describe the immense rush of emotion he is feeling
an atmosphere which had no affinity with the air of heaven, but which had reeked up from the decayed trees, and the gray wall, and the silent tarn — a pestilent and mystic vapor, dull, sluggish, faintly discernible, and leaden-hued.
Hard to distinguish if this "atmosphere" is a physical visual presence that the narrator views, or rather more of an overall sensation and feeling that is being omitted from this house. Narrator later goes on to call this experience a "dream"
bodily illness — of a mental disorder
After looking into the context and history of Poe's own personal experiences, it was clear that he experienced many mental issues and hardships of his own, which can be interpreted as a major influence for many of the dark themes of his works.
upon the vacant eye-like windows
Yet another reference to the "eye" as a symbol and ever present object within Poe's work, yet again used in a dark description as the narrator views this undesirable house.