Whitman, “Vigil Strange”

Walt Whitman

The nature of form as a quality, sometimes defying expectation. Whitman, in particular. In this poem, the many kinds of feeling—sexual, grieving, paternal, uncertain—demands a form for conviction. One person describes Whitman as “earning” the right to his form: authenticity, as distinct from pretension.

  • Walt Whitman
  • 19th Century
  • English
  • Form as a Quality
  • Conversation
  • Poetry
  • The Art of Poetry