A Glimpse

Walt Whitman published “A Glimpse” in the 1860 edition of his poetry collection Leaves of Grass. A lyric poem detailing the thoughts and feelings of the poem’s speaker, the single-stanza, seven-line poem is written in free verse with no set meter or rhyme scheme. Considered to be a writer of the Romantic period of American literature, Whitman blended Realism and Transcendentalism in his work. “A Glimpse” provides readers with an intimate look at the deep connection between two lovers. Despite commotion and noise roiling around them in a bar, the speaker and their lover find solace and security in one another’s presence without having to speak at all. Taken together with the context of the Civil War which was just about to initiate when Whitman published “A Glimpse,” readers can interpret the winter weather and noise surrounding the two lovers as indicative of the political turmoil being experienced by the nation. In his poem, Whitman promotes human connection to counteract the social divisiveness and chaos.