Walt Whitman's poem "Vigil Strange I Kept on the Field One Night" shows both romanticism and realism. This poem takes place during the Civil War, marking the end of the romantic period and the beginning of the realist period. Walt Whitman did several writings that fall under romanticism and realism. This poem is about two veterans that are on the battlefield. The speaker comes across the "son" in the field and realizes he had passed. Throughout the poem the speaker talks about how he has to leave his "son" on the battlefield and bury him alone. All in all, this poem by Walt Whitman is classified as a romantic and a realist poem by the details he uses throughout the poem.
             "Vigil Strange I Kept on the Field One Night" can be classified as a romantic poem in two ways. The first way this poem exhibits romanticism is in the connection between the speaker and the "son". In the poem, it shows the readers how caring and loving the speaker was towards the son and the special intimacy that only veterans of war could have for each other. An example of this is stated in the poem in the second line; "When you my son and my comrade dropped at my side that day, One look I but gave which you dear eyes return'd with a look I shall never forget, One touch of your hand to mine O boy, reach'd up as you lay on the ground." The next way this poem is seem as romantic is how Walt Whitman shows the inherent goodness of every human being. Whitman shows that the son who has passed away was an outstanding man in the eyes of the speaker. This is a main characteristic of the romantic period. This is shown in the sixteenth line of the poem when it says, "Vigil final for you brave boy, (I could not save you, swift was your death, I faithfully loved you and cared for you living, I think we shall surely meet again." Thus, this poem can be considered romantic because of the intimate relationship between the speaker and the son and how the son is emulated and seen a...