The poem “Bivouac on a Mountain Side” is a poem in the section of Drum Taps that shows many of the characteristics popular to the style of Walt Whitman. It is written in free verse, which is the style he most commonly used. This is one of the few poems about the Civil War by Whitman that does not directly portray soldiers on the field of battle, but rather just shows the soldiers camping on a mountainside (Oliver). There is an obvious subject of the everyman in this work, as the characters that it concerns are simple soldiers. There is also a slight hint about religion at the end of the poem with the very last line about the starts. This poem shows many of the characteristics that Walt Whitman used.

Whitman wrote many poems about the Civil War and the soldiers of both sides. Usually he did not show a side that he supported, and rather just spoke of how great the soldiers of the country were. This poem is very unique to Whitman’s style though, because he actually is talking about the soldiers resting rather than being in the battlefield (Whitman). The word bivouac refers to an encampment that is very temporary, even without tents and only sleeping under the starts (Huff). This is the exact image that is described in this work. Even though it is about war, the scene that Whitman creates seems to be quite peaceful.

Another characteristic of Whitman’s poetry that is shown in this poem is the subject of the Everyman. This poem is about soldiers that are camping on a mountainside for a night, and this could very well be their last night on Earth. This is what Walt Whitman wanted to address in his poem, because serving in a war is a very scary portion of one’s life and he wanted to show that. This poem is about the isolation that a platoon of the army experiences in their moments at war and how powerful the simple things like a night under the starts can be for them (Oliver).

There is a small hint of Christianity in this poem at the very end. Whitman refers to the “eternal stars” over the night skies that are looking over the soldiers (Whitman). This could be interpreted as God looking over those that are serving. It could just be talking about the starts, but the word eternal that is used makes that part of the poem more powerful and seem like it would have a deeper meaning. Whitman involved religion in all of his poems, and representing God by the stars in the night sky is how he does it for this poem.

The poem “Bivouac on a Mountain Side” by the great American poet Walt Whitman has many of the characteristics that were very popular for this particular author. The free verse poem describes soldiers of the Civil War and the Everyman that is the soldier. Also there is a hidden message of Christianity in the last lines of the work like Whitman usually included.



Works Cited
Huff, Randall. "'A Bivouac on a Mountain Side'." The Facts On File Companion to American Poetry, vol. 1. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Online. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CPAP0053&SingleRecord=True. March 7, 2011.

Oliver, Charles M. "'Bivouac on a Mountain Side'." Critical Companion to Walt Whitman: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work, Critical Companion. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2005. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Online. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CCWW059&SingleRecord=True. March 7, 2011.

Whitman, Walt. “Bivouac on a Mountain Side.” From Leaves of Grass. The Walt Whitman Archive. Online. http://whitmanarchive.org/published/LG/. March 7, 2011.