In Whitman's poem, "Vigil Strange I Kept on the Filed One Night," the speaker is:

The speaker is a soldier who has just lost his comrade in battle. The two are alone on the battlefield, one alive and another dead. The speaker holds his solemn, private mass for his killed comrade, and buries him "where he fell". The poem is not a masculine, patriotic leave-taking, but an intensely private elegy that emphasizes closeness between two men.