Rosenfeld traces the tides of masculinity and femininity in this long poem; the final imagery, he feels, is a homosexual one indicative of the poet's 'own difficult identity'. This conclusion is consistent with Whitman's oft-stated feeling that 'intense and loving comradeship, the personal and passionate attachment of man to man … [is] the most substantial hope and safety of the future of these states' and with Bychowski's conclusion that sublimation of homoerotic love is at the core of Whitman's concept of democracy.