Writers, while each having their own distinct voice and style, can still learn a lot from each other. It's why creative writing classes bother teaching other writers at all. As such, many connections can be made between authors. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's The Village Blacksmith, has a similar feel of independence to Whitman, however there are also notable differences. Longfellow does not convey the same connection to nature as Whitman does, nor the value of loafing, instead displaying a hard and studious worker. Also, the structure of the poem differs, with Longfellow having a steady ababcdcd pattern, while Whitman uses freeverse.
Anne C. Lynch's An Imitaion also follows a rigid structure (this time aabb ccdd) that differs from Whitman, but she does find more of an adventure in nature, describing her journey up a mountain. John Greenleaf Whitter's The Hunters of Men follows the same structure as Lynch, but focuses more on people than setting. His poem reminds me of Whitman because it depicts conflict between people, and how they are hunting their fellow man. This could relate to Whitman's feelings during the build up and eventual start of the Civil War.
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