Walt Whitman and War

Paper Summary:

The paper examines five of Walt Whitman's poems that deal with war, including "Beat! Beat! Drums!", "An Army Corps on the March," "Bivouac on a Mountain Side," "Come Up From the Fields, Father," and "Oh Captain! My Captain." The paper highlights how Whitman's initial optimism about war soon turned into a more tragic realism once he became aware of the inherently destructive nature of war. The paper also shows how, by reading Whitman's war time poetry, we get a deeper, more intimate sense of the impact of the Civil War on an entire nation.

From the Paper:

"The full tragedy of war is expressed in the longer narrative poem "Come Up From the Fields, Father." This poem tells the story about a family who receives a letter from their son, Pete, who is fighting in the war. It soon becomes clear, however, that the letter is not from Pete at all. Whitman brilliantly draws this out by pointing out, from the perspective of one of the family members, that this does not seem to be Pete's handwriting. Eventually, the family comes to learn that Pete has been seriously injured in battle. By the end of the poem, it becomes clear that the family will never see their Pete again. Much of the emotional impact of the poem stems from Whitman's description of the Mother's tragic reaction to the news."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Whitman, Walt. "An Army Corps on the March." Retrieved April 16, 2008 from http://hometown.aol.com/gordonkwok/cwpoetry.html.
• Whitman, Walt. "Beat! Beat! Drums!" Retrieved April 16, 2008 from http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Leaves_of_Grass/Book_XXI#Beat.21_Beat.21_Drums.21.
• Whitman, Walt. "Bivouac on a Mountain Side." Retrieved April 16, 2008 from http://hometown.aol.com/gordonkwok/cwpoetry.html.
• Whitman, Walt. "Come Up From the Fields, Father." Retrieved April 16, 2008 from http://www.civilwarhome.com/comeup.htm.
• Whitman, Walt. "O Captain! My Captain." Retrieved April 16, 2008 from http://www.bartleby.com/142/193.html.

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