Walt Whitman and his Poetry

Paper Summary:

This paper takes a look at the work of Walt Whitman and focuses primarily on his poem, "When Lilacs Last in the Pooryard Bloom'. It discusses how this poem is an elegy on the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln, an event that greatly influenced and affected Whitman.

From the Paper:

"During the poet's lifetime he often gave a popular lecture on Abraham Lincoln, which is chronicled in Prose Works. In these lectures Whitman referenced the three recurring symbols of Lilacs. In reference to the date of the assassination Whitman states, "I remember where I was stopping at the time, the season being advanced, there were many lilacs in full bloom. By one of those caprices that enter and give tinge to events without being at all a part of them, I find myself always reminded of the great tragedy of that day by the sight and odor of these blossoms" (Prose Works 2:503). The symbol of the star, which Whitman has said is actually the planet Venus, according to astrological records, was quite visible in the night sky at the time of the assassination. The symbol of the thrush is explained in a notebook entry penned sometime in 1865. In this entry the author talks of a "solitary thrush" and the way it "sings oftener after sundown" (Notebooks 2:766). "

Sample of Sources Used:

• Adams, Richard P. "Whitman's Lilacs' and the Tradition of Pastoral Elegy."PMLA 72 (1957: 479-487.
• Betts, William W., Jr., ed. Lincoln and the Poets. University of Pittsburgh, 1965.
• Erkkila, Betsy. Whitman the Political Poet. New York: Oxford University Press,1999.
• Whitman, Walt. The Correspondence. Ed. Edwin Haviland Miller. 6 vols. New York:New York University Press, 1961-1977.
• Whitman, Walt. Leaves of Grass: Comprehensive Reader's Edition. Ed. Harold W.Blogett and Sculley Bradley. New York: New York University Press, 1965.

More papers on Walt Whitman and his Poetry:

• Analytical Essay # 40873 : "Walt Whitman and Homosexuality"
• Essay # 68087 : "Walt Whitman: Poetic Maverick"
• Analytical Essay # 2235 : "Walt Whitman's Views on Death"

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