More handpicked essays just for you.
Whitman As a better writer than Emerson
Introduction to war poetry
Essay on the glorification of war within poems
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Soldier- a person who serves in an army. Civil War was one of the bloodiest war on record. Walt Whitman was a poet during this time. One of his greatest poems was The Artilleryman's Vision. We also look at a letter he wrote to his mother during the war. Whitman great works of literature The Letter to His Mother and The Artilleryman’s Vision both are different and alike. The characters in both works were the same. The Character was in each was a Civil War Veteran. In the Artilleryman's Vision the main character was a Civil War veteran. Whitman’s letter to his mother the main character he mentioned a veteran of the Civil War. This means Whitman main focus of both works was the lives of these veterans. The genre of the Artilleryman's Vision and the letter to his mother were alike. The genre of the two was experience in the Civil War. In the Artilleryman's Vision states “ I hear the sounds of the different missiles, the short t-h-t! t-h-t! Of the rifle balls, I see the shells exploding leaving small white clouds, I hear the shells shrieking as they pass.” In the letter states “We asked him how the Rebels treated him during those two days and within reach of them, whether they came to him, or whether they abused him.” This …show more content…
The poem’s theme was everyday encounters of the average soldier. The poem says” there in a room as I wake from sleep vision presses upon me; The engagement opens there and there and then in a fantasy unreal, The skirmishers begin, they crawl cautiously ahead, I hear the irregular snap! snap! The theme in the letter was something that happen in the war. In the beginning of the letter it states “ Here is a case of a soldier I found among the crowded cots in the Patent hospital. He likes to have someone to talk to, and we will listen to him. This means that poem was meant to reach out to the average soldiers, while the letter was to inform his mother what was happening when he worked as a
The poem's persona and the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall depend on each other to express the poem's intention. The poem's intention is to show that war is lethal, less than gloriful, and extremely real. Although years have gone by, these recollections are still affecting how he lives. Simply standing in front of the wall reminds the speaker of all of this. The Veterans Memorial takes on a life of its own. While the speaker is in its presense, the wall controls him. It forces him to remember painful memories and even cry, something he promised himself he would not do. The persona in the poem reacts to the power the wall has and realizes that he must face his past and everything related to it, especially Vietnam.
Walt Whitman was a famous American poet who wrote many great poems during the Civil War. Though he originally worked for printing presses and newspapers, he later became a famous poet. During the Civil War, Whitman wrote many patriotic poems that supported the ideas of the North. Whitman’s poems will forever be linked to the American Civil War era of poetry. Walt Whitman was an iconic American poet with an interesting life that later impacted his works of poetry.
One poetic device that is prevalent throughout the entirety of poem is mood. Mood can be described as the general feeling or atmosphere that a piece of writing creates within the reader. One general mood in the poem is depression. With the title of the poem being War Widow it is very easy to see that depression is one general mood in the writing. Another line in the poem says “The telephone never rings. Still you pick it up, smile into the static”(Abani l). This could mean that this person is alone and has no one left to talk to or it can also mean that someone he loved was taken away from him and he has been deeply affected by the loss. These lines have depression in the background of the context. This poem is very deep in the
The chronologically earlier poems celebrate the coming hostilities, expressing Whitman’s "early near-mindless jingoism" (Norton 2130). As one progresses through the work, he finds a less energetic, sorrowful, jaded narrator who seems little like the exuberant youth who began. Understandable so, "[Whitman] estimated that over the course of the war, he had made ‘over 600 visits or tours, and went. among from some 80,000 to 100,000 of the wounded and sick, as sustainer of spirit and body in some degree, in time of need’" (Murray).
Throughout the poems entirety the central theme seems to revolve around the persona’s love for those who are willing to dive into their work and work hard day in and day out. The persona shows that love by saying, “people I love” (1). The persona in the poem shows that appreciation for hard work by repeating the word love in various lines throughout the poem. Additionally, the poem carries another central theme or idea: the love for the working class. The persona in the poem expressed that they would prefer to be like those of the working class and “not parlor generals” (15) or “field deserters” (15). Field deserters and parlor generals in any context are not people who would fit into a category with the working class citizens. In fact, a field deserter is simply, a deserter. They do not show a love for their craft, they just drop
While these works by Whitman and Dickinson are different in many ways, a few similarities can be found between the two. The most obvious of these similarities involves the themes and subject matter of the pieces. Both poems present the idea that life is a continuous and constant circle and that no one is ever really dead as long as he is remembered. Each also suggests that Earth is a living thing which all humans are a piece of in both life and death. Another likeness which can be found in these two poems is the imagery used by the authors. Through Whitman's detailed and vivid description, he allows the reader to form a clear picture of the scene in his head. Likewise, Dickinson use of personification causes the poem to come alive in the reader's mind. Indeed, by observing the themes and imagery found in these two poems, one can see that they do contain some similarities.
The men are a vital role in the poem, as the general, uses his military background to help guide and train the “privates” he also distinguishes the role that the men will have to play later on with after the war is done and over with. To help realize this idea it is developed through the speaker, imagery and irony
She is a casualty of the war, not physically, but mentally. She is wounded emotionally by the loss of her loved one. This poem is set out like a nursery rhyme, its message is simple. The message reads that, in her eyes, war has ruined everything that used to be beautiful. War is unnatural and cruel, completely the opposite of nature.
One of my favorite aspects about the poem is how he shows his empathy for the heroes he describes. Instead of telling the reader, “I have empathy for the heroes who rise to confront challenges”, he assumes the role of the heroes in action and describes the events in first person to show the reader examples of courage. One line in the poem reads, “I do not ask the wounded person how he feels, I myself become the wounded person.” When I first read this line, I had difficulties understanding what he meant by “become the wounded”. However, after reading the poem, a couple of times I realized that he means that he can empathize with the heroes. To further show his empathy, he assumes the role of the heroes and narrates the events in first person, while using “I” “me” and “my” instead of “he” or “she”.
It is easy to understand the theme of happiness when the word "merry" is repeated several time throughout the poem. The lightheartedness of the whole memory is accented as she remembers it being "bare and bright" (3). The author shows romanticism as "we" is casually used all throughout the poem. The relationship of the two people is not explained in depth, but one can assume they are quite close as Millay writes, "we lay on a hill-top underneath the moon," (5) among other examples. The theme of compassion is demonstrated when the author remembers, "and we gave her all our money but our subway fares." The characters are receiving happiness and good company, but realize that all actions have an impact on those around
Two of the most prominent poets during the 19th century were Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson. Although both poets are extremely renowned for their widely known poems, they had distinctively different writing styles. Both wrote about different topics and led almost opposite lifestyles. To understand the reason behind the differences in themes of the two writer’s poems I will first compare their backgrounds and motives, then directly examine the similarities and differences in themes and ideas. Lastly, I will analyze the similarities and differences in the writing itself.
In this poem Owen uses defamiliarization to make the reader question the death of a solider at war and how this compares to the death of a person at home. He uses comparisons, metaphors and similes to bring out the defamiliarization.
In order to understand any comparison of the two author's one must first read and comprehend that Emerson's writing are clearly an instruction manual that Whitman adopts in order to become an outstanding poet. Emerson believes we must,
So what it really comes down to is that Whitman and Dickinson both have their distinct topics but they both are trying to convey their idea about either God, self, or death and Human Body, and sexuality they are trying to enlighten ones knowledge of topics and steer ones mind to truth and what they truly believe is right and what is wrong.
...oem ends with a rhetorical question, ‘’why don’t they come?’’, this again shows how the soldier is dependent on others, however, nobody is interested as he is not ‘’whole’’ compared to the other men. This suggests the soldier feels a sense of jealousy. ‘’why don’t they come?’’ is repeated twice, this is effective as it concludes the poem, summarizing the soldiers thoughts, thus making the reader feel sympathetic towards the soldier.