Comparing 'The Artilleryman's Vision And Letter To His Mother'

The Civil War: A Painful Bliss

Former U.S. President Abraham Lincoln famously stated,“ I destroy my enemies when I make them my friends.” Walt Whitman, author and poet of “The Artilleryman's Vision” and the “Letter to his Mother”, ecompasses the themes of the Civil War in his poem and letter. While the poem focuses on the inextinguishable, destructive effects of war, the letter animates war with humanity and compassion. War can separate, but it can also unite, and ultimately no individual’s experience is exactly the same. Therefore, the Civil War is portrayed as a time of confusion and uncertainty. Peace and destruction mesh into a bullet of chaos as they strike at the heart of the reader.

The tone in Whitman’s poem and letter delves deeply into the themes of the two pieces. The poem initially starts ought calm and soothing as the speaker

In “The Artilleryman's Vision”, the speaker calmly lies in bed, for “the wars are over long”. He understands this yet he wakes to a vision. Ironically, the vision that “presses upon” him is that of war. Furthermore, the man acknowledges that he hears the “breath of my infant”, yet the bullets in his vision tune this out. The speaker desperately tries to show that he is able to distinguish between the vision and reality , however he is ultimately unable to do this and lets the vision consume him. However, in his “Letter to his Mother”, Whitman uses irony to show that light can shine through the dark clouds of war. The letter illustrates how a wounded soldier was taken by enemy troops “with other wounded, under a flag of truce.” While many of the enemy troops paid little attention to the hurt soldier, “One middle-aged man, however… came to him in a way he will never forget.” This soldier nurtured, treated, and cheered up the wounded man. Despite being enemies, the letter shows how war can unexpectedly unite men under a greater purpose than just