Walt Whitman's Poetry Essay

Walt Whitman’s poetry was used to send his message to the public. With the country deep in the Civil war, Whitman wished to inform the public of his concerns. By using literary devices such as repetition and symbolism he was able to easily get his message to the people in an easy to read fashion. His message in “For You O Democracy” has a hopeful theme, which he uses to influence the people around him. Whitman uses “For You O Democracy” to influence the people of the past and of today, and to spread his message to everyone.
Whitman uses repetition, tone, and symbolism to enhance the message of his poem. In “For You O Democracy”, Whitman often repeats the phase “I will”. Whitman does this to help move the poem along. When he says, “I will”,

he is referring to what he hopes his poetry will inspire people to do. By repeating this mantra Whitman reinforces the idea in the reader's head of what plans on doing. This would allow Whitman’s readers to see what they could do in order to help the country too. If they follow in Whitman footsteps to the better the country, then maybe they could do so by stopping the Civil war. Quite a few of Walt Whitman’s poems have a tone of sadness, often do to war or death. Whitman changes that in “For You O Democracy”. Whitman gives this poem a strong tone of hopefulness and happiness, Whitman writes, “I will make the most splendid race the sun ever shone upon,/I will make divine magnetic lands,” (lns. 2-3). He uses these lines to refer to one combined country, not north and south. He hopes to influence people to make America a whole nation again. Whitman uses Democracy as a symbol for America. Whitman wants to do everything he can for Democracy, his country. He does not mean for the actual government form democracy takes, but the kind of country it makes. To prove he wants the war to end and the north and south to be one again, Whitman says, For you these from me, O Democracy, to serve you ma femme!/For you, for you I am trilling these songs” (10-11). Whitman dedicates the poem to Democracy because he wants the people to know it is his message to them how America should be.
Unlike some of his other poems that focus on war and death, Whitman’s “For You O Democracy” has a happier theme to it.

Whitman uses this poem to show was America is supposed to be like. He wants the country to be at peace, not just with itself, but with the countries around it,“Come, I will make the continent indissoluble,” (1). Whitman uses this line as a reference to the peace he wished America had. America was originally created with the purpose of freedom and happiness. The American people wanted the country to be a melting pot where everyone was accepted. Now, during the Civil War, everyone is fighting and the country is divided. With the Civil war dividing the nation, Whitman wished that everyone could get along. In reference to the separation of the nation Whitman says,“I will plant companionship thick as trees along all the rivers of America” (6). In order to return democracy and peace to America everyone needs to get along. Whitman wanted the country to be filled with people who care about each other and want to prosper together, “I will make inseparable cities with their arms about each other’s necks,/By the love of comrades,” (7-8). Whitman wanted to make the country what it once was, an open place where people could live freely, by

others.
During the Civil war everyone was separated and tensions were high. Whitman’s poetry was obviously heavily influenced by the situation around him. Even without directly stating it “For You O Democracy” is still about the civil war. Whitman wanted to send his message to everyone around him that they should try to stop the war and promote camaraderie between the north and the south. The poem’s message is still applicable today. Even though the nation is not literally divided, north and south, the country still disagrees on many issues. People today can read “For You O Democracy” and apply it to their everyday lives. Not everyone is going to get along, but in order to better the country people need to stand together.
By using different literary devices Walt Whitman is able to easily his message to his readers. His hope to influence the people around him to change the state of the country are displayed in “For You O Democracy”. Even with the country at peace today the poem is still applicable to everyday life. Whitman was able to use “For You O Democracy” to influence people past and present by spreading his message through poetry.