Transcript Walt Whitman - 4J Blog Server

Abraham
Lincoln and the
Civil War
Crafting
the
American
Ideal
Thesis
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In his poem “When
Lilacs Last in the
Dooryard Bloom’d,” Walt
Whitman expresses his
idealistic view of
American patriotism and
spirit through his
symbolism of the lilac,
star, and bird, and his
celebration of Abraham
Lincoln and the soldiers
of the Civil War.
Walt Whitman
 Born May 31st, 1819, near
Huntington, Long Island.
 Worked as a printer and
editor from 1830 to 1861.
 Worked as a clerk and
made frequent visits to
hospitals during the
duration of the Civil War.
 Issued Drum Taps and
Sequel in September of
1865, which contained
“When Lilacs…Bloom’d.”
 Whitman was disabled in
1873 from a paralytic
stroke, and spent his last
days on Mickle Street in
Camden, NJ.
 Dies March 26, 1892, at 72,
in Camden.
Portrait from
an 1854
engraving by
Samuel
Hollyer
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 “Honest Abe”
Abraham Lincoln and the
Civil War Era
Born February 12, 1809, in
Kentucky.
Union hospitals during the
Civil War
He led the Union in the
Civil War, and is arguably
considered the most
compassionate and
legendary president in
U.S. history.
He was assassinated on
April 14th, 1865, by John
Wilkes Booth.
Abraham Lincoln
(February 12, 1809
– April 15, 1865)
“Preserving the Union”
Patriotism, George Whitman, and Democracy
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George Washington
Whitman, Library of Congress
Though Walt Whitman never got
closer than the hospitals in
Washington, D.C. to the fighting, his
brother George served with the 51st
New York for nearly four years.
He was a sergeant major and a
keen, insightful soldier, who kept
clear, detailed war diaries.
Despite being captured in 1864 at
Poplar Grove Church, VA, George
survived the war and unsuccessfully
attempted to enlist in Regular Army
antebellum.
To Walt, George represented the
epitome of patriotism and
considered him an excellent
example of a true American
determined to preserve
democracy.
“When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d”
 Written
in 1865, as a tribute to Abraham
Lincoln after his assassination by John
Wilkes Booth.
 Considered a “great elegy on universal
death and national healing, using the
eternal images of lilac, star and thrush”
(Poet).
 Whitman had an intense admiration for
the President, and his love for the leader
of the Union inspired this elegy along with
the more popular dirge known as “O
Captain, My Captain.”
Examples of Symbolism
Evidence
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“the great star drooped early in the western
sky in the night” (1.2)
“the star my departing comrade holds and
detains me” (9.5)
“lilac-bush tall-growing with heart-shaped
leaves of rich green, / With many a pointed
blossom rising delicate” (2.2-3)
“I leave thee lilac with heart-shaped leaves”
(16.9)
“shy and hidden bird is warbling a song” (4.2)
“voice of my spirit tallied the song of the bird”
(14.27)
Red = key subject
Blue = Key descriptions
Evidence
Examples of Celebratory
Language
“Comrades mine and I in the midst, and
their memory ever to keep, for the dead I
loved so well” (16.19)
 “large sweet soul that has gone” (10.2)
 “O powerful western fallen star!” (2.1)
 “I give you my sprig of lilac” (6.13)
 “a verse for him I love” (14.21)
 “My own Manhattan with spires, and the
sparkling and hurrying tides” (12.2)
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Red = key subject
Blue = Key descriptions
Conclusion
 Walt
Whitman uses
the vivid symbolism
of the lilac, thrush,
and the star to
celebrate the
American ideal as
inspired by
Abraham Lincoln
and the patriots of
the Civil War, who
embody freedom,
democracy, and
the love of the
Union.
He was essentially a
visionary, truly the man Ezra
Pound called “America’s
poet.” To me, he held the
shining soul of America in
his marvelous fingers – wild,
lusty, joyous, and alive,
Whitman represents the
original spirit of America. He
wrote America and her
children as they were
supposed to be written:
visionaries of freedom and
democracy, with a deep
love for all things alive.
Three Civil War Poems:
 Come
Up From the Fields Father
p15
- Calvary Crossing a Ford page 10
- Bivouac on a Mountain Side page 10
“His Beard Full of Butterflies”
“Here is its first poet. The lifethrob of this gigantic melting
pot of a nation-to-be is to be
given its first genuine voice…
the sheer certainty of this
voice can still astound us –
the passage of time has done
nothing to dull it… Such is the
spell he casts on us that we
feel tempted to say yes, to
suspend disbelief in spite of
ourselves and all the
evidence… Reading him is
like meeting him.”
Philip Callow: Foreword to
From Noon to Starry Night
Wise Words of Whitman
“This is what you shall do: Love the earth and sun and the
animals, despite riches, give alms to everyone that asks,
stand up for the stupid and crazy, devote your income and
labor to others, hate tyrants, argue not concerning God,
have patience and indulgence towards the people, take
off your hat to nothing known or unknown, or to any man or
number of men – go freely with powerful uneducated
persons, and with the young, and with the mothers of
families – re-examine all you have been told in school or
church or in any book, and dismiss whatever insults your
own soul; and your very flesh shall be a great poem, and
have the richest fluency, not only in its words but in the silent
lines of its lips and face, and between the lashes of your
eyes, and in every motion and joint of your body.”
 Walt Whitman
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From the Preface to Leaves of Grass, 1855
Bibliography
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"'I Am Well and Hearty' - Walt Whitman's Brother in the
Civil War." History Net Where History Comes Alive
World US History Online I Am Well and Hearty Walt
Whitmans Brother in the Civil War Comments. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2012.
"Poet of the Nation." : Revising Himself: Walt Whitman and
Leaves of Grass (American Treasures Exhibition,
Library of Congress). N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Dec. 2012.
"President Abraham Lincoln Timeline16th President of the
United States." Abraham Lincoln. N.p., n.d. Web. 11
Dec. 2012.
"Walt Whitman." - Poets.org. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Dec. 2012.
"The Walt Whitman House on Mickle Street." The Walt
Whitman House on Mickle Street. N.p., n.d. Web. 09
Dec. 2012.