Out Of The Cradle Endlessly Rocking: Poem Analysis

In Walt Whitman’s poem “Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking,” we see the carefree barefooted little boy develop an attachment to two mated birds he has been observing, until one day, there is only one; “Nor ever appear’d again” (Line 45). Whitman uses a type of personification when he gives the solitary bird a voice; “…I wait till you blow my mate to me” (Line 54). The author alluding to the empathy that the little boy feels to the now solitary bird; “…the meanings which I of all men know” (Line 60). The aria mentioned in the poem has revealed to the boy what sorrow is, and yet life continues on “…strange tears down the cheeks coursing” (Line 139) and “All else continuing” (Line 131). The boy has left his childhood behind and becomes an adult,

He does this out of his own free will that his freedom grants him, he willing becomes servant to the wounded and dying; “to my wounded I go “(Line 26). Whitman utilizes the imagery of “…priceless blood reddens the grass” (Line28) and “a wound in the side, deep, deep” (Line 50) as biblical allusions to the scourging, crucifixion and death of Christ, the sacrificial offering that the soldiers are making for what they believe to be right. Whitman fills this poem with empathy towards the brave soldiers of both sides that fight for their country; “…to die for you, if that would save you” (Line 38). The imagery of blood, rags and bandages conveys suffering as much as it does service to the wounded. Both of Whitman’s poems here mentioned, show a great amount of empathy and the overall theme is the loss of life, death. The narrators in both poems have the freedom to choose what they will do with the experience. The boy matures into a man, then into a poet, to voice all of these “songs” that he is aware of and the old man chooses to be compassionate and bring comfort to the