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The Artilleryman's Vision, By Walt Whitman

1264 Words6 Pages

Nineteenth century poet Walt Whitman lived and wrote in a fascinating time period and changed the literary world, all while experiencing a unique American war first hand. A humanitarian as well as a writer, Whitman volunteered as a nurse during the Civil War where he experienced the horrors of mortality, yet felt spiritually content afterwards as well. His frequent interactions with the wounded and sick would further alter his poetry and life, in a way where he would be able to cope with his time spent among the battle. Traumatized by the aftermath of the brutal war, Whitman used his writing as a reflection of his mind and life as his involvement in both the depravity and nobility of human existence absorbed into every aspect of his spirit. …show more content…

Whitman starts off his poem with a peaceful tone to it, using words like “slumbering”, “stillness”, and “infant” to describe the serenity and trance the narrator is in (Source 2). However, there is a shift of mood four lines into the poem; the narrator begins to have flashbacks from the horrific battles. Whitman creates illustrations of the chaos of war, using phrases such as “cashing and smoking”, “suffocating smoke”, and “devilish exultation” to describe the hellish experiences the narrator is haunted by (Source 2). Whitman’s diction and stylistic choices also detail an ironic response to the tragedy of war. In line nineteen, he uses a parenthetical statement “(some special success)” to mock the applause from the soldiers for slaughtering their enemies. This use of irony evokes a form of resentment towards the war from the narrator, as he looks back on his experiences and realizes how barbaric war truly is. “The Artilleryman’s Vision” is a short reflection, albeit powerful, to the mind of Whitman himself. Although Whitman never particularly went into battle, his contact with the injuries and deaths of those who did, especially his own brother, took a personalized toll on him. With this effect, Whitman’s poem, and many others, became a way to turn the nightmare he lived through into something

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“In fantasy unreal, the skirmishers begin,” Walt Whitman states in “The Artilleryman’s Vision.” Walt Whitman is describing what happened during the Civil War. He described it like “suffocating smoke,” and, “warning s-s-t of the rifles. In “The Artilleryman’s Vision”, Walt Whitman uses imagery and tone to make it feel like you are living the war. Whitman starts the poem with the narrator in his room with his wife and his infant.

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Now in the extraordinary poem “The Artilleryman’s Vision” Walt Whitman gives vivid first point of view descriptions as how the soldiers described the battlefield. The tone of this poem is a very astringent tone as the soldier describes how the battlefields is full of horrific scenes such as the “suffocating white smoke

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One of the things that happened in World War I that changed poets opinion on war was the mass death that occurred in the war. In total the casualties add up to about 37 million. That is more than half of the soldiers that were mobilized. The total number of deaths shows how much pain there was for so many people when they found their loved ones to be dead. That had to impact a lot of people all over and poets must've seen how badly War had hurt not only soldiers but everyone.

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Walt Whitman paints a picture to me of a war scene with men being sent to war, he gives these elements details and puts a picture in your head. The tone or emotion of the poem is his response to the

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A month prior to his death his poem “A Soldier’s Letter” was published, and it is perhaps his most famous. Within this poem he uses a multitude of words that have positive connotations toward beauty and serenity, for example: “sunlight”, “lily”, “rose”, and “ivory”. All of these words are not ideas you would expect a soldier would write about during something as ugly and as tragic as war. To further this point, starting from its 19th line the poem is as follows, “War is not quite so hard as you poor townspeople think ; We have plenty of food to eat, and a good, warm blanket at night…”

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Another example that Whitman uses to develop this theme is when he describes the story of the old artillerist, with the sights and sounds of the battlefield. Whitman is saying

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The speaker of Whitman’s poem demands that the drums and bugles “burst like a ruthless force, / Into the solemn church, and scatter the congregation,” and play “Over the traffic of cities.” This contrasts the third stanza where he requests that “even the trestles shake the dead where they lie awaiting the hearses, / So strong you thump O terrible drums--so loud you bugles blow.” The first two stanzas express the side of Whitman that knows war is necessary while the final stanza conveys how war is extremely disruptive and will bring life to a halt. He wants the Civil War to stop everything and cause chaos for the ultimate good, but realizes that there will be a great deal of death and destruction. Writing about the third stanza, Oliver determines, “the poet is now sarcastic, urging the drums and bugles to cover the sounds of men dying.”

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It is gruesome and full of terror. Throughout the poem, the speaker describes many sights he had seen in war. The most horrific sight is lines 14 to 23 which was when he saw a man drown and die before him. “He plunges at me, guttering, choking, drowning... And watch the white eyes writhing in his face… If you could hear, at every jolt, the blood/Come gargling from the froth-corrupted lungs,” After, the speaker goes on to say that they don’t understand how a person could tell their children about war with such enthusiasm when they have seen men die before their eyes, gas bombs being thrown at

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Walt Whitman has shaped the face of American Poetry as his poetry has set many precedents for over-satisfactory poetry. Whitman exposes many American jobs, like boatman, mechanic, shoemaker etc. Through exploring these working classes, he describes their daily lives and what they do in their job. By using jobs, he ends every verse with the act of them singing. He invokes a thought of importance of music, in specific singing for all Americans.

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Sardonically, the poet means exactly the opposite. The purpose of his poem is to warn the government and those who make war that men are dying and for what reason. In addition, war is not honorable and noble. It is death and maiming. In the poem, a flashback approach is used.

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The poem aims to glorify soldiers and certain aspects of war, it goes on to prove that in reality there really isn 't good vs bad on the battlefield, it 's just a man who "sees his children smile at him, he hears the bugle call, And only death can stop him now—he 's fighting for them all.", and this is our hidden meaning.

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Within the context of recent history, Wilfred Owen is often considered the greatest writer of modern British war poetry. Composing the vast majority of his poems in a one-year time span, Owen found inspiration from his personal experiences fighting in World War I and fellow poets joining in the fight around him. Born in 1893, Owen grew up the oldest of four children, enjoying a particularly close relationship with his mother while his father remained distant. Owen graduated from Shrewsbury Technical School at age eighteen. Afterwards, Owen took numerous odd jobs throughout Europe, seemingly at a loss for his purpose in life.

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In this grand poem, Whitman glorifies the unity of all people and life. He embraces the geographical diversity as well as the diversity of culture, work, as well as sexuality or beliefs. Whitman’s influence sets American dreams of freedom, independence, and self-fulfillment, and changes them for larger spiritual meaning. Whitman appreciates hard work as well as being simple and non-egotistical. His major ideas are things such as soul, good health, as well as the love of nature.

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