The Significance Of Poetry During The Civil War

Poetry can elicit various emotions from the reader, and not everyone will find the same meanings to the poems. For example The Road Not Taken by Robert Frost, The Sky is low, The Clouds are Mean by Emily Dickinson, and Harlem Night Song by Langston Hughes all have different themes. Of the three my favorite is The Road Not Taken because it offers its audience a chance to make life choices.

The American Civil War was a time of proliferation for poetry. Walt Whitman, one oft the biggest exponents of said literary importance, captures the essence of war in his poems. “Beat! Beat! Drums!”

Poetry is considered to be a representational text in which one explores ideas by using symbols. Poetry can be interpreted many different ways and is even harder to interpret when the original author has come and gone. Poetry is an incredible form of literature because the way it has the ability to use the reader as part of its own power. In other words, poetry uses the feelings and past experiences of the reader to interpret things differently from one to another, sometimes not even by choice of the author. Two famous poets come to mind to anybody who has ever been in an English class, Robert Frost and E.E. Cummings. Both of these poets have had numerous famous pieces due to the fact that they both

Following reconstruction after the Civil War, the literary movement of realism gained popularity. Therefore, many works of literature during the late 1800s used realism as a key component. Two prominent pieces that exemplify this during this time period are “Daisy Miller” by Henry James and “The Yellow Wall-Paper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Both of these works have elements of realism, however; “The Yellow Wall-Paper” is more effective in utilizing elements of realism than “Daisy Miller”.

Arising in the heart of Harlem, New York throughout the early to mid 1900 's, the Harlem Renaissance was a movement in which African Americans took initiative towards establishing a cultural identity. The Harlem Renaissance marked the first time in which white America began to develop an interest in the African American race and heritage. The movement was declared as the most crucial factors towards the attainment of the American Dream by African Americans. Aspects of African American heritage were portrayed mainly throughout the visual arts, such as: art, theater, music, and literature. One of the most influential arts throughout the movement was poetry. Poems written throughout the Harlem Renaissance influenced the African American race to attain the American Dream by encouraging them to stand up and fight for the social and economic equality they deserved.

History can reflect through poems, the different artwork is able to resemble different stories, war being a famous and well known category. Many poems are written about World War II, Kenneth Slessor writes many of his poems from him own perspective of what he acknowledged. Social and cultural poems about war can discuss the heroism and victory of soldiers, however in the poem Beach Burial Kenneth Slessor does not point out either of these.

Poems challenge your mind to think differently and broaden your perspective on the world. The common misinterpretation of poetry is that it is "boring" and "detrimental", poetry is open to interpretation. By teaching children poetry, they can read poems written by others, from their point of view. This sheds light on a unique viewpoint, benefiting their level of creativity.

Poetry can help alleviate this saddened feeling. It can help us to feel happier in times of great depression and stress. Some poems however strike the heart of war and the horrors related to it. The poets can express their points of view on war, conscriptions or the propagandas in a dark manner and create a gloomy atmosphere. One of these poems is part of David Lockyer’s War Limericks.

As a writer it is your job to make sure whatever you are writing makes sense and is clear. If all your ideas are jumbled up, it can lead the reader to a different conclusion then the idea you intended. If you are not clear the meaning of your writing piece will change completely.

These poems bring out the feelings desire to be free to chase their dreams that write about as well. There are many poems that display thoughts of death and dying. Some of the themes were being brought on by the war, while others are themes were brought on by the feelings of oppression and racism. The biggest theme of them all is the fact we are American, whether we are black or white, Jamaican, German, or French descent, we are American.

Poems are the most simplistic way to express one’s feelings and beliefs through writing. Poets mostly try express love, loss, death, some may speak from their own experience or for the sake of their characters who tend to be quite sophisticated. They tend to write about these 3 topics commonly due to the fact that practically everyone has experienced this sort of emotion. Poetry has existed since man could write, to Aristotle, to Victorian times and now to the present day where it is internationally used. Poems are now used to promote movements for the benefit of the world, varying from poverty to the sustainability of the environment; of which most have been successful due to poetry being able to connect with the reader, even if they are not in the same situation. However they are still able to feel what their character is feeling and what state of mind they are in. Poems also tend to be short so that the reader does not loose concentration nor loose the power of the poem, but instead the poet chooses to write to a short limithowever they choose their words carefully so that the reader will be intrigued and contemplated the whole way through the poem however leave the poembeing fascinated.

A poem which I have recently read is: "Dulce Et Decorum Est" by Wilfred Owen. The main point Wilfred Owen tries to convey in this poem is the sheer horror of war. Owen uses many techniques to show his feelings, some of which I'll be exploring.

My poem is about the battles in the Civil War and the hardships they caused. My poem is written by a man in the South who joins the Union which is run by Abraham Lincoln. The evidence of that is stated in stanzas one and two, “We are a country divided, and I am from the South. With Whom am I sided? Before this war we had routh.” The man feels like he made a good choice to go to the Union because he thinks slavery is wrong, and the Union is fighting to end slavery as shown in this passage.”The country must stay together for good then south will not stray, will not give it away, until slavery ends as it should.” The theme of my poem is, good things can come from hardships. The example of that in my poem is, “Gettysburg was horror and death.

People such as farmers to the Bride and Groom, everyone was affected. Walt Whitman uses imagery, rhythm, and rhyme to explore the impact of war in many different ways. Whitman crafts the rhythm to make it seem as its the sounds of life, is the main reason why. Another reason why is because how he uses his imagery. It is a very difficult task to read this poem, and imagine a picture in your head revolving around the Civil War.

Throughout history American poems have been analyzed for what they truly mean. Many people use their analysis to show others or find out for themselves what a poem means. There are even writers who's only job is to completely analyze a poem down to every single word. Sometimes an analysis can even help someone else write a poem. There are a lot of different genres of poems including: allegory; epic; fable; satire; tragedy; etc. However, sometimes poems of two genres can mash together. Meaning a poem could be tragic but also epic such as a poem written about a magical dragon who's mother dies. And two poems may be more alike or different than first thought. A great example of this happening is within the poems Pied Beauty by Gerard Manley Hopkins and Design by Robert Frost.