Walt Whitman and Drumtaps Essays

"Reconciliation" is a poem that was meant to open the eyes of the reader to the effects the war had after it was over. It is written through the eyes of a dead soldier who has seen what the war has done. This soldier has the blood of many men on his hands and will always remember the death. Where "Editha" showed the significance of war in relation to a person's love of their country, "Reconciliation" tells in a few strong lines, the somber mood of a country that has lost many lives. Whitman writes, "For my enemy is dead, a man divine as myself is dead"(Whitman 129). It is not said what side this "divine" man fought for but it shows that no matter what side the men fought on they were fighting for what

the notion of seeing your brothers die in front of your bare eyes, and not be able to do anything to save them. My poems ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ and ‘Dulce Et Decorm Est’ explains the conflict of life bereft of war, as opposed to that involved in it, they are also poems that i wrote from first hand experiences. ‘Anthem for Doomed Youth’ is a poem that describes the inevitable mass killing of soldiers at war whilst ‘Dulce Et Decorum Est’ brings to life the reality of combat in war - the physical and emotional state soldiers find themselves in before, during and immediately after a sudden gas attack. Both these poems will paint a vivid image how and what the soldiers had to go through every day, and make you all understand how the war is from the perspective of a solider that has been through gas attacks, whaling shells, gun shots, to see your brothers go to sleep and never wake up, and the struggles men have to go through after the war, assuming that they do

“War is hell, but that’s not the half of it, because war is also mystery and terror and adventure and courage and discovery and holiness and pity and despair and longing and love. War is nasty; war is fun. War is thrilling; war is drudgery. War makes you a man; war makes you dead.” (80)

Wars are often glorified in tone to give praise and respect for those on the battlefields. There is an overall understanding that there are sacrifices needed in order to accomplish a larger goal. Excluded from this understanding is the realization that the effects of war

Peace Through Self-Reliance and Carpe Diem Walt Whitman, a democratic poet, celebrated himself and his connection with the world by writing “Song of Myself” in 1855. According to Eric Forsythe, “Throughout the poem, Whitman probes the question of how large the new democratic self can become before it dissipates into contradiction and fragmentation, and each time he seems to reach the limit, he dilates even more” (Forsythe). The poem shaped the idea of what it meant to be an American, by bringing citizens together. It also foreshadowed the Civil War, which began in 1861, through a symbol of grass. In “Song of Myself,” Whitman’s themes of individualism and carpe diem developed from the transcendentalist movement.

“War is hell, but that’s not the half of it, because war is also mystery and terror and adventure and courage and discovery and holiness and pity and despair and longing and love. War is nasty; war is fun. War is thrilling; war is drudgery. War makes you a man; war makes you dead.” —O’Brien, page 76

War is a horrible thing that comes out of hatred in people’s hearts and produces tragedy around it. War comes and goes but in its path are people who have to suffer through the hardships it brings. Two of the most notable aspects of war is that war is a fight for power and that produces loss of family.

O’Brien Journal I consider myself a lucky person because I never had the chance to live a real war events. I learned in school about wars involving my country, I read many books about wars, I watched many movies about wars, but I never have experienced the emotions of war. Anyway, there have been wars since the beginning of the world and continues to exist today. In my family there are few members who have experienced the horrors of war and even my parents told me about the negative effects of war seen through the eyes of children. I understood how bad war can bring both to a human life and in the life of a nation. But most of the time, I thought only the negative effects of war in terms of economic, social, loss of lives, and less on the

Whitman’s point throughout the story is that in war there is more suffering than there is glory or bravery. This can be seen in the first section of this poem:

War is a conflict between two nations, states, or different groups. During this conflict many people will fall victim to death; kids will be traumatized, mothers will see their children leave and never comeback. All of these tragic scenarios will occur because leaders of nations or groups have a feeling of aversion between each other. Soldiers train together and gain friendships with each other, later to witness their allies die in combat. In. "All Quiet..." When returning home soldiers may experience PTSD, even leaving war they'll be forever tortured by war.

In the next lines, Whitman makes the assertion that both soldiers vividly know the price of war. He describes it as “hot contention of opposing fronts”, “the long maneuver”, and “red battles with their slaughter”. These observations about battle illustrate that both soldiers have seen the difficulty of the fight and how both sides try to out strategize the other. The red battles of slaughter, illustrate the death toll that those strategies and contentious battles have created.

The Uncomfortable Truths About War The uncomfortable truths that people must confront when dealing with war is endless. War not only affects the troops that are fighting but it affects the people trying to make a living in that area. The popular war, World War Two caused the German industry to collapse, there were bombings and housing stocks decreased. The victims of war can be affected physically and mentally by all the tragedies they face, whether they be fighting in the war or just living through it. The truths that come with war can be unbearable and tragic to nations but they cannot be avoided. These uncomfortable truths that war brings about do not only affect the country but also the people themselves.

Walt Whitman was born in 1819, a second son to a housebuilder and one of 9 children. He worked as a printer at an early age, this is where he became enamored with the written word. Working as a printer in New York until a fire devastated the printing section of the city he was self-taught reading the works of Homer, Dante and the Bible. Whitman worked as a teacher for several years before becoming a journalist, full-time and establishing the paper The Long Islander. He worked as an editor for several papers before moving to New Orleans to become the editor of The Crescent where he first experienced the reality of the slave trade. Returning to his hometown of Brooklyn in Long Island he founded the newspaper the Brooklyn Freeman and continued

The Red Badge of Courage War is a reality many people must face every day. War can bring out the best in people, and unfortunately the worst. This pit of war can render people inescapable and powerless. This pit of war affects the decisions people make, and this horrid pit torture and blind the mind to see life in the true colors of black and white.

Walt Whitman Mini Research Paper Walter “Walt” Whitman, also known as “the father of free verse,” is one of the most influential writers in American history. Whitman was born, on May 31, 1819, in Long Island, New York. His family settled in North America in the first half of the 17th century. His father and mother, Walter Whitman Sr. and Louisa Van Velsor, got married on June 9, 1816. Together, they had nine children. Whitman's father was of English descent and his mother was Dutch; this ancestry was typical of the region. They were poor farmers with meager amounts of formal education.