The Poetry and Prose of Walt Whitman and James M. McPherson

In every action they contact so many a(prenominal) new forms of death, see so many frightful and novel kinds of mutilation?and appreciate so exceedingly their deliverance from destruction, that their dread of incurring the like fearful perils unnerves them for separately succeeding conflict."

In Walt Whitman's (1982) Poetry and Prose, we see that Whitman provides a a great deal more graphic and realistic presentation of life in his poetry than most of his contemporaries. Whitman experienced the carnage and trauma of well-be puddled War soldiers firsthand on his routine and numerous visits to hospitals for the maimed in Washington, D.C. Whitman's sense of loss, waste, and the dehumanizing impact of combat is clearly unmixed in his poetry. Like McPherson, Whitman's work demonstrates that war is far from a noble or glorious pursuit. In Reconciliation, we see his intricate sense of empathy that no human should have to die for such a senseless reason as br separate rubbish against brother, "For my enemy is dead, a man divine as myself is dead," (Whitman 1982).

Whitman's other poems are highly graphic, critical, and exhibit a sense of osteal humanity regarding the Civil War and its combat victims. In barrelful Taps Whitman (1982) illustrates how traumatic the Civil War and its costs were on the entire nation. He focuses on Manhattan's rapid response to

its call for duty when war bust out, "From the houses then, and the workshops, and through all the doorways, / Leapt they tumultuous and lo! Manhattan arming.

" In Bivouac on a Mountain Side, Whitman (1982) describes the site of advancing armies that must have been a recurrent one on the landscape for many during the Civil War, "The shadowy forms of men and horses, / looking, large-sized, flickering." In duck! Beat! Drums!, Whitman (1982) addresses how the misery and sanatorium of the Civil War was a delay that impacted all aspects and segments of society, not just the soldier on the battlefield: "Leave not the bridegroom quiet no happiness must he have now with his bride; / Nor the sedate farmer any peace, plowing his field or assemblage his grain; / So fierce you whirr and pound, you drums so knifelike you bugles blow."

Whitman, W. (1982). Walt Whitman: Poetry and Prose. New York, NY: Library of America.

In conclusion, we can see that both McPherson and Whitman make the case that war is hell, a hell that not only directed impacted the lives of soldiers but in addition the lives of all Americans. Nevertheless, both of their writings exhibit a trusted empathetic sadness over all of the loss associated with
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