Whitman

A detailed Summary of Whitman

The Sounds of War When a country is at war it is the common people who suffer. In Walt Whitman's poem, "Beat! Beat! Drums," the speaker signifies the sounds of war. The speaker, listening to the banging of war drums and shrill sounds of bugles, relates the interruption these war sounds have on the harmony of people's lives. Whitman uses the sounds of drums as an audible image to show its effects on the common people. Whitman uses two types of imagery to express the cold indirect and direct effects of war. Whitman using the loud banging of drums and the blows of bugles creates a war atmosphere throughout the whole poem. He brings in the sounds of war at the beginning and end of every section to ensure the reader has a feeling that the drums are never ending. For example, Whitman starts the first section with: "Beat! beat! drums - blow bugles blow", and ends the first section with a feeling that the drums are only getting louder: "So fierce you whirr and pound you drums - so shrill you bugles blow. Whitman writes of how the war is felt on two different levels: one as a community, and the other as personal. Using imagery, the sounds travel "through the windows-through doors-burst like a ruthless force," as if the drums and bugles are

shattering through the homes of the common people. In the first section Whitman shows of how the sounds of war effect the personal lives of the common people. Whitman uses imagery to show how the drums and bugles interrupt everyday life. This is evident in the lines: "Into the solemn church, and scatter the congregation Into the school where the scholar is studying; Leave not the bridegroom quiet-no happiness must he have with his bride, Nor the peaceful farmer any peace, ploughing his field or gathering his grain," These four lines expressed by Whitman have an underlying meaning in each image he presents. Whitman uses the image of a "solemn church" to show how people must go through each day, with an empty feeling in their souls, knowing their lives' are at risk. Using the image of a "school" being disrupted; Whitman is able to express the idea that during a time of war no education is able to take place. His underlying meaning, having no education in a child's life only leads to an uneducated group of people in the future. Again Whitman is able to create an image of how war effects peoples' lives both directly and indirectly. "Leave not the bridegroom quiet- no happiness must he have with his bride," Whitman uses the image of a "bridegroom" leaving his wife to show how young men during this time are called off to duty to defend their country or side. The underlying meaning of this is that new families are unable to be started because of the separation of husbands and wives. "Nor the peaceful farmer any peace," Whitman uses the image of a farmer to express the idea that no food will be grown because of war taking place. People's everyday work life is effected by this

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Approximate Word count = 1132
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)

Category: English