As the poem unravels, though, Whitman's attitude toward death appears to sway more towards the positive. This has a very obvious example in the song of the thrush. The song begins by saying "Come lovely and soothing death." This shows that he has reached some sort of acceptance of death. This is shown through the song, which ends with him saying "I float this carol with joy, with joy to thee O death." His feelings at this point have gone completely full circle from mourning and sorrow to joy and glorification. The form Whitman uses in his poetry functions to help develop the subject. His most outstanding literary device in this poem would most clearly be the symbolism of the thrush as a positive manifestation of Death (or the Grim Reaper). The thrush has all of the opposite characteristics of Death, which exemplifies Whitman's abstract views on death. He also uses symbolism in the cases of the fallen star (Lincoln) and the lilac (earthly love). On smaller scale, he uses personification when he says phrases like ".the lilac with mastering odor holds me." Clearly a lilac has no physical holding power over a human being, so he is speaking metaphorically. Going back to the beginning of the poem, when Whitman was still in a state of sorrow, the repetition in the second and sixth stanzas are used to help develop his feelings. In the first instance, to show almost a crying effect to his words, and in the latter the listing is similar to the lines of people watching the president's coffin pass by them through the streets. These styles, when used in conjunction with Whitman's trademark free-verse, help to create Whitman's ability to accurately portray his feelings on a subject in words.

             Whitman wrote several other pieces about death and it's surrounding aspects, but not until his volume entitled "Whispers of Heavenly Death" did he focus on it so intently. The title poem of the collection, although short, may be seen to hold the most meaning.