3A. Whitman: "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd" (1865)

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Walt Whitman (1819-1892).
Born on Long Island, New York; died in Camden, New Jersey.

In 1855, Walt Whitman was 36 when he published the first edition of his lifework, Leaves of Grass.

On November 6, 1860, Abraham Lincoln was elected

On April 12, 1861, the Confederates attacked Fort Sumter and the active phase of the Civil War began.

In 1862, Whitman’s brother was wounded in the Battle of Fredericksburg. Whitman went to console him in a hospital in Washington, D.C. He ended up spending three years as volunteer nurse, making over 600 hospital visits and seeing between 80,000 and 100,000 soldiers (see “The Wound-Dresser” and Specimen Days).

On April 9, 1865, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his troops to Union general Ulysses S. Grant.

On April 14 (Good Friday), John Wilkes Booth shot Abraham Lincoln.

In May 1865, Whitman published Drum-Taps.

In the fall of 1865, Whitman published “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d” in a section of the book titled “Memories of President Lincoln”

How shall I warble . . .?

I noticed that some verses are short, while others are long. The meaning of this, I am not sure.

    Question: What is the significance of the extreme variations in form in Whitman’s poem? Consider line length, stanza length, meter, rhyme . . .

    Consider: Free verse

Song of the bleeding throat?

In just the fourth stanza it reads, “Solitary the thrush,[/] the hermit withdrawn to himself avoiding the settlements,[/] sings by himself a song.[/] Song of the bleeding throat,[/] death’s outlet song of life, (for well dear brother I know,[/] if thou wast not granted to sing thou would’st surely die)” (Whitman, lines 20-25).

This quote starts out with a song being sung, but next thing you know, it is a “song of the bleeding throat.” The entirety of the poem was hard for me to understand, especially since I do not read much poetry. Most of what I took away from this poem was feelings of darkness – not what one may think a poem should be. There would be a line or two that would make me believe that a lighter part of the poem was coming, but it then would turn out to be just as dark as before.

    Question: Should a poem evoke feelings of darkness? What is the purpose of poetry?

Lilac and star and bird

. . . the bird which permeates different parts of the poem, constantly performing and singing, contrasts with the symbolism of the lilacs which represent loss, and death. The connections between these concepts and experiences is even addressed in the final lines by the narrator, stating that his soul essentially grew in and around the surrounding concepts, interlacing them; “Lilac and star and bird twined with the chant of my soul” (Whitman).

    Question: What is the significance of the lilac, the star, and the thrush in this poem and the relationship between personal remembrance, sensual experience, general observations, poetry, insight, and wisdom?

    Consider: the “trinity” referred to in the first stanza; how the relationship between signifier and signified evolves over the course of the poem. Does the "thought of him I love" become the song of the thrush?

Lovely and soothing death

The poem by Walt Whitman was something I had to read a couple of times through to grasp. After a little contextual research, I discovered that Whitman wrote this poem as a eulogy for Abraham Lincoln. More than that, though, Whitman speaks on the inevitability of death and the comfort that comes with knowing eventually, you will die.

Come lovely and soothing death,

Undulate round the world, serenely arriving, arriving,

In the day, in the night, to all, to each,

Sooner or later delicate death.

Here, the speaker uses words like "lovely" and "soothing" to paint death as something beautiful. Death is constantly around, "In the day, in the night, to all, to each." Because of death's omnipresence, the speaker expresses that death is a natural part of life that will happen to everyone. A central theme in this poem is that rather than fearing death, we should embrace it as a part of our journey.

    Question: Why might Whitman encourage readers to celebrate death?

Stanza Focal Points:

1. The "trinity" (lilac, star, and “Thought of him I love [Lincoln]”
2. fallen star (Lincoln; venus: the "evening star")
3. lilacs (natural, perennial beauty)
4. the songbird (a thrush)
5. journey of Lincoln’s coffin through the countryside between Washington, D.C. and Lincoln's burial place in Springfield, Missouri
6. journey of Lincoln’s coffin through the cities between Washington and Springfield
7. mourning Lincoln and all who died in the War
8. the star falls/is enveloped by the darkness (remembrance of a premonition of Lincoln's death)
9. the songbird calls
10. a song (breath/poem) as tribute
11. solace for the living: the beauty of the countryside
12. solace for the living: the beauty of the cities
13. the star departs; the song remains
14. an ode to death (which brings release to those who suffer)
15. who suffers? what is their solace?
16. "I leave them" (grieve/process/commemorate)