whitman

Carisa Arndt
War Poetry



Beat! Beat! Drums!

Whitman’s poem, written at the outbreak of the American Civil War, was originally published to rouse the Union in its war against the Confederacy. It later served as a realistic record of the war.
Antiwar sentiment us illustrated in this poem, a feeling many of us are familiar with. Whitman was trying to make a statement that the war would resonate much farther and deeper than the land it was fought on. He knew that normal daily life would not continue during or even after this war. Whitman says that no one would be at peace as long as the war ensued, not even the dead- “make even the trestles to shake the dead where they lie awaiting the hearses”.

How is this poem timeless, in that it relates to our current events?

What is Whitman really referring to when he writes, “So strong you thump O terrible drums- so loud you bugles blow.”?



Carisa Arndt
War Poetry



...