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Improvement is like an angel that visits those in need. It knows no bounds in aiding people who begs its presence. In President Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address, he summons this angel of improvement. With the final drops of blood having been spilled in the Civil War, Americans looked down the road, questioning that which lay ahead. Through his use of personification, parallelism, and biblical allusion, Lincoln swiftly and justly answered. Showing the poise of a man worthy of the title "President," Lincoln demonstrates courage and forthrightness in the face of adversity.
War can tear a country in two almost as fast as a bullet can hit a target. The Civil War did just that in the United States. Luckily, by the time Lincoln made his speech, the monster that was the American Civil War had "speedily passed away." Lincoln refers to this war as a "mighty scourge" in order to allow the people to sink their teeth into just how bad it was. Hundreds of thousands laid dead, millions injured, and half of America in ruins. Lincoln saw the anguish the nation faced and felt the people deserved to see it as well. Lincoln also talked of the need to "bind up the nation's wounds." He had realized countries were almost humanlike; they were made up of many parts and all were necessary for proper function. In America, the citizens were these tissues and organs, and there was no better way for them to come to the aide of their country than with a strong sense of nationalism. In a blaze of glory, Abraham Lincoln, using strong personification, helped restore a nation that was once clasped tight in the hands of chaos and destruction.

The War Between the States, though appearing riled up by anger and fury, was actually extinguished through faith and fear. Lincoln's use of parallelism in lines 61 and 62 helps to stomp down the remaining embers of the hostilities. "Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray" conveys Lincoln's notion that even in a time of war, America was still bound