Drum Taps By Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman is a poet from the 1800s that has written a book called “Leaves of Grass”. The poetry collections contained in this book consist mostly of Whitman’s personal experiences; however, there are poems that have themes such as death and democracy. In his collection “Drum Taps” Whitman speaks about the Civil War and its effects on the American people. Many scholars, and myself believe that throughout this collection he changes his tone. Leslie Jamison says that critics have dismissed Walt Whitman’s work as mediocracy, but that when looking at his later pieces such as “Drum Taps” you can see his true genius. He begins the collection with a cheery tone and sound effects, but as it continues he shows the horrific events that he is starting
to encounter. Jamison also points out that Whitman’s poetry isn’t about the injuring of people on either side instead it is about the healing of the injured. This shows that Whitman wasn’t picking a side in the Civil War, instead he was trying to show that no matter which side you were on that you needed healing. Jamison helps point out that not only did Whitman have great pieces, but that he cared for everyone no matter what side they were on.
In his article "Restless Explorations": Whitman's Evolving Spiritual Vision in Leaves of Grass, Ernest Smith talks about Whitman’s outlook on “Leaves of Grass” as a spiritual piece that would be used in churches.
While this was rarely the case, Smith says that the early readers of “Leaves of Grass” started a religious group and even made a church that studied his work which shows the power of Whitman’s writing. Ernest also brings up the theme of most poems in the collection “Drum Taps’ which is humanity, Throughout all of his poems he is trying to show that everyone is important and that if we cared for each other as people instead of as the side they were fighting for then the Civil War wouldn’t have been so
brutal.
Whitman’s brother was wounded and admitted into a hospital. Upon hearing this news, Walt rushed to find his brother and when he did he saw just how horrific the war had become. As Kenneth M. Price says in his article, Whitman began to visit the hospital regularly and these visits are said to have changed the tone of this collection. While giving us background information, Price also informs us of Whitman’s life before he moved to Washington and how being closer to the armed conflict made a difference in his writing.

For example, in the first poem of this collection, “First O Songs for a Prelude” Whitman speaks of a parade where the soldiers are marching out to war.
In this parade, the people are cheering and are enthusiastic about the war. He also says that everyone, no matter their job, was leaving their positions to go to war. The excitement in this poem helps to show the first impression the people had about the Civil War.
In another poem of this collection, “Vigil Strange I Kept in the Field One Night” it speaks of a fallen solider and how his friend watched him die. The friend of the solider stayed up all night and in the morning, buried his dear friend where he fell. This poem shows how the tone of the collection is evolving based on the events that have occurred. In the last line when he says “my solider” it shows the true emotion behind this poem.
I would like to bring attention to the poem “Spirit Whose Work Is Done”. In this poem, Whitman shows his true anger and distaste for the war. He is saying that the spirit of those who were killed are lingering, he also makes reference to how the soldiers died violently. At the end of the poem Whitman says, “Let them identify you to the future in these songs”, this leads me to believe that he is trying to warn everyone that this could happen again and that they should remember what happened during this
time.
While “Drum Taps” is a part of the “Leaves of Grass” it was first published as a separate book. It was published as a separate book to put a focus on the events of the Civil War from Whitman’s point of view.