This was an interesting section. Here, Whitman describes his meeting with a young, 15-year-old soldier. The next day, as two of the regiments are marching through the town, Whitman realizes how very young all of the soldiers are, stating that "there did not appear to be a man over 30 years of age, and a large portion were from 15 to perhaps 22 or 23." Whitman observes how, despite their youth, the soldiers all had the look of veterans, and while none look particularly striking, Whitman did not find any of them ugly or stupid looking.
It's sad to think of children during war, but even more tragic is children in war. From what Whitman describes in this passage, there is an entire generation aging beyond their years, growing up too fast, seeing and doing things that teenagers the same age today could not even imagine.
As far as how this relates to A Song of Myself, let's go back to loafing (yeah I mentioned it a lot before, but we talked about it in class, it's on my mind!). Once again, Whitman is being faced with a large group of people who cannot share in the free and relaxing life that Whitman encourages. And what choice to they have? At this point in time, the nation is at war with itself. Brother against brother, fighting for the freedom our nation was supposedly built on. It's not like loafing is really an option here. But Whitman clearly understands that. The first comparison that comes to mind is the hippie generation during the Vietnam war. Now, I'm in no way saying they didn't have valid points, but they could sometimes forget about the people fighting. Whitman manages to advocate a similar(-ish) lifestyle, but still display a lot of respect for these soldiers, ending the passage by complimenting them (again, NOT dissing hippies, it was just the only thing I could think of!)(...I'm so paranoid about offending people...).
ANYWAY, the point is, Whitman was in a very difficult and painful situation, having to see these young men go off to war, but I appreciate the way he respects them, once again showing an enormous amount of consideration for his fellow man.
Yes, I agree. I think W's experience of the civil war really challenged the self of Leaves of Grass. Do you think his poem prepared him for the realities of the Civil War?
ReplyDeleteI don't know if "prepared" is the right word... For one thing, I don't think anything can really prepare you for the horrors of war. Also, thinking about it and knowing that the poem came before the war, I think the poem might have made things worse. Whitman paints this ideal of what he think humanity is capable, equality and respect and this relationship with nature and each other. It's a standard that, in the Civil War, man falls short of. That's gotta be tough. Trying to show people how good it can be only to have them start going at it with their brothers soon after. Whitman looked for the best in people only to be shown the worst.
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