Whitman's Wake Up Call

In class, we talked about how there were different ways to see Whitman's poem "Beat! Beat! Drums!" It may have been intended to be a show of nationalism at first, but reading the poem with knowledge of the costs of the war makes the poem seem ironic. No one at the time of the war's beginning could have guessed that it would become such a painful time; everyone, including Whitman, was optimistic.

I feel like "The Wound-Dresser" was written to help serve as a wake up call for those who remained at home. The first publication date the Norton book gives is 1865, which is the same year that the war ended. By then, most people should have already realized that this was not their ideal war in any sense. But the poem brings everything to life in the mind.

Two historical facts jumped out from the recesses of memory as I read the poem. First off, as the speaker tells us, gangrene was a very rampant problem. The science at the time was not ready to deal with it. Most times, amputation was the only way to go. The speaker of the poem expresses what was probably a shared sentiment of the time: "Come sweet death! be persuaded O beautiful death!/ In mercy come quickly" (lines 43-44).

The other fact was that it was still very acceptable for families to go out and have picnics next to battlefields. This was entertainment to civilians; it was exciting and was probably the most interesting thing that came to their area for a long time. But this in essence devalues the whole effect of what war should have meant. While everyone had four years to learn that war is not easy, there was probably still a disconnect that they couldn't understand.

Whitman does a great job bringing those horrors forward. He takes a scene that most people are unable to see and brings it to life for them. Suddenly war isn't the event that brings honor and entertainment. It's something that haunts one forever.