As the night advanced the star disappeared but the narrator could not understand what it wanted to convey to him. Now he has realized what the star wanted to tell him.
He again hears the song of the bird and asks the bird to sing on. He listens to its song and understands it yet his attention is held by the star and the feelings of sorrow surround him. He is unable to overcome his grief while the bird wants to explain to him the meaning of death. It wants to tell him that life is a cyclic process and death is a part of it. The narrator then wonders what tribute he should present to the dead one he loves. He wonders with what honour should he decorate the grave of the dead person he loves.
He decides to combine the winds that come from sea and blow from east to west with the breath of his song. The narrator wonders what should he hang in the walls of the grave. What type of pictures should be hanged on the walls and then he decides to hang pictures from all over the country. There should be pictures of rural landscapes with natural scenery like hills, leaves and sky.
The photographs of cities with busy industrial life and workmen should be hanged on the walls of the grave. He wants to show the people that Abraham Lincoln represented America and its people. The narrator is again attracted by the song of Hermit thrush. He asks it to continue its sweet song from the silent swamp.
He says that it is a sorrowful song about humans. He listens to it but is again held back by the star and the odor of lilacs. The narrator sits alone observing land and natural scenery when he sees a dark cloud enveloping everything. It made him think about death.
He goes to the bird that sings the song of death. It describes death as lovely and soothing. The narrator realizes the importance of life and death. He retreats to the swamp with the knowledge and thoughts of death. The song of the bird teaches him that life is a continuity. A person who is born has to die. He thinks about all the dead people. He therefore glorifies and welcomes death while singing the song of death. The narrator imagines armies and warriors and then he concludes that the dead ones are more happy than the living ones.
All the sorrows and sufferings are for the living and not for the dead, they only lie in rest and peace. The Coffin has finally reached its burial place. As the Coffin passes, the narrator salutes and offers tribute to it. The lilacs, the star and the bird have enchanted his soul. He, along with them, bid farewell to Abraham Lincoln, whom he loved so much. He realizes that life is a cyclic thing. He begins with the star, goes to the bird and returns to the star, understanding more about death.
It seems no more awful to him but a part of the natural cycle. The theme of grief and sorrow is highlighted throughout the poem. The narrator who does not understand the concept of death laments the death of his beloved President, Abraham Lincoln and all the soldiers who died in the American Civil War.
The poet expresses his grief and mourns over the death of his loved one. He uses such language that emphasizes his sentiments and emotions of sadness but at the end he overcomes his grief and understands death.
He mourns over his death throughout the poem and feels helpless to overcome his grief. After listening to the song of the hermit thrush, the poet gets knowledge about death and accepts it. He comes to know that death, which seemed strange and awful to him, is a part of the cyclic process of life.
It is a natural phenomenon and every human being has to taste it. When he accepts death, it no more seems awful but soothing and easeful to him.
The narrator who fears death, in the beginning, understands it, after listening to the song of the bird. The song of the bird teaches him that life is a cyclic process and those who are born have to die.
The lilacs that bloom in the dooryard also give him an idea of rebirth. He understands that all the living things that are once born will die. Their souls will become free and they will start a new life after death. The narrator, though fears death, in the beginning, understands it and becomes certain about it.
He comes to know that all the living beings have to die one day and no one can escape it. Death is a reality of life. He also says that those who are dead are at more peace than the living ones. These thoughts give him soothing feelings. It is a pastoral elegy having a rural setting and the American President Abraham Lincoln, idealized as a shepherd, who united and represented America and its people.
It is a long poem of two hundred and six lines with no fixed metrical pattern. The lines of the poem have unequal length and different number of syllables. It consists of sixteen strophes, each one of them having a different number of lines. It does not have an end rhyme but has an internal rhyme which gives it a musicality.
But this particular elegy isn't just weepy and mournful. Since Whitman wrote it, you know we're bound to get some rather uplifting words of encouragement that allow us to imagine our grief as being shared by many. In other words, we're never alone in our suffering, no matter if we're talking about a faithfully-departed president or dear friend. So, even though Lincoln's assassination inspired this particular poem, you'll notice that Whitman's speaker extends his grief, and later his consolation, to all deathly circumstances.
He even manages to make death look less severe by calling it a "Dark mother always gliding near with soft feet," ready to usher us into her "loving floating ocean. It kind of makes sense then that Whitman has been coined America's "national poet. Lincoln was all about preserving the union and Whitman was all about creating a sense of unity between all of humanity in his poems. And with this poem, Shmoop thinks our man did a mighty fine job too, unifying folks in some of their darkest and most painful hours.
Props to you, Walt. Once you've seen one Lincoln poem, book, movie, elementary school play, you've seen them all, right? After all, how many different ways can we really talk about a guy who died over a hundred years ago? Well, we don't know about those elementary school plays, but we do know that Walt Whitman 's, "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd" is something wonderful.
Our man Walt starts off thinking about Lincoln and his legacy, but pretty soon he's veering off into something much bigger, and therefore more relevant to us twenty-first-century folks. Let's face it: the guy's not called America's "national poet" for nothing. In fact, lots of folks seem to believe that you can't really understand America without understanding Whitman's poetry.
The two kind of go together, like apple pie and hot dogs eating both together: not recommended. So, even if the idea of sitting through another Lincoln story sounds just as exciting as watching the grass grow, you just might learn something about the alluring energy and unity that makes America what it is. One of the most important features of the pastoral elegy is the depiction of the deceased and the poet who mourns him as shepherds.
The poem also makes reference to the problems of modern times in its brief, shadowy depictions of Civil War battles. The natural order is contrasted with the human one, and Whitman goes so far as to suggest that those who have died violent deaths in war are actually the lucky ones, since they are now beyond suffering. Above all this is a public poem of private mourning.
In it Whitman tries to determine the best way to mourn a public figure, and the best way to mourn in a modern world. In his resignation at the end of the poem, and in his use of disconnected motifs, he suggests that the kind of ceremonial poetry a pastoral elegy represents may no longer have a place in society; instead, symbolic, intensely personal forms must take over.
The second stays with the poet and his sprig of lilac, meant to be laid on the coffin in tribute, as he ruminates on death and mourning. The third uses the symbols of a bird and a star to develop an idea of a nature sympathetic to yet separate from humanity.
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