Walt Whitman

In Walt Whitman's pastoral elegy, "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd", he successfully depicts how nature and citizens mourn Abraham Lincoln's death after his assassination in 1865. He flawlessly incorporates numerous poetic devices and methodically places them throughout his literary work. One of the poetic devices that he continues to use is parallelism. Walt Whitman's inclusion of parallelism contributes to the successful style of the poem by adding to the lyrical flow, creating emphasis, and introducing descriptive details.

Whitman believes that poetry should be expressed through speaking instead of writing; therefore, he frequently uses parallelism to integrate a melodious and musical quality that ultimately adds to the speaking power of the poem. In stanza two, Whitman starts each sentence with a similar beginning: " O powerful western star! O shades of night- O moody, tearful night!" (7-8). The repetition of "O" and utilization of anaphora creates a powerful, musical quality that leaves an impact on us when we hear the words spoken aloud. Another example of Whitman's use of parallelism to increase the harmonious quality is in stanza sixteen when he comments, "Passing the visions, passing the night, passing, unloosing the hold of my comrades' hands, passing the song of the hermit bird and tallying song of my soul" (185-187). Whitman's repetitive use of "passing" creates a dragging sensation of the time going by and everything "passing" him while he is in a daze. Not only does Whitman give the impression of time "passing" with his use of repetition, but also strengthens the cadence of the poem.

Whitman also includes parallelism to emphasize and expand on certain ideas in his poem. In stanza fourteen, Whitman uses...

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... saw them, I saw the debris and debris of all the slain soldiers of the war..." (177-179). The words "I saw" creates emphasis on the impact the images had on him. Not only does he create emphasis with this use of repetition but he also uses the device to introduce us to details about the scene he is observing.

Walt Whitman deliberately uses parallelism to add to the lyrical flow, create emphasis, and introduce descriptive details. Many times during the poem, he intertwines more than one aspect which is what makes 'Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom' a literary masterpiece. Through his distinct style of writing, Whitman is able to flawlessly depict the mournful period following Lincoln's death.

Works Cited

Whitman, Walt. "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd." Civil War Poetry and Prose. Ed. Candice Ward. New York: Dover Publications, Inc., 1995. 27-33.Print.