When Lilacs Last
in the Dooryard Bloomed
by
Walter Whitman
(Analysis)
Navigation
1. The Poem
2. Summary
3. Analysis
‘When
Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d’ was written in memory of Abraham Lincoln,
the 16th president of America. He was shot dead by John Wilkes Booth, a few
days later following the end of The Civil War on April 14, 1865.
In
the poem, ‘When lilacs last in the dooryard Bloom’d’ Walt Whitman introduces
the beauty of nature and the pain of death with the images of the “lilacs” and
“drooping star in the west.” The poet mourns on the death of Abraham Lincoln.
He says, that with each spring he will be reminded of the trinity of the lilac,
the star, and the thought of the loved one lost. In the poem, the “shades of
night” and “moody, tearful night” symbolically refer to the night Lincoln was
shot. The line “the black murk that hides the star” pictures the unpleasant and
unnatural death of Lincoln. The poet is helpless and has pictured his sorrow in
the metaphor “harsh surrounding cloud,” for the nation is mourning the great loss.
The
poet, further, describes the beauty of the Spring. He loves the Lilac with
heart-shaped leaves and its strong fragrance. The flowers serve as a metaphor
for the fragile nature of life. The poet now imagines himself in the “swamp”
and listens warbling of a hidden bird. The
words “withdrawn to himself” and “Sings by himself” describe the poet’s
isolated and sober mood. Further, the thrush that sings alone, suggests the
important role of poetry to express the emotion of people.
Now,
the poet talks of a coffin that journey day and night. It carries the corpse
through the “endless grass,” and “yellow-spear’d wheat.” Here, the Coffin and Corpse symbolically
refer to Abraham Lincoln, whose body was carried across the nation to express
homage. The poet offers the flowers of the spring from the one coffin, to many.
In other words, he addresses all the people who sacrificed their lives in the
civil war. The coffin is covered with roses but the poet wants to cover it with
the lilacs too. The image “loaded arms” in line 53 personifies death.
The poet
describes his experience with the western orb and of his troubled soul upon the
loss of the star. He presents an image of his walking night after night, beside
the orb. He “walk’d in silence,” denotes
mourning. The paradox “transparent shadowy night” employed in line 57, presents
the ambiguity of death upon life. The poet personifies the western star as a
companion with whom he walked the “solemn night”. He could not sleep, for the
star is full of woe, and sad orb is lost in the night.
The
speaker couldn’t enjoy the song of the bird fully because his memory of the
star is still holding him back. The poet, further, expresses his view on how he
will perfume the grave of his loved one. Finally, he decides to blend the smell
of “Sea-winds” from east and west, blended with the sea odor mixed at the plain
land along with the “breath of my chant.” This is how he perfumes the grave of
his loved one.
In
section eleven, the poet thinks of the pictures that he would hang on the walls
of the burial house. He gives a list of pictures he would like to hang in the
burial house. He thinks of the picture of “growing spring and farms and homes”
with the fourth-month eve at sundown, referring to April, when Abraham Lincoln
died. The pictures, despite their intended purpose, celebrate the beauty of
life. The speaker’s choice of pictures portrays the continuance of life despite
its uncertainty. The poet encourages the bird to keep singing for he thinks
that is the only solace. He calls the bird, a brother, which makes its song a
“human thing” with the voice of uttermost woe, symbolizing the pain and loss of
people at that time. The poet presents the bird’s song as “liquid and free and
tender” and the bird as a “wondrous singer.”
In
section fourteen of the poem, the poet brings forth a sense of unity among the
different part of the landscapes as the people prepares for the “close of the
day.” It is also indicative of the conclusion of the poem. He symbolically
looks back at the Civil War, “the perturb’d winds and the storms,” as well as
Lincoln’s assassination. Yet, he gives a list and a sense of movement going
forward, in words like “passing,” “many moving,” “sail’d”, and “approaching,”
which renders reference to Life moving forward.
The
poet now gives a song. He makes death appear less severe in this song as he
addresses it as “lovely and soothing death.” In the following lines, he
comments death to be “undulate[s] round the world,” which maintains the
speaker’s sense of unity, seen throughout the poem. It “arrives” to each only
the timing varies. It isn’t something tragic but a natural part of life.
According to him, the “delicate death” arrives “serenely.” Therefore, in terms
of life and death, we need not understand the depth of death but celebrate the
joy, life brings.
In
section fifteen Whitman goes back to the bird that managed to keep up with the
speaker’s song the whole time with the notes that are “filling the night.”
Things around him seem to be “clear” and “fresh” as the mood changes compared
to the earlier sections of woe. Even the speaker’s voice sounds uplifted, as he
talks of a wide scope of “visions” occurring simultaneously. The speaker sees
“the armies” and all their “battle-flags” and smoke, which replays the image of
the Civil War. The remains of the flags “torn and bloody,” implicit the human
cost of the war. Since most of the people died in the war are “young men,” the
poet thinks, the future of America has been partially lost. The anaphora “I saw”
gives a realistic view of the severity of war.
In
the concluding section, we come to know that “death’s outlet song” is also a
“victorious song” despite its “ever-altering” moods. The image, “silver face in
the night” reminds us of the poem’s driving force, Abraham Lincoln. The
“drooping star” we saw in the very beginning is back to end the poem, along
with all of the speaker’s comrades. In the concluding lines, he mentions
clearly that this elegy is for the “sweetest, wisest soul” of his time.
Walt
Whitman has employed three major symbols- the star, the lilac, and the bird.
The symbols are interconnected, and recurrent through out the poem. Whitman has
taken the symbols from the time of Lincoln’s death. The spring and Lilac are
used to represent the cyclic nature of the season and the memory of Abraham
Lincoln. The Western Star, that appears
in the evening, marks the approaching night, is used by the poet as a symbol to
indicate that the darkness followed the death of Abraham Lincoln. It also
refers to Abraham Lincoln who was like a guiding star to the people of America
during the Civil war. The hermit– thrush represents the voice of spirituality
and the poet’s soul singing.
‘When
Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d’ being an elegy has death as a major theme.
The death of Abraham Lincoln and the impact of the Civil war is addressed by
the poet. It also deals with the persistence of life (life that goes on) in
spite of the pains and sufferings. The images of “bustling cities,” “meals and
minutia of daily usages,” “the sun,” “the stars,” and “the hermit bird” remind
us of life’s continuance.
Navigation
1. The Poem
2. Summary
3. Analysis
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