Mark Neely’s assertion on Walt Whitman is both supported and unsupported by his poem, “Beat! Beat! Drums!”. On the one hand he is correct when he says Walt Whitman does not seem to be concerned with the freeing of the slaves. On the other hand, Whitman’s focus in the poem is not just advocating the Union, but more about the effects of war on everyone.
There is no part of the poem that mentions anything about slavery, labor, or freeing the slaves. In fact, the poem is really not focused on the outcomes of the war, such as the Emancipation Proclamation. He is far more concerned with how the war is affecting life at that very moment speaking of it scattering a church congregation. A church congregation is an event happening at that moment, not a result of the war. What Neely said seems to be correct, Whitman did not have a problem with antislavery, however it does not appear to be a central issue to him, as he does not mention or even allude to it in his poem.
For Neely to say Whitman felt the Civil War was a “war for the Union” is not well supported in “Beat! Beat! Drums!”. Calling it a war for the Union implies that Whitman took a strong side (the Union) and that he was rah-rahing for his side to win. It makes it sound as though he advocated the war and hoped the Union would come out victorious. While he could very well be on the side of the Union, this poem appears that he is not advocating the war at all. He does not appear to be a mystical nationalist with some great hope for what happens in the war, but comes across almost anti-war. He is speaking very negatively about the effects of war saying things like a bridegroom “no happiness must he have now with his bride”(5) because of the war and “let not the child’s voice be heard, nor the mother’s entreaties” (19). People having no happiness and a child and mother’s voices being squashed do not sound like things that are advocating the Union or war at all. They are more focused on the negative effects of the war and how it is affecting the everyday people. There is no mention of victory, the country staying united, or nationalism.
Neely’s assertion of Whitman not being anti-slavery is supported in this poem. He does not mention of allude to slavery at all, it appears not to be an issue. However, Neely saying the Civil War was a “war for the Union” was not supported in the poem. Whitman does not mention the Union or unity at all, he does not sound patriotic. He instead focuses on the uproar the war is bringing and how the people are struggling to deal with it.
1 comment:
I agree that nowhere in the text does it seem that Whitman takes any notice of the Emancipation Proclamation. The way that Whitman has written this poem makes it seem as though you could use it for either side of any war. There is nothing distinguishing about it that makes it appropriate only for the Civil War. However, I disagree with the thought that Whitman was not making a call to war with this poem. Though he does not mention specifics like the Emancipation Proclamation I believe Whitman is definitely trying to push the people in to poem to fight. In the poem when he says, “Mind not the timid-mind not the weeper or prayer” I believe that Whitman is telling the troops he is trying to rally that the time has come. Those that are undecided need to quickly decide because the time for war is now. I do not believe that Whitman was anti-war. Though he does not distinguish as to what side he is on, he makes it very clear that he is in total support of that side. With every “Beat! Beat! Drums!” that he includes he is driving the message home to the people he is addressing. The time for action is now.
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