Analysis of "A Twilight Song"

Walt Whitman is one of the most important American poets of all time. His free verse style has captured many of ideas about the Everyman, America, and Christianity. Although Christianity does not have a major part in “A Twilight Song,” the Everyman and America both are major parts of the theme, as it is a war hymn about the Civil War soldiers. When Whitman wrote this poem, the Civil War had ended about 25 years previously, but the main idea of this work is that it is never too late to pay tribute and remember those who fought in a war for our country.

This poem is about the soldiers of the Civil War that sacrificed their lives for what they believed in. The soldiers of this time were not the most extraordinary men, but rather just average people from different parts of the country. With the country having just formed, the military was not very strong, and the people that made up the troops had normal jobs and lives. Whitman says that there are soldiers serving “From wooded Maine, New-England's farms, from fertile Pennsylvania, Illinois, Ohio, from the measureless West, Virginia, the South, the Carolinas, Texas (Whitman).” This shows that there were people from every corner of the country serving. North, South, East, and West all had men on the front line and women aiding in many important parts of the battle. Many of these people ended up paying the ultimate price and sacrificed their lives to fight for something that they believed in. Even though this poem was written 25 years after the war had ended, there is still a need to pay tribute to those that served (Oliver). Walt Whitman did not have a need to show a bias for either side, because he was not concerned with how the war turned out. His main concern was for the country of America as a whole and the potential that it has to be great.

In many of his works, Whitman spoke of the great potential that the country of America had. This seems to be an underlying theme in “A Twilight Song.” This poem has no bias to the North or the South, but is about memorial to all of the soldiers alike that lost their lives during the course of the war. Whitman was glad to see that so many people were willing to pay the ultimate price of losing their lives for what they believed in. This directly relates to the strength of the country as a whole, which was Whitman’s reason for writing about this subject in the way that he did (Oliver).

Whitman’s “A Twilight Song” shows many of the characteristics that he quite often used in most all of his works. He uses the style of free verse that he was very popular for, and the content revolves around the country of America and the Everyman. This tribute to all of the soldiers that gave their lives for their country does everyone that served justice, even though it was written many years after the war ended. These characteristics seen in this poem show why Walt Whitman is one of the best American poets of all time.

Works Cited

Oliver, Charles M. "'A Twilight Song'." Critical Companion to Walt Whitman: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work, Critical Companion. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2005. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Online. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CCWW539&SingleRecord=True. March 1, 2011.

Whitman, Walt. "A Twilight Song." from Leaves of Grass. The Walt Whitman Archive. Online. http://whitmanarchive.org/published/LG/. March 1, 2011.