LITR 4232:
American Renaissance
Student Presentation Summary
Tuesday, 22 April 2003:
Whitman, “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d” (2941-2948)
Reader: Deterrean Gamble
Discussion notes:
Laurie Eckhart
The focus of this discussion will center
on the third objective of the syllabus. As
cited in the syllabus text, Whitman’s poem will be used “as a basis for
discussing representative problems and subjects of American culture.”
Poetic style and imagery will be considered as well.
Style
In the Spring 2002 American Renaissance
consideration of Whitman’s work, Lori Gouner reviewed the stylistic and
substantive conventions of the elegy. The
Glossary of Literary Terms (University of N. Carolina-Pembroke) defines the elegy
thus. *
As with all of Whitman’s poetry, the
reader must engage the poem sensually. Sight, sound and smell all play into this
work. Think of Lincoln,
smell the lilacs, and listen to the words.
*
Page 2941:
When
lilacs last in the door-yard bloom'd,
And the great star early droop'd in the western sky in the night,
I mourn'd, and yet shall mourn with ever-returning spring.
Ever-returning spring, trinity sure to me you bring,
Lilac blooming perennial and drooping star in the west,
And thought of him I love.
Question:
Does the poem work in the definition
of romantic literature as has been discussed this semester?
How or how not? *
Dr. White: Loss is romantic…
Jennifer: It applies to things in
nature.
Composers
have been inspired by Whitman’s piece to write requiems based on his work.
Page 2944:
O
how shall I warble myself for the dead one there I loved?
And how shall I deck my song
for the large sweet soul that has gone? *
Historical
issues and concerns:
The
poem is a consideration of an actual
historical event. Again
the words take the reader through the scene.
*
Page
2942:
Coffin that passes through lanes and
streets,
Through day and night with the great cloud darkening the land,
With the pomp of the inloop'd flags with the cities draped in black,
With the show of the States themselves as of crape-veil'd women
standing,
With processions long and winding and the flambeaus of the night,
With the countless torches lit, with the silent sea of faces and the
unbared heads,
With the waiting depot, the arriving coffin, and the sombre faces,
With dirges through the night, with the thousand voices rising strong
and solemn,
With all the mournful voices of the dirges pour'd around the coffin,
The dim-lit churches and the shuddering organs - where amid these
you journey,
With the tolling, tolling bells' perpetual clang,
Here, coffin that slowly passes,
I give you my sprig of lilac.
Question:
Since Lincoln, William McKinley and John
F. Kennedy have been assassinated. Franklin
Delano Roosevelt died in office.
Two of these figures have some form of elegy with musical accompaniment
written about them. Yet neither work is widely known. Does this indicate the
decline of poetry as an act of public mourning?
Does this indicate the decline of poetry as a means of expression in
contemporary society? Would it seem out of fashion to pay homage to a fallen
leader with an elegy in 2003? *
Corrie: Mentions “Candle in the
Wind” for Diana and Marilyn Monroe. If it was popular culture it might still
be alive, but not so with classical. It is related to consumerism and depends on
what we care about…what is idealized.
Marie: Poetry is kind of
personal…songwriters put it out for the money, but poetry is more emotional.
?: The Columbia tragedy inspired people
to put poems on the fence and there is war poetry being broadcast on the radio.
Sandra: Depends on personal
relationships. If Lincoln had not died while in office, there might have been a
different outcome/response.
Simone: Popular Presidents are elegized.
Things are written in direct response to what they contributed to society. While
something is fresh and immense people response—not years later.
Deterrean: Does Candle in the Wind seem hokey for
Diana? Very Commercialized?
Corrie: It is representative of her and
to Americans it is romanticized, but to the British it isn’t hokey because she
was close to them.
Dawn: It’s the tragedy of young death.
“Has anyone here seen my Old Friend John”…folk music is coming back.
Corrie “American Pie” evokes feeling in me.
Deterrean: Do poems about Whitman/Lincoln resonate for us?
?: It might. You could transfer
something in it to relate to it.
Dr. White: American Pie can be
universalized…no names are named.
Manifest Destiny as monument to
Lincoln:
In
the poem, the direction of the scene moves westward.
The open expanse of the yet unsettled frontier inspires Whitman to pen
the following lines:
Page
2944:
Sea-winds blown from east and west,
Blown from the eastern sea and blown from the western sea, till there
on the prairies meeting,
These and with these and the breath of my chant,
I'll perfume the grave of him I love.
Whitman
in these verses recommends that the highest honor Lincoln could be paid would be
to complete the transcontinental vision held by many Americans.
After the Civil War concluded, the nation plunged into a difficult period
of Reconstruction. The nation was whole and yet regional divisions still played
themselves out in national politics. (Ex.: The South was largely in the
Democratic Party until the 1960s.) In
1890, the transcontinental vision was realized. The western frontier was closed.
Question:
Whitman’s recommendation defines his vision of the legacy of Lincoln
and the Civil War. Is Whitman right? What
is Lincoln’s legacy? What is the legacy of the Civil War? Is Lincoln the
preeminent Unionist? Is Lincoln the Great Emancipator? Is Lincoln the first
transcontinental president? Did the
Civil War and its immediate aftermath successfully resolve any of these issues?
Deterrean: Lincoln is not thought of in
terms of Manifest Destiny. Perhaps not all of these questions above [are true?]
?: Bringing both sides together made him
more of a Unionist—he kept the country together. It doesn’t belittle the
other things he did, but he was involved in a lot more than just slave
emancipation.
Dr. White: Lincoln is identified with
the west in the poem. Illinois was considered west back then. The Civil War
wouldn’t have occurred without the ideas of manifest destiny. Manifest destiny
“grew” slavery and the North wouldn’t accept it.