Walt Whitman/ Leaves of Grass #19 Drum Taps 2: SONG OF THE BANNER AT DAYBREAK

SONG OF THE BANNER AT DAYBREAK

In the years leading up to the Civil War, partisan poets of both the North and the South praised and exalted war in their poems. In Walt Whitman's America: A Cultural Biography, Davis S. Reynolds writes that, "...Whitman's recruiting poems stand out: they usually avoided partisanship, picturing the war spirit as a unifying force rather than divisive force...."

Reynolds points out that Whitman refers to an unspecific banner and pennant in Song of the Banner at Daybreak, rather than a Union or Confederate flag. In this poem Whitman presents the arguments for and against war through the personas of the Child and Father. Whereas the Child is excited by the idea of unity that beckons from the flags flapping in wind, the Father is concerned with material possessions and peacetime economic pursuits.

Throughout the poem the voice of the banner prods the poet, "Come up here, bard, bard," and later, "Speak to the child O bard...."

Surveying all 38 states and the continent by using bird wings from which to look upon Southern plantations, Northern forests and Mid-Western wheat fields all connected by emerging railroads,
the voice of the Poet considers the Father's perspective and sees the banner as uniting all, but disturbing peace: ""Then over all, (aye! aye!) my little and lengthen'd pennant shaped like a sword,/...Discarding peace over all the sea and land."




The Poet then listens to the Banner and Pennant say they speak for the future as much as for the present, and present the war as a necessary evil proclaiming "Demons and death then I sing...."

From this the Poet resolves his own position, "My limbs, my veins dilate, my theme is clear at last,/Banner so broad advancing out of the night, I sing you haughty and resolute."




War it is!

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Text of Song of the Banner at Daybreak:
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http://whitmanarchive.org/published/LG/1881/poems/153

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References:
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David S. Reynolds, Walt Whitman's America: A Cultural Biography, Vintage Books, New York, 1995

Walt Whitman Archive:
http://www.whitmanarchive.org/

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[HerAeolianHarp]

I am really stunned by the sheer quality of your Whitman videos. This is at the risk of repeating myself, but this is superlative, James. How fascinating to see the father/child dialectic here. I can feel the "chuff" of Whitman's hand on my shoulder through your talent and sensitive ministrations to his verse. Faved and straight to the playlists, too, friend. :)

[andrewnorris2]

Another great piece in this valuable series of readings. I appreciate the trouble you take to put together suitable images to accompany your reading, informative images but not intrusive. Your voice and its soft lilt has a kind of authenticity for me which makes listening to these reading all the more pleasurable. Thanks, too, for your introductory text, it helps put the writing in context.

[Idlinfarm]

Superbly done video------and timely.