Written for Dordt College literature class.
Whitman’s Elegiac Lament in
“When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d”
American author Walt Whitman responded powerfully to the life around him, influenced most strongly by the political events of his time. He especially admired President Abraham Lincoln, revering the president for his wisdom and decisions in regards to the Civil War. As fascinated as Whitman was with Lincoln’s life, it was the president’s death that, in Whitman’s eyes, was an unparalleled moment in American history (Reynolds). Whitman became absorbed in what he called “the tragic splendor of [Lincoln’s] death, purging, illuminating all.” (Reynolds). He wrote “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d” as a pastoral elegy, or a mournful poem, to lament Lincoln’s tragic death. Whitman utilizes the seven different characteristics of a pastoral elegy in order to reach an understanding of the concept of death. In doing so, he creates a melancholic masterpiece that ultimately concludes with the assurance that death is not to be feared.
The first element of a pastoral elegy that Whitman incorporates into his poem involves the setting. Such an elegy includes a rural location as the setting, and Whitman places his readers in the front yard of an old farmhouse to begin his poem. “In the dooryard fronting an old farmhouse…” (Whitman 12). It is springtime, and in the dooryard “stands the lilac bush, tall-growing, with heart-shaped leaves of rich green…” (13). Whitman describes the delicate beauty of each pointed blossom, the miracle of every heart-shaped leaf, and the gentle perfume that he so dearly loves (14-16). From a nearby swamp, a hermit thrush warbles a quiet song (18-22). Whitman uses each of these descriptions to portray what would be a peaceful setting, but each element is darkened by the cloud of grief that Lincoln’s death has created. The “ever-returning spring” (3) that is meant to bring the comfort of new life has the opposite effect on Whitman. Instead it brings mourning, and the bleeding song of the hermit thrush reflects the loneliness Whitman feels.
The cause of Whitman’s mourning lies within the death of the esteemed leader, President Lincoln. The second element of a pastoral elegy, an idealized shepherd, is represented by Lincoln in Whitman’s poem. Whitman respected the way Lincoln had “shepherded” the American citizens through the Civil War, and he deemed Lincoln “the greatest, best, most characteristic, artistic, moral personality” in American life (Reynolds). Lincoln’s leadership is represented in the poem through the “great star early droop’d in the western sky…” (Whitman 2). The last time Whitman noticed the lilacs blooming, he also noted a great star falling in the western sky, just as Lincoln “fell” from power on April 14, 1865 when he was fatally wounded (Cummings).
The falling star of verses one and two fades into a funeral procession, the third component of a pastoral elegy, in verses five and six. “Carrying a corpse to where it shall rest in the grave / night and day journeys a coffin.” (Whitman 31-32). While spring of 1865 was blooming, Lincoln's funeral train traveled a distance of more than 1,600 miles from Washington, D.C. to his hometown of Springfield, Illinois for his burial. Whitman describes the trip with painful detail. A cloud darkens the land as the train moves through the countryside, through cities draped in black, past grassy meadows and wheat fields, past apple orchards that blow pink and white blossoms. Bells toll and the people sing dirges. At nighttime, mourners with torches line the route (Cummings). The repetition used in verse six emphasizes the length of the journey Lincoln’s body traveled through the Union he worked to preserve. In line 45, Whitman addresses the fallen president, saying, "I give you my sprig of lilac." (Whitman 45). The poem continues to reveal Whitman’s reaction to Lincoln’s death and funeral.
Throughout the lines of his poem, Whitman grieves the loss of his fallen star, incorporating a fourth element of a pastoral elegy: expressions of grief and praise for the deceased (Cummings). His soul is imprisoned by Lincoln’s loss. “As my soul, in its trouble, dissatisfied, sank, as where you, sad orb / concluded, dropt in the night, and was gone.” (Whitman 65-66). Whitman compares himself to the lonely hermit thrush, wishing to sing a song beautiful enough to honor the death of his hero. “O how shall I warble myself for the dead on there I loved? / And how shall I deck my song for the large sweet soul that has gone? / And what shall my perfume be, for the grave of him I love?” (72-74). He wishes to perfume Lincoln’s grave with the sea-winds blown from the east and the west. He desires to adorn Lincoln’s burial house with striking pictures of growing spring, with “floods of the yellow gold of the gorgeous, indolent, sinking sun, burning, expanding the air…” (84). Whitman wants nothing more than to decorate Lincoln’s memory with beauty.
The fifth component of Whitman’s pastoral elegy, nature imagery, is used in each of the first four parts. First, the thriving lilac bush of the farmyard setting, with its delicate blossoms and leaves, is described in great detail (13-16). Whitman uses this imagery in order to convey the life that thrives outside of him. While his soul is trapped within the pain of Lincoln’s death, life continues to move forward without him. Second, the imagery used to represent Lincoln’s leadership is the star falling from the western sky. Whitman describes dark shades of tearful night that swallows up the brightness of Lincoln’s star (7-9). Whitman’s imagery is especially vivid in describing Lincoln’s funeral procession, with its dark cloud, cities draped in black, torches shining through the darkness, and the pink and white apple blossoms (40-45). This imagery, describing the route Lincoln’s body took to its resting place, shows the beauty of the Union that Lincoln protected, the same Union that Whitman loved. However, the imagery Whitman uses to describe his respect for Lincoln is the most vivid of all. His description of the pictures he wishes to adorn Lincoln’s resting place with leaves readers with rich colors and striking images in mind. “Lo! The most excellent sun, so calm and haughty / The violet and purple morn, with just-felt breezes / The gentle, soft-born, measureless light…” (94-96). Overall, Whitman’s poem is thick with imagery in order to bring his ideas to life and heighten the senses of his readers.
Whitman’s imagery continues into the two final parts of his pastoral elegy: his meditation on and his acceptance of death. At the end of the day, Whitman sees his homeland in all its beauty. He sees the lakes and forests, the many-moving sea tides, the richness of summer, and the fields busy with labor (109-115). He is able to see these things even though the shadow of death looms over him (119-120). The knowledge of death walks along one side of him while the thought of death walks along the other side, as if they are his companions. Yet, out of the darkness, the carol of the hermit thrush returns. Whitman realizes this carol of death is sweet. He calls to “lovely and soothing Death” (136), realizing that it need not be feared. He sees visions of corpses and skeletons of the soldiers that died in the Civil War, and realizes that they do not suffer. Death is sweet, leaving them fully at rest (178-182).
As Whitman comes to realize death’s freeing ability, he is able to turn from the lilac and its heart-shaped leaves. He is able to leave Lincoln in the dooryard that blooms with spring. His soul is freed from the burden of mourning Lincoln’s loss. Knowing that Lincoln is at rest, Whitman is able to treasure his memory rather than simply mourn it. He will always remember “the sweetest, wisest soul of all my days…” (206). Whitman has discovered that the lilac, star, bird, and the chant of his soul are all delicately entwined, leaving him able to accept death and embrace life.
Works Cited
Asselineau, Roger. The Evolution of Walt Whitman: The Creation of a Personality. Boston, MA:
President and Fellows of Harvard College, 1960. 164-65. Print.
Cummings, Michael J. When Lilacs Last In the Dooryard Bloom'd. Cummings Study Guide. Ed.
Michael J. Cummings. N.p., 2010. Web. 10 Feb. 2013. <http://www.cummingsstudyguides.net/Guides5/lilacs.html>.
Faigley, Lester. The Brief Penguin Handbook with Exercises. Third ed. N.p.: n.p., 2009. 121-28.
Print.
Reynolds, David S. Walt Whitman. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, Inc., 2005. N. pag.
Print.
Waskow, Howard J. Whitman: Explorations In Form. Chicago, IL: The University Of Chicago
Press, 1966. 237-46. Print.
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