Whitman's View of the War

Walt Whitman displays his disdain for the civil war in his poem “BEAT! BEAT! DRUMS!,” through his acerbic tone. Whitman establishes this tone through the repeated reference to the drums and the bugles: “Beat! beat! drums—blow! bugles! blow!” This reference is followed by images of interrupted peace and progression in each paragraph. By using this pattern, Whitman establishes his sarcastic/irritated tone. Whitman begins by sarcastically enticing the sound of the drums and the bugles, which represents the civil war, to come “through the windows—through doors—burst like a ruthless force, “and then he conveys his disdain for the war through the images of the solemn church, the scholar who is studying, the bridegroom who is not able to enjoy his bride, and the farmer who cannot plow his field. By including these images directly after mentioning the drums and the horns, Whitman points out how much turmoil the war actually causes. Whitman proceeds to bring the drums and bugles back up at the end of each stanza, conceding to the inevitability of the war: “So fierce your whirr and pound your drums—so shrill you bugles blow.” Whitman’s acceptance of the war punctuates Whitman’s sarcastic tone with a hint of helplessness, which shows the inevitability of the war.
Whitman’s diction throughout the poem also contributes to his disdain towards war. Whitman uses such tangible diction to conceptualize war as loud and abnoxious. The words beat and blow presents a tangible sound which conveys the annoying disturbance these instruments actually cause. By using the drums and the horn to be a metaphor for the war, Whitman properly conveys his belief that the war is loud and obnoxious, much like the drums and the horns. Whitman also uses emotionally-wrenching diction to contrast the disturbance of war to convey his contemptuous tone. For example, Whitman uses the solemn church, the peaceful farmer, the timid, the weeper, or prayer in order to present the good things which are forced to a halt during times of war.
Civil War Historian Mark Neely is somewhat correct when he says that Walt Whitman does not portray the Emancipation Proclamation in his poem. Neely is not totally correct, because although he does not directly represent the Emancipation, Whitman does vicariously convey his feelings towards the emancipation in his poem, “BEAT! BEAT! DRUM!” In the poem, Whitman does not directly make any reference to slavery or even the Union for that matter. Instead, by focusing on the disturbance and uproar the war causes, Whitman trivializes the causes of the civil war. In the Poem, whether consciously or unconsciously, Whitman conveys feelings about the emancipation indirectly when he says, “Nor the peaceful farmer any peace, ploughing his field or gathering his grain.” This quote is critical to deciding whether or not Whitman portrays any sort of feelings towards the Emancipation Proclamation, because he does not mention anything about a slave when he talks about the farmer gathering his grain. Traditionally, slaves would most likely gather the grain for their master. Whether Whitman excluded any information about a slave intentionally or unintentionally, this quote still conveys the message that the Emancipation Proclamation is not the largest issue, especially in the midst of the entire disturbance of the war.
Whitman differs from Timrod in his overall stance towards the civil war, because Whitman finds the war distracting and annoying, while Timrod is patriotic and hopeful of a Confederacy victory. Timrod ends “The Cotton Boll” with the belief that the confederacy will grant the Union mercy when the beat them in battle, “mercy; and we shall grant it, and dictate the lenient future of his fate.”
Whitman’s poem is really an extension of George Moses Horton’s poem “The Spectator of the Battle of Belmont.” The spectators of the Battle of Belmont realize the horror of the civil war and they learn that there is not anything romantic about it: “Betray’d by the vestige of blood in their gore.” Whitman is almost like one of the spectators of the Battle of Belmont who has been enlightened to the idea that this war is a atrocious thing and has further analyzed what he has seen. Through his diction, metaphors, imagery, and stanza structure, Whitman portrays the message that the war is not about the Union or emancipation, but about how terrible it is for the people of America in general.