Whitman’s poem “Reconciliation” dwells on death and the end of something while also attempting to move forward by the end. Throughout the poem there are clashing elements in the language, Whitman clashes death with life in this brief poem. He also looks death in the face by the end; literally. My favorite thing about the poem is how Whitman seems to collide to different mediations in these short lines. The first couple of lines deal with beauty and also hope, and then, the poem shifts and we the readers are forced to meditate ourselves on the loss of others through death. By the end, I enjoyed how the speaker comes into contact with the dead body through touching. Here, it seems as though these ideas of life and death are actually meeting in this strange poem.
From the start of the poem we read, “Word over all, beautiful as the sky! Beautiful that war, and all its deeds of carnage, must in time be utterly lost…”. From the these lines we see that Whitman uses the word beautiful multiple times in describing the “deeds of carnage” from war. Here, I feel similar feelings that I felt when reading parts of “Leaves of Grass”. It seems as though Whitman is speaking of the war through a limited and somewhat unpopular opinion. Although I see how Whitman could believe that the meditation of this war brings light and growth, at the same time, I don’t believe that most people, especially those who were a part of the war, felt as though its carnage was beautiful. These opening lines make me think that Whitman was meditating once again on the actions and ultimate fate of humanity. He speaks as though he understands these movements in time. He uses these instances from his time as a poetical means to meditate on a hopefully happier future. I did enjoy these opening lines, but at the same time, I felt as though Whitman was speaking on the war in somewhat of a strange way.
The next couple of lines reflect this idea that Whitman had some sort of divine understanding when it came down to the turmoil going on around him. He writes, “That the hands of the sisters Death and Night, incessantly softly wash again, and ever again, this soil’d world…”. Whitman speaks from experience here when he says “again”. As Americans, we understand our countries history and we can try to guess as to what will happen in the future based upon our history. When Whitman speaks this way, he seems to say that he’s seen this before. At the same time, I did enjoy the language because it evoked this ringing of a new day. The night will come to an end we will see a new day. This is what Whitman seems to believe, and he speaks like a prophet when he announces these lines. Despite the beauty of the words, I still believe that Whitman is being optimistic because this gruesome war is finally over. The war may be over, but America still had a lot to sort out.
Finally, the poem reaches the point in which the speaker comes face to face with death by looking down into a bodies coffin. The end of the poem continues the idea of accepting something and moving on. I did enjoy how Whitman looked at the other, calling the other “divine”. Through this, I believed that Whitman had a deep respect for those who had fallen, and believed that he death was a means of connection for humanity. “I bend down and touch lightly with my lips the white face in the coffin…”, this is the final act in terms of facing something. Whitman shows death reverence and accepts it, by doing this, I believe that it solidifies the idea that most of this poem is the idea of tangling with and meditating on death. Even though Whitman may have had bold things to say, I do really enjoy this poem. I also believe that it’s a beautiful message for those who are attempting to tackle death in their own lives. Whitman clashes light and dark to show that he has appreciation for both, and to also show that he accepts that.
That first line is, indeed, haunting and also a bit slippery. I think what is “beautiful” here is not carnage or ware, but the fact that these must be “utterly lost.” “Reconciliation” is the “word over all.” But while war and carnage themselves are not necessarily beautiful in Whitman’s eyes, there does seem to be a marked resistance to their loss. The emphatic “must,” and the devastated “utterly” and the basic idea of “lost” suggest that Whitman has grown an attachment to war and in this case reconciliation represents a calm and a cessation of that conflict, which is also a cessation of his contact with the many Civil War soldiers, and his close connection with the division itself. Fascinating poem!