Similarly to many writers and poets who have experienced war first-hand, Whitman writes a series of pieces of rather disturbing personal accounts he witnessed during his time as a nurse in the Civil War and his intimate thoughts about what he saw. Specifically, Whitman gives these accounts in two of his sections of poetry and prose entitled, “Drum-Taps” and “Specimen Days.” However, what makes Whitman’s war poetry unique from that of other writers and poets who have had intimate experiences with the brutality and grotesqueness of war, is that Whitman continues to pursue his quest to find a sense of national cohesiveness during this brutal time of separation between countrymen.
It can be argued that the poems from “Drum-Taps” have been some of Whitman’s most highly examined works by scholars, since Whitman’s experience with war seems to have been such a vital part of what shaped his Whitmanian ideology. In these poems, Whitman speaks more broadly about the war, which is perhaps exemplified best in the poem, “Over the Carnage Rose a Prophetic Voice.” Here, Whitman lists a variety of states, saying how this war will bring their differing statesmen together. Near the end of the poem this “prophetic voice” seems to speak directly to these now fraternal soldiers, saying, “The dependence of Liberty shall be lovers, / The continuance of Equality shall be comrades. / These shall tie you and band you stronger than hoops of iron, / I ecstatic, O partners! O lands! with the love of lovers tie you.” Whitman seems to be saying that his prophetic voice of his own Whitmanian ideology will be what encourages the national sense of Liberty and Equality shared by the variety of Civil War soldiers.
Whitman’s “Specimen Days” works are different from his collection of poems from “Drum-Taps,” simply because they are short prose accounts of incidents Whitman seemed to have experienced first-hand while he was a nurse. He gives names and dates to these short pieces, lending them validity to actually being of Whitman’s own experience. From his piece “Hospital Scenes – Incidents,” to “A Glimpse of War’s Hell Scenes,” the purpose of “Specimen Days” seems to be to show how Whitman being in the middle of the war, yet slightly removed and objective to it (because of his position as a nurse instead of a soldier), gave him an intimate perspective on the war. The poems from “Drum-Taps” seem to be attempting to create a sense of connection through nationalism amidst the internally split war, while the prose accounts from “Specimen Days” seem to be Whitman’s intimate connection to other individuals experiencing the war alongside him.
I love Whitman’s process of movement from crisis to resolution and his attempt to find that cohesiveness like you said, in each of his poems. This process has played out in a single poem or sometimes through the progress of one poem to the next but he almost always has a point of contact with humanity that brings about hope. I wonder if this is because he was a nurse that he was able to find that moment of friendship, comradery, unity. Do you think if he had fought in the war that he would have been able to maintain that perspective? I think that is something his poems from the perspective of a soldier lack, a realistic reflection on their participation in the war. I think of The Artilleryman’s Vision and how his nightmares consisted solely of the danger he and his friends were in and the uncertainty of battle. But never do we have a voice reflecting on their actions or participation in the war, they do not question the call of duty or who is on the other end of that musket. I see a difference between modern war poetry and Whitman’s work because I see these soldiers calling into question the demands of their nation and commander while Whitman seeks the light at the end of the war.
I think you hit the nail on the head, saying that Whitman gets a better perspective because of his removal from the immediate situation. I think his experience as a nurse let him see the side of the war that those fighting were ignoring. He saw the tragedy and destruction that happens during war, and realized that both sides experienced these losses. By saying that the two sides will come together after the war, Whitman is expressing that the mutual feeling of loss will be a common factor between two very different view points.