In Walt Whitman’s poem, The Artillery Man's Vision, a soldier back from war wakes from his sleep to find a vision of the recent war appearing before him. Through this vision, Whitman shows the urgency the soldier feels during and after the war. The poet uses explicit vividness to show the emotional state of soldiers serving currently and of veterans suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) , as well as war trauma and the effect on families.
‘There in the room, as I wake from sleep, this vision presses upon me’
The poet begins by explaining his current situation where the war is over on the field maybe but is still in his mind. Obviously haunted by the memories, he is only physically present at home with his family, but mentally elsewhere. He then progresses by recalling his wartime experiences. Whitman explains the post-traumatic stress disorder affecting , and how it is a never ending process.
Whitman uses a variety of figurative language throughout the poem to transport his audience onto the battlefield with him,
The skirmishers begin—they crawl cautiously ahead—I hear the irregular snap!
snap!
hear the sounds of the different missiles—the short t-h-t! t-h-t! of the
Rifle shells exploding, leaving small white clouds
hum and whirr of wind through the trees,
I breathe the suffocating smoke
the wounded, dripping and red,
Throughout the rest of the poem, repetition and alliteration are used as Whitman brings a sense of quiet chaos of the aftereffects of war to us readers.
No comments:
Post a Comment