Diction In Walt Whitman's Poetry
Death can be blissful, life can be painful, immobility causes insanity, and pain causes peace. During an extremely unfortunate turn of events, Walt Whitman's poetry sadly began to reflect this brutally truthful principle. His health was on a quick decline and he was practically dead. It was later in he's life when he found peace with himself and his pain therefore pain and peace were recurring themes in his somewhat gloomy later poetry. His gloomy and dismal style was displayed with a seamless and beautiful incorporation of elaborate diction and a dramatic tone into his already lovely poetry.
Firstly, Whitman was a patriotic man. He loved his country and his poetry reflected it until a horrifying day in 1873 when tragedy struck. On January 26, 1873 Walt Whitman suffered from a stroke that resulted in paralysation
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His yearning for death is accentuated in his work with elaborate diction and a dramatic tone. For example, in his poem, "Death's Valley", Whitman uses elaborate and somewhat extravagant wording when he says "And I myself for long, O Death, have/ breathed my every breath/", simply put, he feels that his life is over. His nearly labyrinthine word choice gives his work more emotion than something blatantly said. In another case, his poem, "Whispers of Heavenly Death", Whitman uses an exorbitantly dramatic tone when he states, "Ripples of unseen rivers- tides of a current, flowing, forever flowing/", when he could have said that he was crying hysterically. In addition to elaborate diction and dramatic tone, Whitman uses personification to accentuate the emotional aspects of his poetry. Specifically Whitman's poem ,"Ode to Death" ,that states "For the sure-enwinding arms of cool/ enfolding death...". Walt Whitman speaks of death as though it is a person because he was at peace and was ready to welcome
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