The Artilleryman’s Vision by Walt Whitman Poem Analysis

Walt Whitman wrote a poem and a letter that both have to do with the same event that went down in history. Though a poem and a letter to a loved one may be very different pieces of writing, it doesn’t mean they are too different from one another. They both have their differences and similarities, despite the type of writing and perspective.

In his poem, The Artilleryman’s Vision, he writes from the perspective of a soldier who fought in the Civil War. The poem is about how war still affects soldiers even after the war is over. In the poem, it says, “There in the room as I wake from sleep this vision presses upon me,” Which shows that the soldier still has bad memories of the war, even though it is over. On the other hand, Walt’s letter to his mother is about what he’s seen so far and what he has experienced as a volunteer nurse. In the letter, it says, “Our soldier is from Pennsylvania; has had a pretty severe time; the wounds proved to be bad ones. But he retains a good heart, and is at present on the gain…” This quote shows that Walt understands that even after the war, the soldiers are affected in terrible ways. In both pieces of writing, it shows that the soldiers were affected mentally and physically in the aftermath of the war.

In the letter to his mother, the tone that Walt uses is hopeful and focuses on the bright side way more than the poem does. In the letter, it says, “One middle-aged man, however, who seemed to be moving around the field among the dead and wounded for benevolent purposes, came to him in a way he will never forget,” and, “This man treated our soldier kindly, bound up his wounds, cheered him, gave him a couple of biscuits..” and so on. He also states in the last paragraph that the soldier from Pennsylvania will be recovering. This shows that the letter is slightly more cheerful, while on the other hand, the poem is the opposite. Unlike the letter, the poem goes into detail about the terrible visions the soldier is seeing. In the poem, it says, “The crashing and smoking, the pride of the men in their pieces,” and “I hear the sounds of the different missiles…” Which tells about the horrors of the war. The tones in both pieces of writing are extremely different from one another.

Besides the tone and writing style being different, so are the characters in the stories. While the poem is from an artilleryman’s point of view, the letter is written from Walt himself, and it is also from his point of view. In his letter, Walt talks to one of the soldiers and finds out more details about the war. It says, “He likes to have someone to talk to, and we will listen to him. He got badly wounded in the leg and side at Fredericksburg that eventful Saturday, 13th December.” It then goes more and more into detail about how he was left to his fate. Walt talks to a soldier about the war in his letter, while the poem is through the eyes of another soldier. The poem isn’t as personal as the letter is.  

Walt Whitman’s poem and letter are similar in terms of the historical events, theme, and characters in his writings, but they’re way different in terms of perspective, personal events, and genre. Even if two pieces of writing are about the same event, it doesn’t mean they’re similar at all. They can be two completely different things.