“When the lilacs last in the yard they bloomed” by Walt Whitman is an elegiac poem in memory of Abraham Lincoln. The poem follows the narrator as he waits to place a sprig of lilac on the president's casket, the physical journey Lincoln's coffin takes across the country, and, finally, a lone bird mourning far from civilization. Specifically, the poem's opening stanzas following the narrator and the stanzas concerning the thrush characterize the poem as an elegy through the use of classical elegiac conventions, such as references to nature, song, the apotheosis of the dead and to transference. of the narrator's mourning to the whole world. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Throughout the poem, Whitman uses traditional imagery and symbolism typically employed in an elegiac poem. One component of elegiac imagery is based on an emphasis on nature or the pastoral, which is evident from the first line of the poem: When the lilacs last in the yard they bloom, / And the great star soon sinks in the west. night sky, / I cried - and yet I will cry with the return of spring. Whitman uses the image of colorful lilacs and spring, the season of new life, to juxtapose Lincoln's untimely death and to convey the speaker's deep sadness to follow on each death anniversary. This reference to the “ever-returning spring” also adds a somber tone by implying that although the human world may be in mourning, the natural world is separate from humanity and will always return to new life in spring, regardless of the “great star… that ] soon fell. "Astrological symbolism or apotheosis of the dead is another common feature in the elegy; Whitman uses both in “When the lilacs last in the yard they bloom.” Throughout the poem, Whitman refers to Lincoln several times as a star: O mighty fallen western star! / O shadows of the night! O moody and tearful night! / O great star gone! raises the fallen president to the sky, in an almost divine way. The image used to describe the fallen star consumed by darkness is reminiscent of an eclipse or the last moments of the day when the sun finally sets; this image in connection with Lincoln is a sign of the speaker's belief that Lincoln's death was premature and occurred too soon The speaker's choice of words also indicates that Lincoln was a sort of guiding star or light for America, and now that he is gone. gone, the nation is plunged into temporary darkness at the end of the Civil War. Whitman uses the thrush to symbolize the mourning nature and as a comparison to the correctness of the narrator's mourning. He says of the bird: “Bloody throat song! / The song of life that death gives to life – (for, dear brother, I know / If you had not the gift of singing, you would surely die.)” The bird cries in a lonely swamp because it would die without the gift of life. song, not in the midst of the civilization spurred by Lincoln's death. The narrator recognizes and understands the thrush's song, but is unable to produce his own song for his fallen star: But I tarry a moment - for the shining star has held me; / The star, my departing companion, supports me and holds me back. / Or how will I warble for the dead man I loved there? / And how will I embellish my song for the great, sweet soul that's gone? / And what will my perfume be, for the tomb of the one I love? The one who talks to the lilac does not feel that he can cry for the fallen president, who means as much to him as the lonely thrush in the swamp with his.