by Whitman · Cluster: War and its Cost · American Civil War · Battlefield
Abstract
Elegy for Revolutionary War prison-ship dead, ranked above classical heroes as the foundation stones of America.
Connections
Archetypes: Martyr Saint Motifs: Dust, Grave Themes & Concepts: Nationalism and Patriotism, War and its Cost Forms & Genres: Epigram, Free Verse Historical References: American Civil War, Classical Antiquity Characters: Odysseus Ulysses
Testo integrale / Full text
Cluster: SANDS AT SEVENTY
Greater than memory of Achilles or Ulysses,
More, more by far to thee than tomb of Alexander,
Those cart loads of old charnel ashes, scales and splints of mouldy bones,
Once living men—once resolute courage, aspiration, strength,
The stepping stones to thee to-day and here, America.