"Come up from the fields, father."
But the mother needs to be better;
She, with thin form, presently dressed in black;
By day her meals untouched,—then at night fitfully sleeping, often waking,
In the midnight waking, weeping, longing with one deep longing,
Oh, that she might withdraw unnoticed, silent from life, escape and withdraw,
To follow, to seek, to be with her dear dead son!
FOOTNOTE:
[30] By Walt Whitman, an American poet (1819-1892).
Expression: This poem is descriptive of an incident which occurred during the Civil War. There were many such incidents, both in the North and in the South. Read the selection silently to understand its full meaning. Who are the persons pictured to your imagination after reading it? Describe the place and the time.
Now read the poem aloud, giving full expression to its pathetic meaning. Select the most striking descriptive passage and read it. Select the stanza which seems to you the most touching, and read it.
Study now the peculiarities of the poem. Do the lines rime? Are they of similar length? What can you say about the meter?
Compare this poem with the two gems from Browning, pages [38] and [41]. Compare it with the selection from Longfellow, page [54]; with that from Lanier, page [66]. How does it differ from any or all of these? What is poetry? Name three great American poets; three great English poets.