Walt Whitman and Herman Melville were both affected by the Civil War to such a degree that they each published a volume of poetry about the conflict. Although both men confront similar issues and feelings, particularly in their poems about death, they do so through means as different as each's Civil War experience. Whitman spent much of the war visiting wounded soldiers in Washington, witnessing their physical and emotional devastation and speaking with them about their experiences. He wrote letters home on behalf of those who were unable to do so and sometimes even wrote to inform parents of their son's death. Meanwhile, Melville, although emotionally involved throughout the conflict, waited until the war was in its final stages to begin gathering information, which came largely from newspaper reports (Garner 388). Their different approaches, as well as the name of each author's collection of Civil War poetry, are very telling about what is printed there. Whitman's Drum Taps, named after the tune played at military funerals, is largely concerned with the profound effects of war on individuals, a technique made more powerful by the reader's knowledge that each individual is representative countless others who have been similarly affected. . Melville's Battle-pieces, on the other hand, is a chronological volume that primarily uses historical events as a basis for understanding the emotions of war. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get Original Essay An ominous darkness permeates the setting of Whitman's “A March in the Hard Ranks and the Uncharted Road.” After marching after midnight through a dark forest, the battered troops come upon a church, dimly lit but glimmering amid the surrounding darkness. Once inside this “makeshift hospital,” the dim lighting becomes even more haunting, as it is just enough to illuminate “a spectacle beyond all the pictures and poems ever made.” Between "Shadows of deepest, deepest black" and "clouds of smoke", the speaker, engulfed in the smell of blood, witnesses a miserable assortment of "bloody forms", some in “indescribable postures”. In the midst of this bloody disorder, a wounded soldier attracts the speaker's attention. The young man's face, "lily white" from loss of blood, offers perhaps the boldest contrast to the overwhelming darkness of the poem. Unfortunately, this youth's pure whiteness is only a precursor to his abandonment to the shadows, as he drifts peacefully toward death, allowing the speaker to "rush full speed into the darkness." This scene, so dark and mysterious and heartbreaking that the speaker has difficulty describing it, is ultimately just another brief stop on “the unknown road.” While the speaker in "A March in the Hard Ranks and the Unknown Road" surveys the carnage of dead and living men and stays with a soldier as he passes from one to the other, the speaker in " Vigil Strange I Kept on the Field One Night" stays with his son after the boy's death. This poem is also characterized by darkness. On “the battlefield in darkness,” the speaker returns to the spot where his friend was killed to see the dead soldier's face illuminated only by starlight. He spends the entire night with his fallen son, remembering their last physical connection and the deep emotional relationship that the speaker believes will transcend death, stating, "I think we will surely meet again." Besides thelack of light in the poem, there is also a lack of sound and movement. The speaker is so still and contemplative that he does not even release a tear or a sigh, and explicitly notes his eventual change in posture from standing to lying down. The poem laments the bloodshed of war while praising the bravery of soldiers and celebrating the transcendent power of love to overcome the most merciless carnage. At the end of the poem, the sun rises, symbolizing the new hope of the mourners. The speaker rises “as the day brightens,” ending the “mystical and immortal” hours of his vigil. The idea of ​​love conquering darkness is examined once again by Whitman in “Dirge for Two Veterans.” The poem unfolds as "the last ray of sunlight falls lightly" and a beautiful but "horrible phantom moon" rises. A funeral procession, or “march of the dead,” approaches to place a father and son in a double grave. Once all the daylight is gone, the moon grows brighter, taking on the aura of a mother's face, "brighter and brighter in the sky", almost watching over them as they begin a new life in his heavenly kingdom. By illuminating the soldiers in an otherwise dark night, he soothes the speaker, who passionately pledges his love to his fallen men. Whitman deals not only with the painful scenes of the war zone, but also with the boundless emotional consequences of incidents such that their effects reverberate throughout the country. The bucolic tranquility of the parents' Ohio home in "Come Up From the Fields Father" stands in stark contrast to the soldiers' bloody world in which death has become the new norm. The rhythms of nature are uninterrupted as the abundant colors of fall frame the sweet smell of ripening apples and grapes, while bees flit peacefully around the buckwheat. But this vibrant sensory stimulation quickly disappears when a mother opens an envelope and grieves: "Oh, this is not our son's handwriting, yet his name is signed." Immediately sensing disaster, his vision "flashes black" which obscures all but the main words of the letter. Despite assurances from the letter and her daughter that her son will recover from his gunshot wound, the mother has a hunch that her son is dead. The poem drifts further into darkness as the mother dresses in black and sleeps restlessly "In the midnight waking, weeping, wishing" that she might leave this life and join her beloved son for the eternity. The death of young men is also considered in Melville's works. In one of the first battle pieces, "The March to Virginia, Ending in First Manassas." (July 1861),” Melville marveled at the “confidence and joy” of the soldiers at the start of the war. Speaking in terms of "youth" rather than individual soldiers, he comments that wars are fought with the "ignorant impulse" of young people, who disregard "the warnings of the wise." Their enthusiasm takes on an almost festive appearance as “the banners play and the bugles sound” under a sumptuously blue sky. He compares their joy to that of picnickers or berry pickers walking happily through the woods. But this carefree atmosphere suddenly darkens when the poet notes that some of the boys with this "joyful mood" will soon die. But it is only when the “voluntary gaze” has enlightened them physically and mentally that they will realize their erroneous conception of war. It will be too late for those who died, and the survivors will only feel "shame" for having outlived their dear friends. Even if the age of the speaker allows him to see the error of..