Introduction

When we analyze Walt Whitmans concept of death we must first analyze conception of death throughout literature not just poetry. It seems that authors view of death has changed as their life changed, or it is better to say as new events happened in their lives. This does not apply only to authors but also to characters in their works. This change of attitude to certain concepts as their life is changing could also be applied to Walt Whitman. Nature was sacred to Transcendentalists, it was the source of their inspiration and above all place where they could find answers to almost any question about certain concepts. For Walt Whitman and other transcendentalists death does not represent an end but new beginnings, renewal and life. Whitman sees death from the perspective of a phoenix each death brings new life, so death is low and delicious and the word stronger and more delicious than any because if one focuses solely on life, they will always be disappointed because of the finite nature of life, but if one focuses on death, life will always be sweet because it will bring death which brings more life1. However this could be applied only to some of Whitmans poems. In his poems This Compost and Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking he sees death as something normal not as something bad, or sad, but as tool for natures renewal or as a teacher in life. He sees it as a part of nature. Interpreted from these poems it seems that to Whitman death does not exist. You die but it is not real death. You die and then you are reborn not in the same shape, but you are reborn and you live again. However his perception of death has changed significantly especially during and after the American Civil War.

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Whitman worked at the hospital during Civil War and he saw many wounded soldiers,soldiers without limbs and it affected his life but also his perception of death and his poetry in general.

Leaves of Grass

Leaves of Grass is a poetry collection written by Walt Whitman in 1855.It is his most important and most famous work. Among the poems in the collection are "Song of Myself", "I Sing the Body Electric", and in later editions, Whitman's elegy to the assassinated President Abraham Lincoln, "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd". Whitman spent his entire life writing Leaves of Grass,2 revising it in several editions until his death. At the beginning of his career Whitman did not write about death. It was only in later editions of Leaves of Grass that Whitman began writing poems with death as main theme.. His most famous poem is Song of Myself where he celebrates himself, life in general and of course nature. In this poem in stanza 34 he writes about Goliad massacre in Texas. Although he celebrates bravery of the soldiers who were killed, he also presents death in different way than just something normal. Now death is bloody, soldiers suffer and Whitman feels sorry for them. However in stanza 52, the last stanza in the poem, which is about dying of the poetic voice, death is not defeat, but victory.He preaches the immortality and invincibility of humanity, the certain realization of an ideal existence on earth3.So even in Song of Myself reader gets the impression that Whitmans perception of death is ambiguous.

2 3

, James E. Miller Jr., Walt Whitman, New York: Twayne Publishers, Inc. 1962,p.57 Zvonimir Radeljkovic, The Comprehensive Walt Whitman , American Topics,Buybook,Sarajevo,2005,p.147

Symbol of Grass

Whitman wanted to be different from European writers, so he used unique symbol for his originality and universality. The grass. Grass grows everywhere it does not care about religion, class or language. It is symbol of democracy but it is also the symbol of life and death. The symbol of life because it grows again every spring and it is universal symbol it exists everywhere, but it is also a symbol of death. Death to Whitman is great equalizer it annuls everything, you cant take with you anything when you die even if you had earned it.

When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd"

However the most famous Whitmans poem written about death is elegy dedicated to American President Abraham Lincoln who was murdered after he signed Emancipation proclamation which set all the slaves free on territory controlled by Confederates. In this poem Whitman shows his lament for the president Lincoln describing him as the Western star, and lilac which he puts on his grave symbolizes renewal of life, because lilacs will grow again in the spring and perhaps some new Lincoln will be born just like that lilac will be born again. Exactly in this symbol of lilac we can see how ambiguous actually Whitmans perception of death is. Lilac at some point symbolizes poets respect to all who are dead then later he diminishes its worth by saying that its just a twig, like Whitman himself is not sure how to mourn President Lincoln properly. In this poem we can see Whitmans sadness even though he tried to abate this by image of lilac which will be born again and hoping that some new Lincoln will be born again. Now this is completely different perception of death from the one

we have in Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking. In this poem death serves to show how compared to nature nobody is important, death serves as a lesson, once you realize what death is then you can move on, you are closer to understand the meaning of life and death and then you realize how connected or intertwined death and life really are. It is obvious that Whitman admired Abraham Lincoln and that Civil War and Lincolns death were a loss not only for America and Americans but also for Whitman personally. Conclusion Through his poems we can see that death for walt Whitman has rather ambiguous meaning.Sometimes it just presents a new beginning but sometimes it presents real loss and sadness for somebody.Death is mysterious, it is an invisible line between this life and the next one.Walt Whitman was disputed and praised throughout his life and just as his poetry can be interpreted in many ways the same applies to his view on death.