Ramla Abdi LA 11a – period 5 November 24,2014 Why Live in This Kind of World
A well-known 19th c. poet Walt Whitman's major concept in his poetry is basically about the events around him and more often about himself. In poem "The Wound Dresser" he focuses on suffering and pain soldiers go through after battle, either with victory or defeated. In he poem he tries his best to save the lives of those he can yet suffers watching others as they fade away while life moves on.
During the civil war many soldiers went through a lot of suffering and pain. Walt Whitman focused on this through the images he gives in his poem "The Wound Dresser" where he speaks about how they were laying down with priceless blood all around them.
"When…show more content… Hard the breathing rattles, quite glazed already the eye, yet life struggles hard,
(Come sweet death! be persuaded O beautiful death! In mercy come quickly)" As he tries to dress the wound on the mans neck which a bullet went through, he just couldn't stand the suffering that the man was going through and wished for the sweet death to come and take him from this harsh world and end all this suffering. Yet he doesn't back down and dress the wound of all the surviving soldiers. In conclusion, Walt Whitman’s main idea about this poem is to spread the news, show the worlds people of their future and how soldiers go through pain and suffering from both sides even if it's victory on their side others still suffer from wounds they acquire during the battle. He tries to show that there is no point of living when you suffering all the time because even when you die no one will even remember you and the things you did will all be forgotten. Why live when you can end all this suffering and pain. Even though you go through suffering at the end you will fade away and the less the world will care about it and it goes