In Walt Whitman's poem, " Come Up From the Fields Father" war is a manifestation of sorrow, that produces more pain than rewards. We speak of war's glorious victories, but seldom take into account the lives rendered to get there. While war is a temporary solution to a current problem, the death of a soldier presents a permanence, one which can never be changed.
             In the opening of the poem a sense of tranquility is presented, expressing the beauty life has to offer. It is these conditions in which one feels safe without a worry in the world. For example, " Above all, lo, the sky so calm , so transparent after the rain , and with wondrous clouds, Below too, all calm, all vital and beautiful, and the farm prospers well." This sense of comfort can be comprised as swiftly as it was presented when tragedy strikes your life. The opposite of war is presented through this serene setting, and once you lose someone through war some of its beauty is lost. This same beauty can be found in someone you love, and when you lose them as a casualty of war life will never seem as sweet.
             Walt Whitman was strongly opposed to the idea of slavery, and the idea that men were dying by trying to bring upon its abolition pained him intensely. Instead of people being united and taking pride in their country, they were fighting over an issue that many believed a life should not be taken as a result of. A great victory may have been won as a result of the war, but Walt Whitman felt the loss of human life caused much deeper problems that could not be reversed. For example, a mother that had a seemingly happy life had it all torn down when the news of fallen son had arrived. It drove her to a point where she did not want to live anymore, and thoughts of her son dominated. For example her sadness is captured when she says, " O that she might withdraw unnoticed, silent from life escape and withdraw, to follow, to seek, to be
             with her dear dead son." Nothing is...