Question

In "Beat! Beat! Drums!" and "Come Up from the Fields Father," what word choices strike you as most interesting and effective? Explain the effects those word choices have.

Answer 1

The choice of commanding words "Beat! beat! drums! —blow! bugles! blow!" and “Come Up from the Fields Father,” at the beginning of the poems are the most striking, interesting and effective to create the desired atmosphere of the poet.

Explanation:

Every stanza of the poem, “Beat! Beat! Drums!” starts with the words, "Beat! beat! drums! —blow! bugles! blow!" to grasp for playing the instruments so piercingly that can blowout everywhere in the neighboring air. Whitman imagines that the sound fills the churches to congregate the scattered crowd, interrupts scholars from studying, disturbs the bride and groom trying to get privacy, and calls the farmers working in their fields. The words so sound cutting and effective to create the desired atmosphere of the Civil War.  The rhythmic pulse of the beginning line emphasizes the poem's appeal. The short, recurring syllables mimic the sound of beating drums and blowing bugles.  

Walt Whitman composes “Come up from the Fields, Father,” a poem on the topic of war, more precisely the impact that the involvement of a soldier in the war.  The poem begins on a calm autumn day in Ohio, where a farm was tranquil and amazing.  Abruptly the oldest daughter of the household starts calling “Come up from the Fields, Father,” to hear the sad news that their son has been fighting in the Civil War. The choice of words is accurate to create desired atmosphere of war at tranquil moment. Sound impact and alliteration of the properly placed words are the most interesting and effective.

Answer 2

The words that seem most effective and interesting in the poem “Beat! Beat! Drums!” are from the first stanza, fifth line. Which are:

“Leave not the bridegroom quiet—no happiness must he have now with his bride”.

Explanation:

• These words strike a chord as it is expressed, sarcastically, that now that the civil war has started, it shall and will not show pity or empathy towards anyone.
• Not even the bride and the bridegroom who would have looked forward to their first day of togetherness as a married couple.

• The poet unwillingly encourages the evils of civil war sounds and actions to disrupt the lives of every person who would be otherwise peaceful and gay, as that is what civil wars do to a society.

From the poem “Come Up from the Fields Father”, the words that seem interesting and effective care from the fourth stanza, which are:

   “See, dearest mother, the letter says Pete will soon be better.

   Alas, poor boy, he will never be better”.

Explanation:

• These lines from the poem depict the irony of the grave situation that the mother of Pete faces when she gets a letter from her son who is in the war.

• The letter received tries to pacify her that Pete is fine and only just wounded but in her heart, she knows that her son is already dead.
• This is the most dreadful thing for a mother to accept and live with. But she has no choice but to live with this reality and go ahead in her now devastated life.