Lilacs

This poem was refreshing to me. Compared to the other poems we read, this is less about the sadness and despair in hard times but of seeing a brightness during dark times. Each stanza seems to alternate a dark and light feel. When the lilacs are mentioned, Whitman paints the picture of spring and of growing things. In stanza 3, Whitman says, "In the dooryard fronting an old farm-house near the white-wash'd pailings, Stands the lilac-bush tall-grow with heart-shaped leaves of rich green."

We are all aware of the looming assurance of death. It is like the night full of stars. The darkness surrounds all of us and eventually we'll be swallowed up by it, our starlight will fade and dissipate until there is nothing left. Whitman is noting that as he walks through the night, "As you droop'd from the sky low down as if to my side, (while the other starts look'd on..."

Yet he continually comes back to the growing lilac in the dooryard, almost as if this is a cycle. The cycle of life. Spring comes and there is growth and then there is night and death. Even though there is death, there are lilacs growing with lush green leaves. Whitman has written a very moving poem depicting the sadness of death mixed with the joy and love of growth and new life. In this life, we should all remember to take the good things in life with the bad that happens. For there is always a spring after winter.