Witmans Calvalry Crossing the Ford and Cranes War Is Kind :: essays research papers

US Clergyman Henry Emerson once said, â€Å"The tragedy of war is that it uses man's best to do man's worst." And I agree with him. What is it about the human race and war anyway? Well, Carl von Clausewitz also said that, "To secure peace is to prepare for war." I also agree with that. War is an ironic subject at times. And war can also be a way of life for some people. Walt Whitman and Stephen Crane’s poems have no similarities and they both have different ways in writing about war. In Whitman’s poem, â€Å"Cavalry Crossing a Ford† he writes about a Cavalry marching off to war. From my research, Whitman recreates a scene from [Union General Lovell H.] Rousseau's raid through Alabama in July 1864, when his troops were crossing the Coosa River at Ten Islands Ford. He brings to life his poem by describing many details about the Cavalry’s surroundings by using lots of visual imagery. It has much visual imagery considering the length of the poem. Whitman also writes using free-verse. The speaker in the poem is taking his time to view nature; he isn’t in a rush to go to war. War is not what the speaker wants to think about. He wants to savor what may his last moments. For he knows that when he crosses the ford, he may not return home alive. In Crane’s poem, â€Å"War is Kind† he writes about how war is â€Å"kind,† though in reality, war it isn’t. War is never kind. The speaker is telling a maiden not to cry for her dead lover. He tells child to not cry over his dead father, and for a mother not to cry over her her dead son. Crane uses lots of irony in this poem. Which leaves the reader thinking the speaker is cold hearted. The speaker in Crane’s poem is sarcastic about war and is sardonic in his perspectives considering war. Although underneath the sarcasm and coldness, the speaker could be feeling anguish, and sadness. That person might be feeling bitter because he may have experienced war first hand or may have lost a loved on in war.