Bring on the tough stuff - there’s not just one right answer.
- What are the three biggest symbols (the "trinity") in the poem? What does each symbol represent and why are they all so important?
- How is Whitman's elegy different from other elegies (like "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard")? How does the speaker make us feel and think differently about death?
- How does the speaker create a sense of unity throughout the poem? How does this unified feeling contribute to our understanding of death in the poem?
- How would you describe the speaker's voice in the poem? Do his changing moods contribute anything to our understanding of death and grieving? How do you know?
- How might the poem have sounded different if Whitman chose to go with a prescribed rhyme and meter rather than free verse?
- Would the poem's meaning have been any different? Why or why not?