Leaves of Grass · Chapter
Old War-Dreams explained
The speaker reflects on haunting dreams of war, recalling the faces of the wounded and dead, the natural scenes after battle, and the trenches where bodies were gathered.
What happens
The speaker reflects on haunting dreams of war, recalling the faces of the wounded and dead, the natural scenes after battle, and the trenches where bodies were gathered. Though the war has long passed, these memories persist in midnight dreams.
Themes in this chapter
Death and Immortality
The poem dwells on the dead and the mortally wounded, exploring the persistence of memory beyond death.
Celebration of Nature and the Universe
Nature scenes—fields, mountains, skies after a storm, and the bright moon—are juxtaposed with the horrors of war.
Characters to notice
- Narrator
The speaker who dreams of war scenes and recalls moving through carnage with composure.
Key passages
“In midnight sleep of many a face of anguish, Of the look at first of the mortally wounded, (of that indescribable look,) Of the dead on their backs with arms extended wide, I dream, I dream, I dream.”
During sleep at midnight, I see the anguished faces of the mortally wounded and the dead lying on their backs with arms outstretched, and I keep dreaming of them.
The repetition emphasizes the haunting, recurring nature of these war memories.
“Of scenes of Nature, fields and mountains, Of skies so beauteous after a storm, and at night the moon so unearthly bright, Shining sweetly, shining down, where we dig the trenches and gather the heaps, I dream, I dream, I dream.”
I also dream of beautiful natural scenes—fields, mountains, clear skies after a storm, and the moon shining brightly on the trenches where we buried the dead.
The contrast between nature's beauty and the grim task of burying the dead highlights the dissonance of war.
“Long have they pass’d, faces and trenches and fields, Where through the carnage I moved with a callous composure, or away from the fallen, Onward I sped at the time—but now of their forms at night, I dream, I dream, I dream.”
Those faces, trenches, and fields are long gone. During the war, I moved through the slaughter with a hardened calm, but now at night, their images come back to me in dreams.
The speaker acknowledges a delayed emotional response, where past composure gives way to persistent, haunting dreams.