Walt Whitman's "Beat! Beat! Drums!"

Walt Whitman’s poem “Beat! Beat! Drums!” supports Mark Neely’s assertion that Whitman does not include any comments or opinions about the Emancipation Proclamation in his poetry. “Beat! Beat! Drums!” may rather be a poem used by Whitman to call the people’s attention to the state of the nation during the Civil war. In the poem, the drums and bugles are so loud that it causes everyone in the towns and cities to take notice. The speaker describes the drums as a “ruthless force” that penetrates doors and windows and disturbs everyone’s lives; no one is left in peace or happiness.
The use of repetition in the line “Beat! beat! drum!—blow! bugles! Blow!” that begins each stanza adds to the sense that Whitman is calling the people’s attention. One could almost imagine the rhythmic drumming and blowing growing louder and louder throughout the poem. In the second stanza, the speaker implies the importance of people to pay attention to the issue that he is presenting. If lawyers, sleepers, brokers, and other people of the cities and towns can go on with their business, the drummers and bugle players must play louder. The speaker says, “Then rattle quicker, heavier drums—you bugles wilder blow.” The speaker encourages the drummers and bugle players to play louder as to drown out all noise of everyday life. The issue that Whitman is calling attention to is unknown, but this issue is important to everyone and touches everyone’s lives just like the sound of the drums and bugles. Whitman’s history may suggest that he is against slavery; however, the poem does not explicitly mention or even allude to slavery and the emancipation proclamation. Though Whitman does not explicitly include who is playing the drums and bugles or what these instruments are use to call attention to, it can be inferred that the drums and bugles are part of an army that is marching through the towns and cities, announcing its presence and calling attention to the war.