Symbolism
The second line of the poem "And the great star early droop'd ..." establishes the allusion to Lincoln. The blooming of the lilacs in April, the same month in which Lincoln was assassinated, serves as Whitman's yearly reminder of Lincoln's death. This star is historically the planet Venus, which was low in the sky at the time Whitman wrote his poem.
Read more about this topic: When Lilacs Last In The Dooryard Bloom'd
Famous quotes containing the word symbolism:
“...I remembered the rose bush that had reached a thorny branch out through the ragged fence, and caught my dress, detaining me when I would have passed on. And again the symbolism of it all came over me. These memories and visions of the poor—they were the clutch of the thorns. Social workers have all felt it. It holds them to their work, because the thorns curve backward, and one cannot pull away.”
—Albion Fellows Bacon (1865–1933)