Although the speaker moves from one horrific moment to the next, he takes a moment to reflect within himself how he is feeling. - The parentheses mimic the visual of the fire within the speaker's chest because the words are sitting in between the parentheses - It seems as if the speaker is trying to calm himself down with all of the chaos and heavily emotional circumstances that are going on around him - The inside of his breast where the fire is warm, seems to be like the only safe and secure place

The speaker is proclaiming that he would give up his life for someone that he does not even know. It is almost as if this is a father and son relationship, yet the speaker does not even know the soldier. - Pathos, the appeal to emotion, is at work here. The speaker is making deliberate word choices to invoke feelings of sorrow and sadness. Giving up your life for someone you do not even know is a striking proclamation and an overwhelmingly emotional part of this poem.

“Nurses Who Led the Way: Walt Whitman.” NursingCenter, https://www.nursingcenter.com/ncblog/may-2014/nurses-who-led-the-way-walt-whitman. - In this article about Whitman's experience as a war nurse, I found it most interesting that Whitman traveled to Washington D.C. to tend to his wounded brother (a soldier). After seeing his brother and the other soldiers in the hospital, he felt inspired to volunteer himself to help and provide care. Looking at this through a new lens, it is more clear why Whitman conveys such clear emotions. Whitman has a strong connection to wounded soldiers because of his brother. - His emotions are seen through his diction: "poor boy".

Rather than being in the war, the speaker helps soldiers that are suffering.

The trauma of war is so significant and even the nurses experience it. Emotional support via an attendant is needed to accompany the nurse [the speaker] so that he is not alone during these emotional times.

These lines remind me of a child (or children) asking a grandparent to tell a story about something they experienced in history (like a war or a significant time period)

The speaker was excited...at first - There is a tone shift!

Gross...I can picture this!

The speaker ended up as a war nurse when his "fingers fail'd" -- confused what he is getting at here

Armus, Teo. “Was Walt Whitman 'Gay'? New Textbook Rules Spark LGBTQ History Debate.” NBCNews.com, NBCUniversal News Group, 22 Nov. 2017, https://www.nbcnews.com/feature/nbc-out/was-walt-whitman-gay-new-textbook-rules-spark-lgbtq-history-n821636. - The quote, "Many a soldier's kiss dwells on these bearded lips" supports the theory that Walt Whitman may have been a queer man. In the article I found, it was particularly interesting to see how new textbook rules about LGBTQ people in history, like Whitman, are being debated. California has been looking to implement the country's first LGBTQ inclusive curriculum; however, state education officials and publishers are debating how to refer to Whitman given that he never explicitly came out. Some people are advocating for the importance of highlighting the contributions of people in the LGBTQ community. On the other hand, people are objecting to this idea because they believe that they cannot apply new terms/labels [LGBTQ] to people who lived long before they were established. The outcome of this debate is very influential because not only will it affect the education of children living in California, but it will also influence other states to take a position on this debate as well. I think it is important to acknowledge these aspects of queerness in Whitman's works in order to more clearly understand Whitman as a writer and a person. Essentially knowing this information could shift the reader's point of view on the meaning of the poem.

It is so interesting to examine the psychological state of the wounded and the dying soldier - It gives insight into the mind of the soldier and the eyes of the speaker Lustrea, John. “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and the Civil War.” National Museum of Civil War Medicine, 21 June 2021, https://www.civilwarmed.org/ptsd/. - The descriptions of the psychological state of these soldiers interested me. In this article, I found that Civil War doctors and soldiers didn't see a connection between war and psychological injuries. Despite these beliefs, a lot of modern evidence supports the fact that soldiers during this time period mentally suffered after experiencing such trauma. This was in the form of PTSD, or Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. - "The historical record leaves no doubt that Civil War veterans contended with emotional and psychological fallout from their military experiences, whether or not they realized it" (Lustrea, 2021). - Although no one really believed in such mental disorders at the time, it is interesting that Whitman himself seems go against this claim and acknowledge the mental state of the soldiers as he describes the ways in which they experience pain.

This part is very gory! -- great imagery

The juxtaposition of these two "s" words emphasizes how beautifully sound the following image is (the cross-armed soldier touching his neck), but also how utterly sad it is to witness death.

The image here of dying soldiers with their arms crossed on the nurses's neck closes the poem. - This image reflects on the theme of this section: human comfort - This closeness of these two men reflects the acts of humankind and companionship. The symbol of these men together shows how communal grief really is.

In this section (4), there is a tone shift that suggest that it is human contact and comfort that is most important during these times

Here, the speaker is connecting and relating the experience of nurses to the experience of soldiers - Although the soldiers are experiencing pain on the battle field and are brave in that sense, the speaker is acknowledging how brave a nurse has to be to take on the severity of emotions that come with being a war nurse

The repetition of "deep" emphasizes the severity of the wound

The injured human body is gruesomely described and depicted via diction -- "stump"

This part of the poem examines the human spirit and the desire to live, despite the reality that death is inevitable. - The rattling of the breathing and the glazed eyes of the soldier show how strongly the soldier is trying to live, yet he struggles to fight against death - When the speaker responds and tells death to come quickly it is evident how difficult it is to watch one suffer, despite possibly not ever knowing this person prior to being his nurse

Moved by the extremity of the wound! - It is more interesting to see, however, how the speaker says "poor boy" because it shows how empathetic and compassionate the speaker is for the young soldier - The soldiers feel the pain physically and that pain is translated to the nurse by way of emotional pain and suffering

The length of this part of the poem serves to convey how this process seems to be never-ending, just like how the long sentence separated by commas seems to go on and on.

This is so visual! - People often forget solider's wartime...it is so sad that it is forgotten so quickly and just washed away like how the waves come up on the sand and create a new, untouched slate

The speaker relates the excited and innocent questions of the listeners (children) - The children probably think that they are going to hear about a heroic battle or a great victory, but instead the realities of the war are what is most stuck in the speaker's mind

The speaker answers his own question here

It is not the glories of war that remain in the speaker's head, but rather the painful realities of the war (such as the gruesome violence that soldiers experience and in turn the violence and gore that the speaker, as a nurse, sees as well)

Here Douglass makes a biblical reference to Abraham (John 8:39). https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/abolitionist-movement - "Historians believe ideas set forth during the religious movement known as the Second Great Awakening inspired abolitionists to rise up against slavery" - "This Protestant revival encouraged the concept of adopting renewed morals, which centered around the idea that all men are created equal in the eyes of God."

The personification of death, darkness, and decay gives them more power and dominion, than if they were simply ideas or things

adding 'the' gives Prince Prospero a more noble title -- not colloquial

the italicized 'are' emphasizes the word more heavily, which causes me to wonder if it was important that it was pronounced differently and if it served a specific meaning - I believe, however, that this is not the case and that was why it was switched to be in regular font and text

the change from "the twelfth hour" to "sounding of midnight hour" gives the story a more ominous and eerie tone

moment, momently, for a moment, and momentarily - these have all appeared in the text and have been changed, which may signify the shift to more commonly used language or more easily understandable and flowing words/sentences

Poe uses personification to emphasize the deepness and internal heaviness that the clock is serving to remind the guests about hourly -- that death is approaching

none of the other colors were described or compared to nouns that they resembled...only scarlet - Serves as an important visual and understanding of the gruesome aspects of the story

the change in paragraph(s) might help to organize the author's ideas more clearly, with like ideas together

'within' and 'without' adjacent to one another magnifies the drama and omnipotence of the "Read Death" via juxtaposition

Was this change necessary? - the comma, however, does seem to serve as a pause between 'dauntless' and 'sagacious' -- could be used for dramatic effect or style

The twins die together -- **them of doppelgängers - Roderick's fear of death seems to be manifested in his twin, the lady Madeline of Usher

the dashes alter the pace of the story and create a rhythm that reflects a heart beat

reminds me of "The Tell tale Heart" and how the narrator watches the old man - Poe's narrators seem to be overly familiar in these situations involving watching others while they sleep

Wine! - like in "The Cask of Amontillado"

• weather: wind and storm connect the sky and spiritual realm of the story

another instance where Poe fixates on eyes

similar to the stones in "The Cask of Amontillado" - a lot of parallels

a Swiss painter of the supernatural

**The reflection of setting on mental state/sanity

"boyish traits" --> traits of an almost deathly person - This change is heavily pronounced

this is an odd juxtaposition -- pity vs. awe

personifies the weather - plays an important role in establishing scene

obsessive over the eye

mention of a vault, similarly to "The Cask of Amontillado"

focuses heavily on scene and describing how dark and eerie it is

Illness seems to be a common theme of Poe's works, along with decay, and sanity vs. insanity

• Has a fascination with eyes as seen in his other works as well
• Poe personifies The House of Usher...could reflect Roderick himself

Poe often fixates on the heart or the way in which the heart beats, much like in "The Tell Tale Heart"