The Sounds of War When a country is at war it is the common people who suffer. In Walt Whitman’s poem, “Beat! Beat! Drums,” the speaker signifies the sounds of war. The speaker, listening to the banging of war drums and shrill sounds of bugles, relates the interruption these war sounds have on the harmony of people’s lives. Whitman uses the sounds of drums as an audible image to show its effects on …showed first 75 words of 1138 total…

…showed last 75 words of 1138 total…s voice be heard, nor the mother’s entreaties,” he tries to get the point across that the drums will stop for no one and the war will keep going until its resolved. Whitman uses wonderful imagery to show the cold terrors of war. This poem “Beat! Beat! Drums” is a poem to show the horrible effects of war. War not only has negative effects on the common people but negative effects on the future.