Question

In at least 100 words, discuss how Whittier uses the symbolism and imagery of war in his poem "To William Lloyd Garrison."

Answer 1

It uses it as an epic arc in which Garrison is likened to a Medieval White Knight that battles “onward with a martyr's zeal” in order to liberate Africans from “Oppression's iron hand”. He is depicted as “standing fearless” to “the tyrant's rod” and his words are compared to a “flash of kindred swords!”. And then speaks of his enemies as having a “demon breath”, a clear reference to the evil dragon of Western Judeo-Christian culture (Satan).

The first stanza shows him as a valiant warrior in his prime. The second describes him as the warrior who has “chosen” the good fight and is filled with the “strength of God” (a clear reference to Samson). In the third stanza the narrator reveals his feelings of brotherly love for this “warrior at the shine and flash of kindred swords” using metaphor to say that he was part of an army of liberation of African slaves. He then describes his rhetorical combat against his ideological enemies, further using the imagery of “steeled” swords that “rend the chains of slaves apart” on the fourth stanza.  The dragon reference takes place in the fifth one and finally, in the sixth stanza, the arc is closed as the white knight is shown as a crusader that despite the enemies “daggers” (metaphor for slander) fights on despite the threat of “martyrdom” and goes “onward with martyr’s zeal”. In this manner, Garrison is shown as a moral warrior that dedicated his entire life to the liberation of African slaves until his death.