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The poem "Pioneers! O Pioneers! ", written by W. Whitman tries to describe the way of
life from point of view of the first pioneers who settled down in America.
The poem is separated into seven stanzas that have four verses. The author chooses
for every fourth verse the words "Pioneers! O Pioneers! ".
There is no rhyme schema at all in the poem.
Whitman tells how life looks like for a pioneer. The pioneers move to America with
their children, who are equipped with weapons and axes. They also think about their
past that is leaved behind by them. They mean to "throw detachments" all over the
country and fell forests or stem rivers. The pioneers also try to remove the
wildness, what is done by battles. The pioneers are dieing more and more until "the
gap is filled". In the end "all the pulses of the world" are moving to the front.
This poem tries to explain how the situation in America changed since the first
pioneers arrived there. At first the reader gets the impression that the colonization
of America is moving on good. Pioneers immigrate together with their children, the
only aspect that let you think kind of negative is the fact that they wear weapons
(l.4: "Have you your pistols?"). But the pioneers come to America to live a dream; a
dream of a newer, mightier, varied world, which let them have all possibilities to
live free.
After some time a change seems to come among the behaviour of the pioneers. They
move "conquering, holding and daring" over the country, what surely means that land
is conquered and perhaps stolen from the Native Americans.
The pioneers begin to change the nature - rivers are stemmed, and mines build up.
Even the untouched soil is heaved up.
From now on pioneers seem to forget their American Dream, the "why" of their coming.
War specifies life and "places of the dead" are quickly filled through the battle and
through defeat. The author seems to become a little ironic and ask the question "Are
there some of us to droop and die?" which means that all the positive aspects of
living in America has been taken away and "soon and sure the gap [will be] filled".
In the end all pulses of the world are steady moving to the front, which seems to be
the end of the pioneers. They are unsoldered by other races.
I think the author wants to achieve that people see every aspect of the first
American settlers. At first he wants to make clear that the idea in the beginning was
not negative at all. People wanted to be free and live like they wanted and where
they wanted. They needed the possibility to leave all their past behind.
This all changes when the settlers began to fell forests stem rivers and change other
parts of nature. By doing this they towered themselves above the Native Americans and
perhaps hurt their religious fiats. More and more war gets essential element of a
pioneer's life, what also means death for them. But instead of having learned
something because of this all new colonists from all over the world come and proceed
with the pioneer's bloody work "steady moving to the front, all for us". And that
gives the words "Pioneers! O Pioneers!" a strange sense at all.
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