American Literature

Independence Day, irregular in meter and line length, is a good illustration of transcendentalist poetry because it exemplifies the way in which writers of the time discussed the identity of man with the natural world in which they lived  nature in other words, they used aspects and features of nature as analogies with human life. The underlying struggle within this poem is the struggle of America to be free and independent from England and that those who died in the fight for independence did not die in vain, and will be remembered for their fight and for what they gave to America  freedom.

In this poem the blossom tree represents America, beautiful and bright  the tree is America and its leaves are the American people. Each leaf broken from the tree is comparable to an American citizen stepping forward from the others, ready to stand up and fight for what he believes and prepared to die for hisher country. Just as the leaves fall from the tree, so do Americans fall to their death in war, but just as a leaf rots into the ground  giving back to nature, so too does the American in that they die to give back to their country, to give  back freedom.

The language in this poem is extremely connotative and is used symbolically to inspire images of soldiers eager to fight for their country and eager to be free like a leaf from a blossom tree. The use of descriptive adjectives inspires a feeling of positivity and strength the greatest move of one man gentle and fondle, who dies in his efforts will help to make America,  just like the tree, become stronger and as the tree becomes great, so too will America become great.

The rhyming pattern of this verse is irregular, it begins with three repeats of ABAB, but then changes to a five line pattern ABBBB, and changes again to ABC, AABB, so the pattern is quite erratic, and perhaps represents the notion of unpredictability  and struggle in Americas fight for freedom .