In the poem Jacob Goodpasture, I am not sure of the voice of the poem?

Question

In the poem Jacob Goodpasture by Edgar Lee Masters, I am not sure of the voice of the poem! Is goodpasture a father of a son in the war, a soilder himself, or what? I'm not quite sure!

Answer 1

Well, that's the assignment.  See, Masters wrote it so that you can interpret it for yourself.  Though you may note that the poem is about the first battle of the American Civil War which took place 87 years after the revolutionary war.  So the voice can be a literal father of the solider, or it could also be the country itself.  Think of how it talks bout the cause unjust at the start and then goes into a new beauty later.

 

Also, note the name of the poem "Goodpasture," also a "good pasture."  Perhaps its a cemetery?  In the possibility of it being of religious origin (very common for the time) it sounds a lot like Psalm 23: Green Pastures.

 

See, the poem is not something that has to be taken literally, but maybe more figuratively.