Poetry Assignment DIDLS

I SAW IN LOUISIANA A LIVE-OAK GROWING

by: Walt Whitman (1819-1892)

I saw in Louisiana a live-oak growing,
All alone stood it, and the moss hung down from the branches;
Without any companion it grew there, uttering joyous leaves of dark green,
And its look, rude, unbending, lusty, made me think of myself;
But I wonder'd how it could utter joyous leaves, standing alone there, without its friend, its lover near--for I knew I could not;
And broke off a twig with a certain number of leaves upon it, and twined around it a little moss,
And brought it away--and I have placed it in sight in my room;
It is not needed to remind me as of my own dear friends,
(For I believe lately I think of little else than them:)
Yet it remains to me a curious token--it makes me think of manly love;
For all that, and though the live-oak glistens there in Louisiana, solitary, in a wide flat space,
Uttering joyous leaves all its life, without a friend, a lover, near,
I know very well I could not.
© 2002 Poetry-Archive.com

ANALYSIS:
This poem's DIDLS are strongly represented. The diction in this poem represents loneliness. Some examples of this are "without its friend, solitary, wide flat space", those words all connote loneliness and despair. The imagery in this poem represents strength in being alone. The oak grows joyous leaves throughout it's entire life while standing there in solitude, which would make a normal person miserable. The oak, however, is mighty in the face of weakness. The poem is a great example of strong diction.