Lilacs

Walt Whitman's poem When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd was written in honor of Abraham Lincoln, the U.S. president who was assassinated in mid-April 1865 at the time when lilacs were coming into bloom. Whitman's poem has the blooming of the lilacs each spring reminding him of his loss. While mentions of the lilac's flowers and its heart-shaped leaves are scattered throughout the poem, the opening stanza itself shows the allusion (the "great star" represents Lincoln).

Stanza 1:

When lilacs last in the dooryard bloom'd,
And the great star early droop'd in the western sky in the night,
I mourn'd, and yet shall mourn with ever-returning spring.

Ever-returning spring, trinity sure to me you bring,
Lilac blooming perennial and drooping star in the west,
And thought of him I love.

You may wish to read When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd at this time as there are other allusions to this work noted on other allusion pages at this site.

See other Whitman allusions.