Willie

This song was very heartwarming. It really doesn't have a broad meaning to it that has to be carefully looked at to be able to comprehend. It's about a soldier named Willie who has gone off to war, and the person singing this is presumably a relative most likely his Mother by the sounds of the song. I listened to the melody brtom provided us with, and obviously your son going to war or any other person you know is not joyful, I almost sense a kind up-beat tempo about the actual song? Is it supposed to be that way, or am i just misinterpreting it? Like i said war and the thought of your loved one being injured or killed while in battle is absolutley horrendous. The song was very nice though and without the music playing, the name Willie sounds ridiculous over and over again but brtom made a good point in class comparing it to the song Tony sings Maria in West Side Story. This was very nice to read, but at the same time besides the sympathy towards Willie going off to war their isn't much else to comment on about this song. 1204073747

This poem/song shows a lot of emotions and significance through the words that George Cooper wrote. Even though the Cooper was a man, he ould still discribe how it felt for a woman to lose a loved one who has gone to war. This poem reminds us about the everyday struggles of normal people back in Civil War times. Anyone who had lost someone from the war would be able to relate to this sad poem. 1204074942

I think this is a truly ageless poem. The way cooper describes the loss of a loved one (espicially a son, which is the impression i got) in a very personal way. Everyone knows what it feels like to lose someone they love. And some people know what it feels like to lose someone who left before their time. With the wars of the past, present, and future the feeling of loss is terrible. It is even worse because most of the soliders who die in these wars are somewhere between 18 and 30. Which is way way too young to die. Cooper describes how it is to lose someone who had their whole life in front of them, and a feeling like that will always exist and so will the relevance of this poem. 1204153146

This song is a very loving and emotional song. Anyone can relate to the narrator's loss of a loved one. The poem describes thinking about happy things and then suddenly it hits you, out of nowhere like a brick falling from the sky, that someone you love dearly is leaving and may never come back. Once you realize it, then you start to worry and panick and think of everytime you spent with them. Did you take the beautiful time you had together for granted. Did you say everything and do everything with the person that you wanted to? Did he or she no how much you cared for them? So many questions run through your head because sometimes, in just an instance, someone you love can be gone forever and you will never be able to say or do the things you wished or meant to do. I think this song is implying that we need to appreciate the ones we love and not take precious time for granted. I have a few people very dear to me who have lost loved ones in just one instance and wished they could take back what they said or wished they would've shown their love for the person when they had the time. We need to love everyone around us and don't say anything to a person that you will regret and want to take back later, because you might not get that second chance. Whether someone you admire is leaving so far as switching schools or moving, or as big as dying or going off to war you will wish you took the time you had together with that person for what it was worth. I have lost and missed people that i loved and wished i could've acted differently when they were around me. I think the moral of this song is to give love, show love, and you will be loved, forever. 1204155779

This poem makes a dramatic switch in the first stanza. For example, When Cooper talks about the blue birds, the sweet flowers and all the bees that roam around us. Then, after absorbing the excitement and grace of those lines I began to recognize the change in the mood. Cooper starts shouting about Willie (his son maybe?) being at war. He sounds really disturbed and worried. Of course, I would be worried too if a loved one of mine was at war. I think that the author is describing an emotional experience of his. There was probably a time in his life where he had worry and love overwhelm him.I like this poem alot, makes you wonder if there are other people that feel the same emotions you do. In conclusion, I think Cooper does a nice job using forward words, Cooper has a good record in my book as a writer! 1204160752

I actually like the way that this song goes and also the way that it has a sort of rythm to it if you wanted to. The song is very emotional and has a message that would melt the hearts of people that i think read it during the years of the civil war. At first the poem is talking about a warm story with some happy feelings intergrated into it but then out of no where you can get the idea that the person which the poems is talking about may never come back and then the worst case senerio is that they are dead. Then you can read that it talks about the great meaning that life has on every single person and how it is possible for each person to feel badly hurt for a certain part of their life that might be missing. and then the other part repeats the fact that it has become so sad that this person which is so special and may be the love of someones life may be gone forever. I think that we should appreciate the people that are around us and that we should live life to the fullest because there may never be a tommorow. One thing that i think that i live by is that i will not live on what i can do tommorow but more on what i can do right now because if i die there will be no time to regret it. Most writters try to get this message into their readers because i beleive that they think that wars are something which takes lifes away and make the world a worse place for people that try to make the best of it. 1204162482hre

I obviously interpreted this poem to mean that a young boy was recruited or chose on his own, to go to the Civil War. The sounds such as the gale mentioned in the first stanza, to me seems to be the sounds he hears and experiences during his time serving in the war or on his way **to** the war. Willie has gone to war was originally a song and during the chorus it is repeated that this young man is risking his life for the sake of others. In the following stanzas the mental idea that someone else is expressing is the the negative mindset of "Willie" actually being involved in the war. I think that this is because the poem was originally a song, and the repetition used is adding a dramatic effect to the point, just like war has a negative effect on a persons mental state. 1204172238

I found this song to be very depressing and emotional. Anything I read that has to do with war immediatly makes me sad. To think these innocent young men and women are being killed trying to make me have a better life. In this song Willie has gone to war. Just like that he is gone and his loved ones will never see him again. People in previous posts have said that everyone knows what it feel like to lose someone they loved...not me. I am fortunate to not have to experience that yet. My dog, Nikko, was the closest thing to a person to me who ever died. 1204257476KCa

I didn't like this poem because it seemed so repeated. He said the same thing over and over. It was also really sad, it kinda brought me down for awhile. But I think that this really captured the emotion of famillies how have a son in war back then, and now with the men and women in Iraq. That is what I was thinking about. I wasn't thinking of the civil war, but the Iraq and Afganistan war we are fighting in. I don't know anyone who is in that war, but if anyone does this is a song you need to listen to.
 * 1205007387**

This poem is quite interesting. From an composition point of view it is terrible, it has no significance, doesn't follow a plot line, and it is extremely repetitive. But what this poem it trying to do is to describe the undescribable. Losing someone is a terrible ordeal and no matter what you can never quite express the pain of losing something that is a serious part of your life. So even though this poem doesn't make a whole lot of sense i can still appreciate it and understand the value of it.mme

The narrator in this story is in love with Willie and is reflecting on all of the good times and memories that they had together. In the beginning of the poem it seems as if she was talking about their childhood memories together. In the third stanza, she talks about the things she learned from him. In the 5th stanza she says that she will wait and wait until he returns from the war. She had been waiting ever since the war started for him to return to her. The last line says, "Willie my lov'd one is gone," which to me means that Willie had died in the war. This is sad because this woman waits for a very long time for Willie and he never returns to her and she can never see him again.

1205195020

This poem was a poem that touched my heart. This poem is basically talking about Willie a boy who has gone to war. This is a song that is being sung by one of his relatives, most likely his mother from the lyrics of the song. Br. Tom gave us a tune and beat of the song which set the mood for this poem. As you can see the composer of this song isn’t in a cheery mood because she has sent someone close to her off to war. Just the thought of sending a dearly loved family member out to war is a atrocious thought. When you read this poem you may get tired of saying Willie…Willie…Willie but if you had the tune and sung to it makes a lot more sense. 1205201952

I also find that this poem is quite interesting. I agree with mme that from a composition point of view it is terrible, it has no significance, doesn't follow a plot line, and it is extremely repetitive. But what this poem it trying to do is to describe the undescribable, and that is hard enough to do. Losing someone is a terrible ordeal and no matter what you can never quite express and get over the pain of losing something that is a very special part of your life. So even though this poem doesn't make a whole lot of sense I still appreciate it and understand the value of it.I also understand how much work that was put into this poem so I respect the writer of the poem as well. 1205261297

I agree with NDi I didn't like this poem. I thought it seemed repetitive. Why did he say the same thing over and over? I thought that it was also really gloomy; it made me feel really bummed out for a little while. I also think that this poem really captured the feelings of the families who had relatives in war back in the day, also now with people over in Iraq, when I heard this poem that was the only thing that was going through my head. I wasn't really thinking about the civil war, but the Iraq war and everyone that is fighting in Afghanistan and stuff like that. I don't know anyone who is currently stationed over there, but I think that people who do should really give this song a listen. 1205282246 ____________________________________________________________- I feel like everyone knows that feeling of missing someone or being worried for them but we try not to think of them that much. But it's poems like this that force us to face them and I think they're good for us. I disagree that all the repeating is a bad thing. I think if anything it helps the poem by stressing the point. Poems like this aren't meant to make you "bummed out" but just to show you the reality of what's going on. You can't really think that things that go on in war is happy and fun. Of course it's going to be a little sad and gloomy. But I do agree that it captured feelings of people both back i n the day and today. It almost gives them something in common; a common ground I guess.1205464076