Disciples of New Criticism claim that an author and their background have no bearing on the interpretations of the author’s work. Walt Whitman and Langston Hughes are just two examples, of many, why New Criticism should be disputed. The works of Whitman and Hughes are filled with experiences from their pasts that can be found both directly and indirectly in their poems. Were it not for the experiences that these two authors had during their lives many, if not all, of the passion that they put into their poetry would have been lost or compromised.

In “Cavalry Crossing a Ford” Walt Whitman draws on many life experiences that provide both realism and conviction to the poem. The poem indicates that a group of Northern soldiers are crossing a stream after a victorious battle during the Civil War. Whitman is able to give an accurate description of these events because during the war “Whitman was overcome with the carnage he beheld and settled in Washington, D.C., where for the duration of the war he ministered without pay to sick and wounded soldiers” (Olsen-Smith). “Cavalry Crossing a Ford” is not only about the North winning the Civil War, it is also about Wh

Being from the North it is only natural that Whitman would write about the soldiers that he witnesses go into battle. While he never comes out and says “Cavalry Crossing a Ford” is written about the soldiers of the Union, Whitman makes it clear that the soldiers from the North are the subjects of the poem. It does not become clear that these are the people Whitman is writing about until the end of the poem, when he says of them, “Some emerge on the opposite bank, others are just entering the ford – while, / Scarlet and blue and snowy white, / The guidon flags flutter gaily in the wind” (Whitman Lines 5-7). The colors that Whitman shows the reader are clearly the colors of the Union flag and the fact that they “flutter gaily” indicates that it is a happy moment for these soldiers, both because they are returning from battle and because they have won that battle. The role that Whitman’s background has in this poem is a major one. Had Whitman supported Confederate troops his poem would likely have read much differently. It would have been one of sadness and anger instead of a poem of joy. It was Whitman’s background in the North and the values that he took from there that enable him to write a poem that reflects on the victory in a positive manner.

itman’s views on what the country has allowed itself to become.

Whitman and Hughes both use instances that are very close to them personally and beliefs that each hold very dear in their works. New Criticism states that it does not matter where you come from or the life that you have experienced, the only thing that matters is the work itself. Hughes and Whitman are just two examples of reasons to disagree with this idea, had it not been for the instances in their lives that shaped the beliefs that they hold, many of the works that these two had written would never had been put to pen and paper. The events that happened in the lives of Whitman and Hughes, and the ways in which they dealt with those moments are direct influences of the works that they produced. It is troubling to think that the events that helped to shape and mold the minds of these men are of no consequence when looking at their works. Walt Whitman and Langston Hughes wrote about the tragedies that they felt existed in their worlds, by not recognizing that these tragedies were the driving forces behind their works these two men are being deprived the respect that they deserve for attempting to bring social change in an era that desperately needed change.

In “Cross” Langston Hughes presents an image of a mulatto and the implications that it had on their life. Hughes himself was mulatto, as his father was a product of an interracial background, so this poem comes from direct experiences that he had, as well as the many others that he kn

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