What message is the writer trying to convey through this poem?

Any thoughts?



"We ourselves must pilgrims be,

Launch our Mayflower, and steer

Boldly on the desperate winter sea,

Nor attempts the Future's portal

With the Past's blood-rusted key."



James Russell Lowell, 1819-1891

AMERICAN POET, ABOLILITIONIST %26amp; DIPLOMAT

What message is the writer trying to convey through this poem?
The author is writing to the people of his own generation and telling them that they have to be like the pilgrims and steer America boldly into a new era - the future without slavery. The blood rusted key being a reference to the Civil War deaths. Pax - C
Reply:Not feeling terribly poetic like today, but I'd say the author is trying to encourage his audience to seek their own new adventure and change in life course. We should not be afraid of the difficulties, challenges, and sacrifices that such a path might encure. Nor should we allow the defeats and pain of the past to keep us from trying to change our destinies.
Reply:Just as the Pilgrims came to North America in the Mayflower to seek a new future away from all the baggage of Europe and European history, so we must undertake our own journey into our future. And don't try to open the door to this future by using the tired old methods (key) of the past. Blood-rusted refers to human suffering caused by all that past baggage and former practices.
Reply:we must move forward despite our fears of what lies ahead, and make sure not to repeat the mistakes of our past in our future.
Reply:we must keep going forward, and try our hardest not to commit the same faults as have been already. even though history repeats itself, it doesn't necessarily have to.

omar