the book of the dead (dana fucich)

Both Whitman and Rukeyser's poems are of mourning.  Their scales may differ: Whitman is more confined to his subject, while Rukeyser's subject is less restricted to an individual.  Both poets are remembering an event, and more specifically, the people tied to that event.  The "you" in "The Book of the Dead" has a more ambiguous nature to it.  On the other hand, Whitman's "you" is concentrated, it is a singular subject, the object of his elegy.
Both poems end with an extension of love, they both give the reader and idea of their endurance for what has been lost.  Rukeyser and Whitman allude to the notion of giving love to strangers, a sort of compassion for all life.  Whether it be grand or mundane, together, these poems are indirectly channeling eternal love for victims. 
"The Book of The Dead" and "When Lilacs Last..." are reminding readers to commemorate those passed.  Both poets are inviting the reader to remember with them.  They are fine tuning the readers' empathy for human life, asking them to be as compassionate towards the deceased they may not have known with equal vigor as they would with a loved one.  These poems are mourning historical tragedies which emphasizes the importance of reminiscence and retention.

project (dana fucich)

I've decided on furthering my review of Whitman's peers.  I intend to convey my "evidence of learning" by the use of a replacement poem.  I will either use "Song of Myself" or "Song for Occupations" and replace nouns/verbs with those of a peer.  Instead of using my own I plan on finding a poem by Longfellow or Aldrich (etc.) that has a similar narrative as one of the aforementioned poems.  Then I will weave that narrative into Whitman's to hopefully create a new poem that still has trace evidence of the original version.