Reference no: EM13479954

I have an article which is described below. I need to have a Literacy Analysis written on it. About 2 pages. Double space.

A Spirit Reborn

By WILLIAM SAFIRE

Published: September 9, 2002

Abraham Lincoln's words at the dedication of the Gettysburg cemetery will be the speech repeated at the commemoration of Sept. 11 by the governor of New York and by countless other speakers across the nation.

The lips of many listeners will silently form many of the famous phrases. ''Four score and seven years ago'' -- a sonorous way of recalling the founding of the nation 87 years before he spoke -- is a phrase many now recite by rote, as is ''the last full measure of devotion.''

But the selection of this poetic political sermon as the oratorical centerpiece of our observance need not be only an exercise in historical evocation, nonpolitical correctness and patriotic solemnity. What makes this particular speech so relevant for repetition on this first anniversary of the worst bloodbath on our territory since Antietam Creek's waters ran red is this: Now, as then, a national spirit rose from the ashes of destruction.

Here is how to listen to Lincoln's all-too-familiar speech with new ears.

In those 266 words, you will hear the word dedicate five times. The first two times refer to the nation's dedication to two ideals mentioned in the Declaration of Independence, the original ideal of ''liberty'' and the ideal that became central to the Civil War: ''that all men are created equal.''

The third, or middle, dedication is directed to the specific consecration of the site of the battle of Gettysburg: ''to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place.'' The fourth and fifth times Lincoln repeated dedicate reaffirmed those dual ideals for which the dead being honored fought: ''to the unfinished work'' and then ''to the great tasks remaining before us'' of securing freedom and equality.

Those five pillars of dedication rested on a fundament of religious metaphor. From a president not known for his piety -- indeed, often criticized for his supposed lack of faith -- came a speech rooted in the theme of national resurrection. The speech is grounded in conception, birth, death and rebirth.

Consider the barrage of images of birth in the opening sentence. The nation was ''conceived in liberty,'' and ''brought forth'' -- that is, delivered into life -- by ''our fathers'' with all ''created'' equal. (In the 19th century, both ''men'' and ''fathers'' were taken to embrace women and mothers. ) The nation was born.

Then, in the middle dedication to those who sacrificed themselves, come images of death: ''final resting place'' and ''brave men, living and dead.''

Finally, the nation's spirit rises from this scene of death: ''that this nation, under God, shall have a new birth of freedom.'' Conception, birth, death, rebirth. The nation, purified in this fiery trial of war, is resurrected. Through the sacrifice of its sons, the sundered nation would be reborn as one.

An irreverent aside: All speechwriters stand on the shoulders of orators past. Lincoln's memorable conclusion was taken from a fine oration by the Rev. Theodore Parker at an 1850 Boston antislavery convention. That social reformer defined the transcendental ''idea of freedom'' to be ''a government of all the people, by all the people, for all the people.''

Lincoln, 13 years later, dropped the ''alls'' and made the phrase his own. (A little judicious borrowing by presidents from previous orators shall not perish from the earth.) In delivering that final note, the Union's defender is said to have thrice stressed the noun ''people'' rather than the prepositions ''of,'' ''by'' and ''for.'' What is to be emphasized is not rhetorical rhythm but the reminder that our government's legitimacy springs from America's citizens; the people, not the rulers, are sovereign. Not all nations have yet grasped that.

Do not listen on Sept. 11 only to Lincoln's famous words and comforting cadences. Think about how Lincoln's message encompasses but goes beyond paying ''fitting and proper'' respect to the dead and the bereaved. His sermon at Gettysburg reminds ''us the living'' of our ''unfinished work'' and ''the great task remaining before us'' -- to resolve that this generation's response to the deaths of thousands of our people leads to ''a new birth of freedom.''