The speaker is talking to Oscar, someone he calls Brother, who has “gone west”—a way of saying he has died. He wonders how Oscar is doing in the afterlife and asks whether he can look down and smile from the blue sky. He also worries about whether the roar of cannons and their “death-dealing thunder” can disturb Oscar’s peace on the far shore. There is tenderness and concern in these questions; the speaker seems to need reassurance that Oscar is safe. Then he imagines Oscar’s reply: all toil, pain, woe, care, strife, and death itself were left behind down on earth. The mood is quiet and reflective—mournful at first, but turning toward comfort. It feels like a one-sided conversation with a lost loved one, ending in the belief that death has brought Oscar rest.
Gone West — Summary
I often wonder, Oscar, How it fares with you ; Do you look down and smile on us, From that vast realm of blue ?
Tell me, Brother, do you hear The belching cannon's roar? Does their death-dealing thunder break Your peace on yonder shore ?
I seem to hear you answering, That toil and pain and woe And care and strife — ah! yes, and death Were left behind, below.