Imagery in "Casabianca"

The imagery that really stuck out in Hemans "Casabianca" were the flames or fire, and the flag and banners. The image of fire is dominant and indeed does recur throughout the entire poem. You can envision the young boy with dead bodies and flames all around him. You can picture the anguish and despair on his face as he yells for his father. Despite the fact that the flag and banner are mentioned just once in the poem, I think they are definitely noteworthy. It emphasizes the idea of patriotism. The boy is a young soldier fighting for his country. A more subtle piece of imagery in the poem is when it says in line 28, "the wreathing fires made way." A wreath makes you think of a funeral. I pictured this boy again being surrounded by huge flames much like the many flowered wreath's that will surround him at his funeral. Another subtle but yet recurring image throughout "Casabianca" is smoke, from both the fire and the cannonballs. In line 19 it says "And but the booming shots replied." At the end of the poem my image of the flames and fire changed from surrounding the boy to engulfing him to his death as I read in line 33 "There came a burst of thunder sound."

My interpretation of "Casabianca" was a poem about a young soldier fighting for his country. However, this boy might have become a soldier in the first place because of his desire to make his father proud. I did a bit of research and found that the incident in the poem actually occurred during the Battle of the Nile in 1798 on the French ship L'Orient. The young boy was the son of the commander Louis de Casabianca. My research confirmed my assumptions about what was going on the poem. I didn't expect for it to be true story. Line 8 reads "A proud, though childlike form." That made me think of a young boy fighting. The next stanza talks about the boy's father being already dead, thus they must have been fighting along side together.
Furthermore I thought this poem to be one of perseverance and patriotism. The young boy has been through battle and appears to be the only one alive. He cries out for his father to tell him whether or not his mission has been fulfilled. You can sense that this boy will be dead by the end of this poem. I didn't know whether from being wounded, a cannon ball, or the recurring flames throughout the poem. Finally my question was answered towards the end of "Casabianca," the boy died from the roaring flames. I felt great sympathy for this young soldier. His cries were never answered. Despite all of that he stayed brave until the end.