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Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman Comparison
Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman Comparison
Poetic techniques of Emily Dickinson
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Intro. Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson possess varied yet similar styles, which shows through their poetic style, lifestyle, and the subject of their poetry. Walt Whitman has unique traits in his poetry for many reasons. His works contain an abundance of different literary devices, display his way of life, and vary in subject. First of all, Whitman’s poems contain lots of figurative language written in free verse. Free verse contains neither rhyme, nor meter. For example, Whitman writes, “I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear./Those of the mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong” (“I Hear America Singing” 1-2). The first line of this poem contains two literary devices: anaphora and assonance. Whitman uses
In conclusion, Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman did have some differences in their writing. However, both poets also did have some similarities as well. Similarities such their tone or attitude toward death, and the acceptance they show toward it. These poets had different styles of writing, yet also had similar styles concepts in their
Ralph Waldo Emerson and Emily Dickinson were two of America’s most intriguing poets. They were both drawn to the transcendentalist movement which taught “unison of creation, the righteousness of humanity, and the preeminence of insight over logic and reason” (Woodberry 113). This movement also taught them to reject “religious authority” (Sherwood 66). By this declination of authority, they were able to express their individuality. It is through their acceptance of this individuality that will illustrate their ambiguities in their faith in God.
The lives of Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson have many similarities and differences. Here, we will focus on the similarities in their lives in order to bring to attention a correlation between Whitman's poem I Saw in Louisiana a Live-oak Growing and Dickinson's poem # 1510. Both poets wrote during the time of Romanticism, even though Whitman was Dickinson's senior by some eleven years. This however did not influence the way the writing styles of many of their poems coincided.
Though these similarities do exist, there are also several quite obvious differences between the two. The most noticeable distinguishment involves the length of the poems. While Whitman's "Song of Myself" is quite lengthy, giving detailed and wordy descriptions, Dickinson's "This quiet dust was Gentlemen and Ladies" is much more concise and to the point. While Whitman tends to
The two poem writer’s Langston Hughes and Walt Whitman they both wrote a poem about America.They both want the american dream.
Whitman and Hughes’ poem were similar in topic and technique. Whitman and Hughes used a list to represent individuals who made
... Both Whitman and Dickinson use people and common objects of everyday things in a smaller context. While both Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson's works seem to be quite different from the outside, they share many similarities. Religion, death and other common things make them similar, even though their views are different. You can see the similarities while reading both authors’ works.
One of the most popular American poets is Walt Whitman. Whitman’s poetry has become a rallying cry for Americans, asking for individuality, self-approval, and even equality. While this poetry seems to be truly groundbreaking, which it objectively was, Whitman was influenced by the writings of others. While Whitman may not have believed in this connection to previous authors, critics have linked him to Emerson, Poe, and even Carlyle. However, many critics have ignored the connection between Walt Whitman and the English writer William Wordsworth.
In both Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman’s works, they emphasize some differences in their writing. In Dickinson’s works she shows that her works are short and simple poems, while Whitman’s poems and often long and complex. With Dickinson showing that her works are short and simple, while Whitman brings on a more sophisticated style, it truly shows that they use their own unique style of writing. In both Whitman and Dickinson works they have been known for being such unique artist and being original, while people try so hardly to impersonate their style, but they are unable to come close to accomplishing it.
Although Whitman uses a great deal of structural ways to stress his ideas, he also uses many other ways of delivering his ideas. First of all, Whitman portrays himself as a public spokesman of the masses. The tone of the poem is a very loud, informative tone that grabs ones attention. The emphasis placed on the word “all” adds to the characterization of Whitman as a powerful speaker. Furthermore, Whitman takes part in his own poem. Participating in his own poem, Whitman moreover illustrates the connection between everything in life. Lastly, Whitman, most of all, celebrates universal brotherhood and democracy.
Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson reflect the ideals of transcendentalist writers such as Thoreau in their poetry. A common theme throughout Whitman’s poetry was the appreciation of nature in its entirety, which can be seen in poems such as “What Is The
Emily Dickinson and Robert Frost both think that individuality is very important to a person, equally like Ralph Emerson. Although they may have a lot in common, these poets are different in many ways. Both Frost and Dickinson were American poets and were both from New England. A big similarity between Frost and Dickinson. Both talk about death.
Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman are both considered as the most original poets who has boldly revolutionized the subject and style of 20th-century American poetry. Both the poets come from vastly different backgrounds but they share common inspirations but in a distinctive way. They both lived polar opposite personal lives as Walt was friendly, outgoing and influential, while Emily was very simple, shy, isolate and content. A lot of poems written by them were based on nature, death, and immortality and they focused on the importance of individualism in the society like in “I Hear America Singing” by Walt and “Much Madness is most divine Sense” by Emily. Together, they both have huge hands to shape the American poetry, and their influences
Whitman approved of the influence when he wrote, “I was simmering, simmering, simmering; Emerson brought me to a boil” (qtd. in Reynolds, Walt Whitman: Lives and Legacies 11). In addition to Emerson, he was influenced by Italian opera, the King James Bible and the spatial vastness of astronomy. “But the crucial factor was Whitman’s sense of himself and the potentials of his craft: for him, poetry was a passionate gesture of identification with his native land” (Gray 109). After Emerson had read Leaves, he wrote to Whitman, “I am very happy in reading it, as great power makes us happy. . . . I rubbed my eyes a little to see if this sunbeam were no illusion; but the solid sense of the book is a sober certainty” (qtd. in Whitman, The Portable Walt Whitman xv). Although Emerson had written comparable encouragements to other beginner poets, “by his own admission he had ‘looked in vain’ for the poet he described … and thus can be said to have genuinely hailed Whitman as the fulfillment of his hopes” (Krieg 395). To understand Whitman and his literary innovations, it is necessary to consider Whitman in this
In his poem he reveals, “Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else...Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs” Whitman is exhibiting his love for America and the mass amount of achievement people encounter by living there. His poem is like a description of the various whistles he hears as people work, which to him is a sign of the assorted amounts of prosperity by these people. To Whitman, America is the beautiful place of success and when anyone comes they too will fine the creative work they have longed to