A Comparison Of Walt Whitman And Emily Dickinson

War, while it directly affects the soldiers fighting, also has immense influence over larger society’s everyday life. This is due to its ability to stretch well beyond the battleground, whether that means the sheer emotion behind each side or the economic strain it causes. During the genesis of America, the country was no stranger to war and its effects. From the Revolutionary War to the War of 1812, the nation both forged itself and reinvented its values in order to settle into a lasting peace. However, starting in 1861, yet predated by years of unrest, the Civil War shook the union between the Northern and Southern states. The unique aspect of this struggle was its limitation to the borders of America, pitting neighbors against each other

The opinions on the war of the upper half of the country were manifested in the then developing American poetry. Led by Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson, this movement included many Northern poets who wrote in support of reform and tolerance. The pair were two such authors, each taking an accepting approach to the persecuted groups of America. This likeness continues with the subject of war, even when their poetry on other topics differed. Historically, Whitman is identified by his patriotic poems as homages to America, backed up by his extraversion; while Dickinson was an isolated soul, a fact that translates into her writing. Due to its seriousness, war demands somber poetry from both the pensive Dickinson and typically upbeat Whitman, giving the two contrasting personalities a common ground. Whitman saw America as a land of opportunity, yet realized that the Civil War was a stain on its potential. In his poetry, the writer was able to demonstrate both the country’s positives and downfalls, which is epitomized in “O Captain! My Captain!” In this tribute to Abraham Lincoln, Whitman transitions from “Exult O shores, and ring O bells!”

In a reflective poem, the narrator is forced to feel guilt since “It feels a shame to be Alive—/When Men so brave—are dead—” (“444”). Dickinson is sympathizing with the war effort and struggling with her status of safety. Life was miserable for the soldiers in battle, all while the rest of the population had to wait as the travesty unfolded. Since she could only hear of the deaths, she was not able to give a face to the men, yet it is also true that these reports would be entering the people’s lives incessantly. To quantify the loss of life, Dickinson poetically compares the soldiers with nature, saying “THEY dropped like flakes, they dropped like stars,/ Like petals from a rose” (“XLIX”). While the images conjured are beautiful, they describe a gore similar to the situation in Whitman’s hospital. The Civil War was one of the most fatal in world history, so it is understandable that such symbols, including the inundating nature of snow, are used. The elegance of these actually twist the knife that is Dickinson’s poem, serving as a reminder that each fighter was unique, as is every individual snowflake. Together, the poems force contemplation rather than putting one into the action of the event. Dickinson uses her lack of war experience to her advantage by focusing on the universal human