Whitman vs. Dickinson

The first verse adopts the "attitude of reality compared to the ignorance in the second verse" ("only are blind to the carrion army"). Plath used the same technique in the poem "I Am Vertical" in which two verses both contrast and compliment each other. For Dickinson, on the contrary, death is not something unreal. As the author has written "Because I could not stop for Death, he kindly stopped for me..." After reading these two lines the reader "imagines the picture of Death being a human which joins the author during the ride" . Dickinson tries to portray the characteristics of death in the poem.

Emily Dickinson stands out from her contemporaries by discussing one of man's inevitable fears in an unconventional way: death. In two of her poems, "I heard a Fly buzz-when I died" and "Because I could not stop for Death," Dickinson expresses death in an unforeseen way. Although Dickinson portrays death in both of these poems, the way that she conveys the experience is quite different in each poem. Dickinson reveals death as a grim experience, with no glimpse of happiness once one's life is over in "I heard a Fly buzz-when I died." In contrast to this, Dickinson consoles the reader by characterizing death as a tranquil journey in "Because I could not stop for Death."

She states that death kindly stopped for her and she even goes as far as to give death the human ability to stop and pick her up. The occasion of death through Dickinson use of personification makes it seem like an interaction between two living beings and as a result the poem takes on a thoughtful and light hearted tone. The humanization of death makes the experience more acceptable and less strange, death takes on a known, familiar, recognizable form which in turn makes the experience more relatable. As the poem

Due to this, the poem is extremely reflective on the things Keats considers important to him, namely life, death and his imagination. By using the nightingale to embody these aspects, Keats is effective, in my opinion, in attempting to deal with the matter at hand, and involving me in his struggle between life and death. One of the things which the nightingale represents to Keats is death. This is not surprising as he is near death and so it is influencing the way he thinks. At times Keats welcomes death and at other times is undecided, but always the nightingale is used as a representation for it.

(155-159) Here Whitman seems to be celebrating death. This could also come from his time spent as a wound-dresser. The time Walt Whitman spent as a wound-dresser has greatly affected him, his views of death, and his poetry. Because of his experiences with the soldiers, Whitman learned to value death. He thinks as death as a blessing, almost a relief from the harsh world.

Dickinson portrays death as a gentleman caller who appears in a carriage. Additionally though with an underlying theme of love, the reader can interrupt this line to be about how we cannot always stop for love. The second line of the poem, “He kindly stopped for me-“ elaborates Death as a gentlemen caller and readers can see how Dickinson carefully choose the word “kindly” to further evolve her idea. Dickinson chooses to end the stanza by saying that it is she and Death are in the carriage, along with immortality. The carriage in the poem can be taken literally, but some readers may also choose to interrupt it as a casket, which further outlines the poem’s relation to death.

“Rip Van Winkle.” The Norton Anthology: American Literature. Ed. Nina Baym. Shorter 5th ed. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1999.

In the opening line of the poem he uses an apostrophe, “Death, be not proud..” to begin with a dramatic tone to argue with death as people’s adversary (Donne 1100). Death is given negative human traits, such as pride, but also inferiority and pretense. Donne’s second quatrain uses figurative language to elaborate on his concept of victory over death. He contrasts death to “rest and sleep” by saying that they are mirrors of death (Donne 1100). Sleep and death are allied and one is the image of the oth... ... middle of paper ... ...death in itself dies.

Despite being different in setting, they both express an acceptance of death. While both poems convey an awareness of death approaching, the causes of death are different. Shakespeare’s poem being a lament about unrequited love, deals with death by ‘a fair cruel maid’ (4). The awareness and acceptance of looming death is reflected in the opening two lines ‘Come away, come away death, | and in sad cypress let me be laid.’ (1,2). The repetition of ‘come away’ reflects the speaker’s readiness to face death, which is further echoed in the choice of word ‘let’.

Bryant makes the connection between God and nature through society, imagery, and trust. To understand why “Thanatopsis” is an elegy, you need to understand what an elegy is. Webster defines elegy as a song or poem expressing sorrow of lamentation especially for one who is dead. Thanatopsis is a poem filled with metaphors of death. I feel that Bryant is expressing his sorrow for the inevitable.