When comparing and contrasting Emily Dickinson’s poem “Facing West From California's Shores” to Walt Whitman’s poem “A Noiseless Patient Spider”, there are clear similarities as well as an array of differences. One thing to consider about the two poems is that Whitman and Dickinson were both writers of the romantic era of literature. This means that their poems will exhibit elements such as; the love of nature, belief in individualism, interest in the supernatural, and faith in the power of imagination. It is also important to keep in mind that “finding the meaning of life” is an apparent theme in both poems. The speaker in each poem has a definite presentation of how he or she is grappling with big questions about the meaning of life. For
example, A Noiseless Patient Spider focusses more overtly on the speaker's internal struggles, meanwhile the poem Facing West From California’s Shores is directed more towards the speakers external endeavors with the meaning of life.The speaker in the poem Facing West From California's Shores addresses the past by mentioning him or herself as a child, but the speaker in the poem A Noiseless Patient Spider is speaking from an overall perspective. In the poem Facing West From California's Shores, the line: “seeking what is yet unfound” leads my attention to the inner question of finding undiscovered places in the world in order to find the meaning of life. However, the line “Mark’d how, to explore the vacant, vast surrounding” from A Noiseless Patient Spider gave me the same impression of exploration, yet in a more spiritual approach. In conclusion, the comparisons that the two poems are a little more significant than the contrasts. Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman each produced a poem that fulfills the theme of “finding out the meaning of life” to its own degree. Dickinson’s poem Facing West From California's Shores was a poem based more on physical experience and Whitman’s poem is based mostly on what the mind experiences while searching for meaning.
During the late romantic period, two of history’s most profound poets, Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman, emerged providing a foundation for, and a transition into Modern poetry. In its original form, their poems lacked the characteristics commonly attributed to most romantic poets of the mid to late nineteenth century who tended to utilize “highly stylized verses, having formal structures, figurative language and adorned with symbols” (worksheet). Unique and “eccentric use of punctuation” as well as “irregular use of meter and rhyme” were the steppingstones for this new and innovative style of writing (worksheet). Even though these two writers rejected the traditional approach, both remained firmly dedicated to their romantic idealism of the glass of water being “half full” opposed to “half empty.” Noted for his frequent practice of catalogs and parallelism, Whitman stirred up much controversy with his first edition of “leaves of Grass” in 1855. Many critics responded negatively to the ...
Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass covers many facets of human love, including love of the physical body. Whitman’s book contains many poems that try to embrace the beauty of the human body instead of covering it up. Whitman describes the human form in close detail throughout Leaves of Grass, but one of his poems in particular is especially vivid in detail. In “Children of Adam”, the fourth book of Leaves of Grass, Whitman gives readers a celebratory look at the human form. “I Sing the Body Electric” is one poem in particular that demonstrates how Whitman celebrates the human body through descriptive language of love and the human form and by elevating the human form to something more than a simple vessel for a soul. Whitman uses these techniques to emphasize the idea that mortal human forms are no less magnificent than spiritual bodies.
Two of the most prominent poets during the 19th century were Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson. Although both poets are extremely renowned for their widely known poems, they had distinctively different writing styles. Both wrote about different topics and led almost opposite lifestyles. To understand the reason behind the differences in themes of the two writer’s poems I will first compare their backgrounds and motives, then directly examine the similarities and differences in themes and ideas. Lastly, I will analyze the similarities and differences in the writing itself.
In literature, themes shape and characterize an author’s writing making each work unique as different points of view are expressed within a writing’s words and sentences. This is the case, for example, of Edgar Allan Poe’s poem “Annabel Lee” and Emily Dickinson’s poem “Because I could not stop for Death.” Both poems focus on the same theme of death, but while Poe’s poem reflects that death is an atrocious event because of the suffering and struggle that it provokes, Dickinson’s poem reflects that death is humane and that it should not be feared as it is inevitable. The two poems have both similarities and differences, and the themes and characteristics of each poem can be explained by the author’s influences and lives.
Very few people will contest that Walt Whitman may be one of the most important and influential writers in American literary history and conceivably the single most influential poet. However many have claimed that Whitman’s writing is so free form as evident in his 1855 Preface to Leaves of Grass and Song of Myself that it has no style. The poetic structures he employs are unconventional but reflect his very democratic ideals towards America. Although Whitman’s writing does not include a structure that can be easily outlined, masterfully his writing conforms itself to no style, other then its own universal and unrestricted technique. Even though Whitman’s work does not lend itself to the conventional form of poetry in the way his contemporaries such as Longfellow and Whittier do, it holds a deliberate structure, despite its sprawling style of free association.
Clear answers to the following questions can help establish the context of a poem and form the foundation of understanding:
They are the founders of American poetry, yet they had complete opposite lifestyles. They also include many differences, such as how they view the world and how they were raised as children. Dickinson was restricted to her house when she was younger all throughout her life, she then developed a more depressing tone to her work. Whitman had a life that was completely different compared to Dickinson’s life, for example, Whitman was a traveler and was able to see the world for how it really was. Whitman also believed that people should go out and see the world for how it really is, to go out and live life how they want to. This all can be shown in their poems, Dickinson shows her feelings in her poem “There is a solitude of space” Dickinson writes “There is a solitude of space A solitude of sea A solitude of death,” In her writing she explains how she feels, writing about her loneliness, by using symbolism in her writing. Whitman describes his views on the world through his writing as well, from Whitman’s poem “I Hear America Singing” Whitman writes “I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear, Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong,” Whitman explains that people should be happy and whatever job they have. Dickinson and Whitman have many similarities, yet in their similarities they share
It’s easy to compare two great poets of the late 19th Century. Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman were both authors and had a unique writing style. Although the two have some of the same views on things, their writing styles were drastically different. When put plainly, Whitman likes to use free verse, while Dickinson on the other hand prefers regular rhymes, and complex slants. Dickinson’s poems are also considerably shorter in contrast to Whitman’s. Again, when it comes to word choice, Dickinson has a more plain style, where one could compare Whitman’s to a flashier, bolder word selection. Both poets though, would be apart of the Romantic Era of writing. They also heavily believe in individualism and had some of the same thoughts on death. The two believed in an afterlife, and that said afterlife was a better place. Like many writers at the time, they also took time to compare nature to God, and writing about their findings.
In “A Noiseless Patient Spider”, Walt Whitman compares the images of a spider creating a web to catch its prey to his own soul. In the first stanza, he describes the spider creating its web. In the second stanza, he begins to describe his own soul searching for something it needs. Throughout the poem, Whitman is relating the spider to the human soul by showing how both would pursue and capture what they need to continue to exist in this life.
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
One very important topic that major American authors Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson incorporated into their writing was the idea of the “self” or “self-identity”. Both Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson were prolific major American poets and many of the topics they chose to write about involved aspects of transcendentalism. Though Whitman and Dickinson wrote about some of the same topics, they did not share the same meanings, especially with the description of “self”. Published in 1855 within a poetry collection called Leaves of Grass, “Song of Myself” gives a look into how Walt Whitman felt about self-identity. Whitman uses a first person narrator to describe the “self” as the celebration of the individual through personal exploration and gaining personal experience. In Emily Dickinson’s poem, “I heard a Fly buzz when I died” published in 1896 as part of Poems by Emily Dickinson (third series), she alludes that the key to identifying the “self” is sight.
In the poem The Noiseless Patient Spider, Walt Whitman compared the souls of humans to those of spiders. Then three different artists read and drew their interpretation of the poem. The first artist painted on glass, to illustrate what she saw. The second artist used film, and I feel that he was showing the perspective ofthe soul instead of the spider. The last artist used a sketch board to draw the life of a spider. I connected personally the most with the third artist.
In “On the Beach at Night Alone,” Walt Whitman develops the idea that everyone has a connection with everything else, including nature. Whitman uses a variety of writing techniques to get his point across. First, the repetition and parallel structure that his poems contain reinforce the connection between everything in nature. The usage of “All” 11 times emphasizes the inclusion of everything in the universe. The sentence structure remains the same throughout the poem, without any drastic change; however, the length of the lines in the poem vary. In addition, Whitman’s’ extravagance with his words further illustrates his idea of the Over-Soul. For example, “A vast similitude interlocks all” (4) shows his verbose nature. Whitman does not do directly to the point, but gives every little detail. Most importantly, Whitman’s’ use of catalogues stands as the most recognizable Whitman characteristic that illustrates his beliefs. These long lists that he uses set the mood of the poem. “All spheres, grown, ungrown, small, large, suns, moons, planets,” (5) shows the idea that everything is connected in nature. Similarly, “All nations, colors, barbarisms, civilizations languages.” (10) furthermore emphasize Whitman’s belief in the Over-Soul.
Emily Dickinson was a nineteenth – century American writer whose poems changed the way people perceive poetry. She is one of the most mysterious writers of all times. Her personal life and her works are still the cause of debates and are not fully solved. Her poems are dedicated to life and finding the real truth. Her two poems: “Tell all the truth but tell it slant” and “Much madness is divinest sense” represent Dickinson’s quest to reveal the mystery and truth of life. In order to fully understand Dickinson’s poems, one must learn about her personal and historical event such as “The Second Great Awakening” and “The United States women’s suffrage movement “surrounding her life that contributed to the creation of her works.
Nature was an important concept that Whitman used to convince people that there were more important things to life than class structure. He used nature to connect us all, and encourage people to become less materialistic and more appreciative of life itself. There are many themes in Emily Dickenson’s poem that are very reminiscent of Whitman’s popular themes. Although there were some consistency with the themes Whitman’s used in his own work, there were still a lot of ideas Whitman would not have agreed with. The poem starts off with something Whitman would have unanimously disagreed with.