More handpicked essays just for you.
Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman Comparison
Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman Comparison
Poetic techniques of Emily Dickinson
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman Comparison
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
Whitman’s poem was written in the mid-1800s during the industrial revolution, but Hughes’ poem was written in the 1900s during the Civil Rights Movement. This is important because the Civil Rights Movement established the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the Industrial Revolution moved at a slow place but there were still issues with slavery. Whitman’s poem was free verse while Hughes’ poem was traditional rhyme/rhythm. The tone of Whitman’s poem was patriotic and celebratory (I HEAR America singing, the varied carols I hear); because he was paying tribute to the success of the individuals; however, the tone of Hughes’ poem was sarcastic and frustrated (to build a “homeland of the free,’’ because he didn’t feel like some individuals were allowed to experience the American Dream. Whitman’s theme of his poem was that individuals and liberties make America great. On the other hand, Hughes’ theme of his poem expressed that individuals felt excluded from the “homeland of the free.” The purpose of Whitman’s poem is praise for universal brotherhood. However, Hughes’ poem’s purpose was to inform individuals about inequality, meaning that not everyone has the same liberties in America. Whitman’s poem focused on the jobs of the workers, while Hughes’ poem focused on race, social status, and a list to represent the “I am’’ phrase; (I am the Negro bearing slavery’s scars). He also
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
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
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.
Whitman wrote in ambitious proportions, while creating a style of rhythmic structure, creating stanzas and complex lines. By Whitman making his works synonymous it truly recognizes him as a great American Poet. With Whitman using free verse poetry he was able to change the original idea of structure with the rhythm of cadence, this helped people to emphasize poetry as an expression. With Whitman he uses non-orthodox type of structuring his poetry; he traditionally does not have a type of length for his works of stanzas, poems, or his lines.
... 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.
Comparing Robert Frost and Emily Dickinson as Poets Often, the poets Robert Frost and Emily Dickinson try to convey the themes of the meaning of nature, or that of death and loneliness. Although they were born more than fifty years apart, their poetry is similar in many ways. Both poets talk about the power of nature, death, and loneliness. However, Dickinson and Frost are not similar in all poetic aspects.
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.
The poem has set a certain theme and tone but no definite rhyme. In this poem, the poet explores into a thought of the self, the all-encompassing "I," sexuality, democracy, the human body, and what it means to live in the modern world. He addresses that the human body is sacred and every individual human is divine. Hence, Whitman was known for writing poems about individualism, democracy, nature, and war.
While Wordsworth formatted his poetry into beautiful ballads, Whitman wrote in more relatable poems, some of which truly did not follow any form. According to William E. H. Meyer Jr., “Indeed, the very substance of Whitman 's ‘barbaric yawp,’ in contrast to Wordsworth 's ‘plaintive numbers,’ is the revolutionary and unbridgeable gap that exists between a ‘song of myself’ and a ‘prelude’ or ‘lyrical ballad.’”(Meyer 83). While Wordsworth keeps more structure and regulation in his ballads, Whitman does what feels most effective. This allows for Whitman to be slightly more organic in form than Wordsworth. However, this difference can also be seen as an addition to Wordsworth, as Wordsworth advocated for organic form. Whitman’s further use of organic form is still within the influence of Wordsworth, as it ties back to the Romantic ideals he put forth. Overall, while Whitman may have denied inspiration from Wordsworth, the evidence points in a different
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
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