Dickinson vs. Whitman
After receiving five years of schooling, Walt Whitman spent four years learning the printing trade; Emily Dickinson returned home after receiving schooling to be with her family and never really had a job. Walt Whitman spent most of his time observing people and New York City. Dickinson rarely left her house and she didn't associate with many people other than her family. In this essay I will be comparing Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman.
Emily Dickinson's life differs greatly from the life of Walt Whitman, although they lived during the same time period. Walt Whitman published practically all his poetry during his lifetime, but Emily Dickinson only published seven of her poems during her lifetime. Actually, her poetry wasn't published until after her death. Both Whitman and Dickinson were poetic pioneers because of the new ideas they used in their poetry. Emily Dickinson did not write for an audience, but Walt Whitman wrote for an audience about several national events. The forms each poet used are different as well. The rhyme in the poetry by Whitman is drastically different from the poetry written by Dickinson, because Whitman didn't use any rhyme.
Emily Dickinson grew up in Amherst, Mass, and Walt Whitman grew up in
New York City, New York; this is one way that these poets' lives differ. The main people that influenced Emily Dickinson were Ralph Waldo Emerson and Emily
Bronte. Walt Whitman was influenced by many people, some of which were: Elias
Hicks, James Macpherson and William Shakespeare. Whitman read many book reviews by many people; from these, he realized Emerson was very influential. Whitman was also influenced by the Bible, his walks in New York City, Tom Paine, and a strong love for music. After Whitman started preparing to be a poet, he said he was merely "simmering," but the ideas of Emerson brought him to a "boil."
Dickinson wasn't addressing anyone in particular through her poetry, but Whitman addressed the citizens of the United States, most of the time, through his writings. After reading "The Poet" by Emerson and seeing how he defined the role of the poet in democracy, Whitman was eager to assume that role. Whitma n loved to have his picture taken and there are many pictures of him. Dickinson only allowed her picture to be taken once and did so reluctantly. Neither
Dickinson nor Whi...
... middle of paper ...
...n wrote about the Civil War. Dickinson often wrote about death and nature. The punctuation is drastically different as well.
Whitman used mostly traditional punctuation in his poetry, but in the poem
"Beat! Beat! Drums!" he used a big amount of dashes: "Beat! beat! drums!-blow! bugles! blow! Through the windows-through the doors-burst like a ruthless force." Dickinson used a form of punctuation unique to her poetry as well as capitalization. She used irregular capitalization to emphasize certain words for example, in the poem "This is My Letter to the World," she capitalized the words, World, Me, News, Nature, Majesty, Message, Hands, Her, and Sweet. She did this because those things were important to her.
Walt Whitman's and Emily Dickinson's lives were very different, although they lived during the same time period. Each poet chose to be around certain people and things. Those people and things they chose to be around greatly influenced their poetry. The forms and subjects are different because they liked writing about things that happened in their lives. They are both innovators in poetry because they chose to change common things in writing
poetry.
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
Walt Whitman was born on May 31, 1819 in West Hills Long Island N.Y... In 1823 they moved to Brooklyn. When he moved to Brooklyn he attended a public school. He started working at the age of twelve. While working he learned the printing trade. After he finished school he begins to teach in country schools on Long Island and became a journalist. By the time he was twenty three he edited a daily newspaper in New York and he was a fairly important newspaper of the time. Also he spent thirty six years observing New York City and Long Island. Walt had started experimenting new styles of poetry. When he published newspapers and poems they didn’t show any literary promise. ...
Walt Whitman was an American poet, born in 1819. Whitman published a collection of poetry in which he outlined his democratic vision for America. Walt Whitman was credited with being the founder of a literature that was uniquely American. America was a very new country at this time, the Declaration of Independence, in which America claimed independence from England was signed in 1776 and was still quite recent. In 1781 America had proclaimed themselves as the First New Nation. They then began to create a culture that was uniquely American to give Americans a sense of nationalism. America had been influenced by English literature and now there was a search for a uniquely American literature. Walt Whitman took it upon himself to help to promote American identity. Whitman was very liberal as he was pro-homosexuality and an early supporter of women's equality. Whitman was also a passionate believer of an American Ideology that believed in American's exceptionalism. Whitman used his poetry to spread his democratic vision for America; there are many good examples of the theme of democracy in Whitman's poetry.
Loneliness was an important characteristic of both poet's lives during the writing years. Whitman, whose sexuality has been questioned, was never one for social interaction. Much of his time was spent writing or editing newspapers such as the Long Island Star and the Brooklyn Daily Times (Whitman XV). Dickinson, whose life was similar to Whitman's in a social sense, lived in a different atmosphere. Emily lived in Amherst which was a far cry from the hustle an bustle of Whitman's life in cities such as New York, Philadelphia, and New Orleans. She never married, living alone in her home for the majority of her life (Dickinson 128). The loneliness, along with the inspiration from nature (a major characteristic of Romantic writing), are two things that can be seen in the two poems that we are about to take an in depth look at. In addition to these items we can also see a possible attempt by Whitman and Dickinson to keep their real life away from public view (even though they were not immediately published), instead making their lives seem joyous.
Though her work was unconventional, it wasn’t sensual like Whitman’s. Through their writing styles and views that occur within their poetry about human relationships differ, many similarities are evident as well. When comparing Whitman’s poem “Hours Continuing
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
Walt Whitman was not afraid to give his opinion of What was becoming of America, and he showed that in Democratic Vistas. Whitman
In order to understand any comparison of the two author's one must first read and comprehend that Emerson's writing are clearly an instruction manual that Whitman adopts in order to become an outstanding poet. Emerson believes we must,
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.
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.
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.
Whitman’s work has an arguable style that makes his work appear as an egotistical piece of literature for some and others may find a different deeper meaning within his work. This work is an excellent example of patriotic work that attempts better its audience throughout by making revelations and comparisons of different idea and thoughts about the nation's people. Whitman illustrates his interpretation of what a kind of person is a great person is and how they go about life. He intends to make his audience better as a whole and understand the underlying problem that some have. Whitman's writing truly expresses his feelings about his time and what he expects from them for a better
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.
This list of qualities that define the greatest poet maintain that the poet does not know “pettiness or triviality” which creates an image in which the actions and work of the writer is defined through it’s importance in the subjects that are presented within their works. Whitman’s act of categorization creates a definition of the poet that portrays him as being wholly good and possessing the most important qualities that can be found in an individual. This is broadened to describe the American poet specifically in that they are known for their “generosity, affection, and for encouraging competitors” which reinforces the argument that they represent the icon of moral uprightness in
When he was 11, his father pulled him out of school so he could work and help him support the family. The family moved often, mostly because of his father’s bad investments. He looked at his childhood as often troubled and unhappy because of his family’s economic status. Whitman found work in the printing business and when he was 17 he started teaching in a one room schoolhouse in Long Island. He taught for 5 years and then in 1841 he started a weekly paper called the Long-Islander. He later moved to New York City to work in newspaper and in 1846 he became an editor for the Brooklyn Daily Eagle.