Walt Whitman vs. Emily Dickinson, Research Paper Example

Abstract

This paper looks at the constrasting styles of prose poem authors Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson.  Both are outstanding contributors to American romantic literature and although they bore some similarities, the style was very different.  Of the two it is considered that Walt Whitman was the more inspired writer as he wrote for the American people, whereas Emily was a more closeted writer making poetry metaphysical.  This paper examines the contrasting styles of Whitman and Dickinson. The paper is split into  five distinct parts : (1) Introduction and Background (2) The work of Walt Whitman  (3) The work of Emily Dickinson  (4) Comparative Analysis and (5) Conclusions.  Who was the greatest writer with the most influence on American Literature ?

Introduction and Background

Walter(Walt) Whitman (1819-1892) was an American poet and journalist.  He was best known for his works of leaves of grass (1855) and the poems ‘body electric’, and ‘song of myself’.  Whitman had the ability to convert natural speech into poetry and was said to have gained his writing inspiration from the likes of Goethe, Hegel and Carlyle.  He wrote a collection of poems called calamus and these were widely criticized as being or a collection of his homosexuality.

History tree style was of an experimental nature, being free verse.  In celebration of nature.  Whitman was influenced by the civil war, where he attended the wounds of his brother injured in battle.  Join this time is set to about a relationship with a young Confederate officer.  In 1873 Whitman became paralyzed and moved to Camden New Jersey where he remained until he died.  Whitman was widely regarded as one of the most influential poets in American literature.  (Liukkonen)

Emily Dickinson.  [1830 to 1885] was born in Amherst, near Boston.  Emily was best known for her near monastic lifestyle of seclusion and simplicity.  She was noted for her  great poetic  works that  questioned  the nature of immortality and death.  She had a very strict upbringing and a harsh father.  She came from an intense religious background that dated back to the early Puritan settlers.  Emily like Whitmore is highly influenced by the civil war and this turned out to be the most prolific period of her work.  Emily was responsible for compiling over 1700 times.  Many of the poems referenced an invisible lover, and there have been great speculations as to who this might be?  One theory that it did not relate to a person at all some aspect of the divine.  She died at 55 from Bights  disease thought to result from stress throughout life. (T.Pettinger)

Emily Dickinson or Walt Whitman have very different writing styles.  They are both considered unique in terms of personality, style and the messages that they want to convey.  They have both been classified as Romantic poets, as they both speak of aspects of love.  In this sense there is a similarity in the love of nature.  Structurally, though they are very opposite.  Both poets structured their poems in a different manner.  Whitman was essentially free-form and lacked any structure, whereas Dickinson poems had a definite structure, writing four line stanzas, often in ballad form.  Whitman poetry also has no rhyme and breaks away from traditional poetic concepts, whereas Dickinson made use of what is termed slant rhyme tickets and was also remarkable in their use of imagery and the poems created remarkable visual impact, consider:- “Because I could not stop for Death,” in which she personifies death as a courteous carriage driver”.  (Howard).

The work of Walt Whitman

Whitman was the master of  free verse, and in addition to being a poet and writer.  He was a significant orator, and often defender of the rights of those that could not speak for themselves.  He broke the bonds of traditional poetic writing, and gave it a new sense of purpose and meaning.  Again the long roll, the drummers, again, the attacking cannon, mortars, again to my just the ear the cannon responsive.. it is this type of free-flowing verse that made Whitman famous for his sense of expression.

Music was also an instrument support of Whitman’s life, yet a very good year for them to ribbons.  He used this skill of free-flowing, of his writing and expression.  Yet the great appreciation of classical music.  He had  a specific love of Italian opera, and he claims that it was opera, which led him to produce leaves of grass.  Whitman said to have discovered the shape of themes and found a new maturity in his work.  He made many references to music including the plantation course of the Negroes, the baritones of the longshoreman etc. across this work with the terms of nature, i.e. Birdsong and the freedom of flight.  He also associated music to different expressions of his writing.  E.g. bugles and the call to valour, the sound of a cello used to illustrate a young man’s hot complaint are but a few examples of associating music narrative verse.

Whitman was set to many relationships with boys and men throughout his life.  The relationship with Peter Doyle lasted for several years.  Oscar Wilde was quoted as saying that there is no doubt about the American poet’s sexual orientation.  Whitman was a strong advocate for the abolition of slavery, stating that abolished slavery, or it will abolish you.  Equally, he did not support voting rights for African-Americans, expressing disapproval of the number of African-Americans in the legislature in 1856.

Both Whitman and Dickinson were associated as great romantics of their particular era.  Whitman was more of a revolutionary change in traditional concepts of poetry into more romantic verse.  Whitman wanted America to accept his concept of unity and democracy, and in this sense, his writing had a political agenda.

The work of Emily Dickenson

It was essentially a the person who use poetry to express her inner feelings.  The harsh and suppressed childhood turned her into a very insular person.  She never found a true love, and this was often reflected in her writings portraying  the divine and religion.  This caused Dickinson to have much more of a childlike persona, were her imagination was able to flourish unchecked.  She provided a superficial view of objects, ideas and feelings.  Dickinson proved to the American male literature community, that women were also very capable of narrative verse.  With her unique writing style sheet she elevated poetry to what many described as a concise language of the soul.

In the poem  success is counted sweetest, we see Dickenson  in the Civil War setting, where she focuses attention on an ambitious soldier who came close to victory.  The soldier lay wounded on the ground.  Dickinson describing the moment as success is counted sweetest by those that ne’er succeed.  In this context, the soldier came close to winning, but ultimately, it fell from his grasp.  He can taste the victory that he lays dying in the ground he sees the opposing army racing to victory.  The important message that Dickenson  was trying to achieve in this poem is the irony of victory.  Those that achieve the victory are not necessarily the heroes.  The soldier that was on the floor dying in agony has his sounds amplified by the sound of the opponents of victory.  The sounds of that victory were  more painful to the soldier than his own wounds.  It is often more heroic to die for a course that you believe in and personal sacrifice for a cause.  The greatest love of all, being the sacrifice of your own life. ” her poetry is sometimes brooding and sometimes joyous and celebratory. Her sophistication and profound intellect has been lauded by laymen and scholars alike and influenced many other authors and poets into the 21st Century.”  (Merriman).

Dickenson had a morbid fascination with death and religion. Certain people indicated, later in her life, that she was on the verge of being insane.  The concept of hiding in her room, hearing voices and dressing purely in white was to say the least odd behaviour  “One of the major reasons for her interest in death, then, was its close relation with religion, as she viewed it.  The relationship between death and religion became for her, in fact, a circular one.  Her basic feeling about immortality were ones of doubt and apprehension.”  (Anon). There is no doubt that there is a strong link to her puritanical upbringing and her strict religious father. The puritans were equally obsessive in death.

Comparative Analysis

Both Whitman and Dickinson can be described as exceptional romantics all their age, having influenced American literature and poetry to the highest level.  Whitman was perhaps more influential in the sense that he speaks for the American people.  Whilst Whitman had a very free form of narrative verse.  Dickinson was much more conventional using rhyming stanza, and more structure in her poetry.  Whitman was much more of an extrovert personality, as opposed to Dickinson, who might be described as reclusive.  Whitman had a flamboyant sexual life, whereas Dickinson never found a true love.  Both made a profound impression in describing the sentiments behind the Civil War.  Whitman was seen to be much more politically active, then that of  Dickinson.

Conclusion

It is widely acclaimed that through the unique writing styles of these two individuals.  They established  the foundation of what American literature is today.  The importance of such writers like Mark Twain, Emily Dickinson, Walt Whitman, etc.  Is that they provide an important account of American history.  We all learn from our history, and it is from this understanding that we are able to chart a better future.  Emily Dickinson, paved the way for recognition of female writers and poets in American society.  Walt Whitman made people re-examine their conscience and behaviour towards others.  He particularly made a stand for minority groups and oppressed people.  Through describing actions in the Civil War, both writers questioned the concept of heroes and victors and man’s inhumanity to man.

Works Cited

Anon. Emily Dickinson’s Two Poems on Death . 2009. 26 3 2010 <http://www.eng.fju.edu.tw/Literary_Criticism/psychoanalysis/eg_2.htm>.

Howard, Adam. Whitman and Dickinson Poetry. 27 5 2005. 28 3 2010 <http://www.byzantinecommunications.com/adamhoward/homework/highschool/whitman.html>.

Liukkonen, Petri. Walt(er) Whitman. 2010. 28 3 2010 <http://www.kirjasto.sci.fi/wwhitman.htm>.

Merriman, C.D. Emily Dickenson . 2006. 28 3 2010 <http://www.online-literature.com/dickinson/>.

T.Pettinger. Short Biography Emily Dickinson . 26 06 2006. 28 3 2010 <http://www.biographyonline.net/poets/emily_dickinson.html>.