What Are The Similarities Between Emily Dickinson And Walt Whitman

Emily Dickinson’s poetry is an essential part of American literature. Firstly, Emily’s style of poetry is largely influenced by her childhood. She grew up with her parents, a brother, and a sister. Her mother was aloof and quite possibly depressed, so Emily was closer to her father and siblings than she was to her mother.

Both poets are very similar to each other in a way that both of them lived in the nineteenth century. "The two giants of 19th-century American poetry who played the greatest role in redefining modern verse are Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson (Burt)". Both Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman are considered as the founders of today’s modern American poetry, whose they put the keystone, and which was further developed by other poets over the years. The poetry has been redefined. The modern poetry becomes more discreet which uses the topics of everyday life. However, both of them were two different personalities from a completely distinctive society because Emily Dickinson came from a conservative and strict family. Therefore, she is withdrawn, and on the other hand, a controversial personality because she dealt with the modern poetry. For that reason, her contradictory feelings often fight a battle with each other in her poems. Walt Whitman came from a simple civilian family, whose parents were very hardworking people who had big national values, thus according to his revolutionary and national ideology Walt Whitman fits into the modern American poetry. Nevertheless, the ideas of two poets are similar at a certain point because in their poems both of them

On the surface, Emily Dickinson’s poem #605 seems to be an unconvincing declaration of life, but with the appliance of more neglected etymologies the piece describes a journey characterized by growth of self-assurance and inner power. The keyword “alive” gives the poem new breadth when considering the “Of a fire, flame, or spark: burning, not extinguished” definition alongside the standard “having life, living” definition. This etymological application accentuates the text’s reddish, fiery shades which expose the reader to the more enthusiastic and passionate undertones of the text. The incorporation of this alternate meaning reaches the peak of its depth in the final stanza. When placing the new meaning side by side with the standard definition,

As one reads Emily Dickinson’s poems, often times his or her first thought is “Wow! I have no idea what this means!” After reading a variety of her poems, it is clear that various ideas, people, and styles played into her works. Emily Dickinson was a woman of many complex personas—which is most prevalent in the letters she wrote to her sister, Susan. Throughout Dickinson’s works, she speaks of numerous subjects not to identify their meaning, but instead to explore the way these ideas impact life.

Whitman worked the majority of his life, including employments as a writer, instructor, government representative, and medical attendant in the Civil War. It’s very obvious to see in their poems the distinctions they had when communicating thoughts regarding basic themes. Although, Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman had numerous contrasts in their composition styles, they had death as repetitive point in their lyrics.

Many authors have their own person way of writing like including facts in their literary works or putting their own opinions into the mix. Emily Dickenson and Robert Frost are two poets that focus on themselves; they share their opinions, emotions, and thoughts through their writing and build a community of people who agree with them. Both of these talented writers are very keen on keeping a running theme that stands as their central idea; Emily’s poems are about seeing things in a new and different light while Robert’s poems are built around central metaphors and his past experiences. Aside from focusing on themselves, they have a few poems that describe the experience and emotions of an induvial person like Frost’s “Home Burial” and Dickenson’s “He ate and drank the precious words”. Emily Dickenson was a poet who expresses her deep emotions and thoughts that she experiences naturally over time; she doesn’t worry about getting things right nor does she worry about what people will think of her poems.

Emily Dickinson is a depressed romantic. She falls in love with men she cannot have and her family constantly revised her poems; making them lose their meanings. In “Tell all the Truth but tell it slant” she says “The Truth must dazzle gradually or every man be blind-” (1,7-8). Dickinson has had her heart broken so many times by men and it was always delivered quickly and cruelly. Dickinson might have felt that if it was broken to her more gently and kindly she might not feel this way and feel so blindsided by her unrequited love.

Whitman vs. Dickinson Intro. These two writers, both through their own genius, tackle subject matter, and poetic style in their own individual way. This causes them to have very recognizable similarities and differences. Here, I will be exploring how Whitman and Dickinson style, and tone. I will also discuss the one I more resonated with.

The Impact of Emily Dickinson on American Culture Emily Dickinson once wrote, “The Soul selects her own Society - Then - shuts the Door -To her divine Majority - Present no more- ”. Dickinson was born in the 1880s during America’s rapidly changing society. According to Matina S. Horner (1990), “New inventions enabled farmers to grow more crops while employing fewer laborers, and young people flocked from the countryside to booming cities, where advances in mechanization aided the development of factories.” (p. 19). Since the United States was industrializing quickly, many immigrants were enticed to flee their homeland for new opportunities.

I believe this is due to her loneliness and solitude throughout her 20’s and 30’s (Emily Dickinson's Biography). It also was probably an effect of the losses in her life and the time period she was in being rather stagnate compared to society today ( Garcia, Emily Dickinson). Dickinson likely was depressed and found little satisfaction in anything outside of literature. She likely found that she could excel in writing and put fourth much energy towards it. Literature became Dickinson’s life.

At the beginning of her school year, Dickinson stood out from everyone as she was distinguished as an original thinker who, in her brother’s words, dazzled her teachers: “Her compositions were unlike anything ever heard- and always produced sensation-both with the scholars and teachers-her imagination sparkled- and she gave it free rein (Modern American Poetry 1). Her great interest in poetry and English literature is shown throughout her late teens as she read famous authors. Moreover, whilst attending Amherst Academy, Dickinson was a “serious student with a mischievous streak” (Literature California Treasures 437).

Walt Whitman and Emily Dickison shared some similarities they often dealt with the same kind of theme. Whitman and Dickison has had their own unique styles of how they would write. Death was the topic that both writer had a strong connection with. Religion was another common topic these two had in common. Beyond the themes they also were so well known for their unique voice and style Both poets also lived and wrote in the northeastern United States in the later half of the nineteenth century..Emily Dickison purpose for poetry was to know about what intrigued her. She used law, music, nature, religion, music, medicine, fashion, commerce, and domestic activities prove world wide. But most importantly the people who Emily had came into contact

A During the 1800’s, Rebel and a Recluse would change the landscape of American Literature forever. Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson would skillfully and passionately write several a hundred poems between them, and while they were seldom appreciated in the years of the authors, they would become treasured during the time after them. Walt Whitman was born in 1819, and at the age of 11 was deprived of a normal childhood education because his father wanted to recapture the families lost glory. The Whitman’s were once a wealthy family, owning a good deal of farmland in the New York state’s long island (Walt Whitman Biography, n.d.). Similarly, Emily Dickinson would finish most of her childhood education, attending two different academies for a total of eight years (Emily Dickinson Biography, n.d.). While it is not known whether Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson knew each other, their one commonality is that they both loved literature. Together the Rebel and Recluse changed the way that Literature operates through their differing but similar viewpoints and literary styles. Four poems make their perspectives on gender particularly apparent, Whitman’s Song of Myself part I (pp. 1024-1025), The Wound-Dresser part 4 (p. 1082) and Dickinson’s 207 [214] (p. 1195), 269 [249]

This writing expresses such a dramatic and romantic view. The background of Dickinson is much more rich and privileged. She was able to get a proper education at Harvard and lived a very realism kind of life. Her background effects her writing differently and makes her poetry sound much more proper, formal and depressing compared to Whitman’s brighter and more informal poetry. The Themes in these authors writings are also different.

This thesis will be dealing with the life and work of two most prominent women writers of the 19th and 20th century, Emily Dickinson and Sylvia Plath. For better understanding of complex topics their work reflects, I will describe important events from their biographies. Although Dickinson and Plath lived in two different centuries they were connected by a common thread, the position of women in the male-dominated world. Not only that they wanted for women to have the same rights as men, but also to be free from the roles of housewives and mothers which were imposed on them by a conservative society. They fought for these rights in only way they could, by writing. In order to show the manner in which Dickinson’s and Plath's poems portray gender relations and, more specifically, how they granted women a strong voice, I will analyze several poems and a novel.