Dickinson Vs. Whitman Essay

Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was born on 10th December, 1830, in the town of Amherst, Massachusetts. As a young child, she showed a bright intelligence, and was able to create many recognizable writings. Many close friends and relatives in Emily’s life were taken away from her by death. Living a life of simplicity and aloofness, she wrote poetry of great power: questioning the nature of immortality and death. Although her work was influenced by great poets of the time, she published many strong poems herself. Two of Emily Dickinson’s famous poems, “Because I Could Not Stop for Death” and “I Heard a Fly Buzz- When I Died”,

Death; termination of vital existence; passing away of the physical state. Dying comes along with a pool of emotions that writers have many times tried to explain. Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman were two pioneer poets from the Romantic Era, that introduced new, freer styles of writing to modern poetry at the time. Both Whitman and Dickinson have similar ideas in their writing, but each has a unique touch of expression in their works. Both poets have portrayed death in their poetry as a relief, a salvation, or escape to a better place- another life. They have formulated death as a positive yet ambiguous state. In Dickinson's "Narrow Fellow in the Grass" and Whitman's "Wound-Dresser", there exists a link

disagreement with her father. Her father wanted her to get married and be a weather girl, but she

to focus her life on her family and did not return to writing until 10 years later when she was

Like many famed writers such as Confucius or Voltaire; Dickinson’s writings weren’t popularized for another century, when she and Walt Whitman grew to be known as the best 19th Century poets. The writer was born in December of 1830 to a devoutly Christian family in Amherst, Massachusetts. It was around the time of her birth that the transcendentalist movement exploded, and perhaps this is why she became so reclusive. It is also speculated that Dickinson suffered a romantic disappointment around this time, which is believed to also be why she retreated to such a secluded lifestyle, where she was left alone to her thoughts and writings. She withdrew from society in her teens and her only contact with others was through letters. Similarly to Lao Tzu and Henry David Thoreau, Dickinson became fascinated with nature. It was for a long duration of time that Emily’s work was entirely unrecognized and unknown.

Not much is known about Emily Dickinson’s personal life. Which is why other authors and readers lead to much curiosity. While never popular in her lifetime for her writings, Dickinson has become one of the widely know poets in history. Dickinson’s poems reflect her early and lifelong

Whitman does not leave much space for the readers’ own imagination while Dickinson chose her words so carefully so that the meaning of the poem comes across like she wants to. The last difference is the use of metric and rhyme in both poets’ work, there is no metric or rhyme in Whitman’s poetry, while this is clearly not the case with Dickinson. Both Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson are a part of American Romanticism but are at the same time completely

Emily Dickinson was one of the best American poets, but she is very famous for being a secluded writer. Emily Dickinson was born on December 10, 1846 in Amherst, Massachusetts and she died on May 15, 1886 at the age of 55 in Amherst, Massachusetts. Her isolation from the outside world still confuses literary critics and readers of her poetry and letters. There are many theories developed over time about her seclusion. Some people believe her secluded way of life was her own choice but she was very close to her family. Emily Dickinson lived in a happy home and went to a school during her life. Dickinson was born in Amherst, Massachusetts, in 1830 and lived there all her life most of her life. An introduction into Emily Dickinson’s poetry themes, and discussion about the isolation in her life, and discussion about the isolation in her poetry will be examined in the paper.

After her mother’s death, loss of love, and father’s death in 1874, Emily began to experience acute agoraphobia, depression, anxiety, and even suffered from troubles with her eyesight. Emily had never truly been found of visits or visiting others, but after these tramatic life events, Emily became a absolute recluse. Due to the fact that she no longer had anyone to care for or care about, Emily’s life was soon consumed with poetry which became her only joy in life. She did not write to become famous or to have her works published, but simply wrote to express her feelings and to find solace amidst her sufferings. In her letters to her intellectual friend Thomas Higginson, she elaborated on this by saying, "If fame belonged to me, I could not escape her; if she did not, the longest day would pass me on the chase.…My barefoot rank is better" (“Emily Dickinson Biography: American Poet and Author,” n.d.). It was not until Emily’s death in 1886, due to a nervous collapse in 1884, that her poetry was eventually published. Lavinia Dickinson discovered hundreds of Emily’s poems in notebooks and on various scraps of paper and published her first volume in 1890. Lavinia and other family members disregarded Emily’s instructions to destroy her poems after her death and instead began publishing Emily’s talents as a writer. However, it was not until the 1955 that all of

Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson share more than contemporaneity in the bustling America of the XIX century. Both are celebrated as poets who have significantly transformed the American poetry from both style and content standpoints. While they are equally innovators and write about common subjects such as nature, death, and immortality, they speak from different perspectives. She produced a more intimate poetry - one that dealt with states of mind –, which can be attributed to some extent to her reclusive and quiet life. He, in contrast, had Nature as a way to connect with what he called “the Over Soul” and trusted its regenerative and instructional powers, dealing with this theme in a broader way when compared to Dickinson.

Romanticism in poetry is seen in the works of both Emily Dickenson and Walt Whitman where subjects such as death and nature are romanticized. Both authors speak of death with a sense of respect and inevitability versus a sense of dread and speak of universality and goodness of nature, two themes of Romanticism. Though these themes are common to both, the poets use poetic devices differently. For example, both use metaphor, personification in particular, but structure the use differently. The writing styles are different as well with Dickenson’s structured use of meter and rhyme reflecting a structured life experience and Whitman’s more free-flowing, non-rhyming style reflecting his expansive life experience.

The few important people in her life inspired her to write poetry. One of the important

As Dickinson retreated from the public's view, she contemplated issues that dealt with subjects of nature, individuality, God, and death. None of Dickinson's poems were published in her lifetime, and it was only after her death in 1886 when her sister Lavivia discovered a collection of over 1,000 poems, that the world was blessed with the poems of Emily Dickinson.

Have you heard of Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman? They are both poets that changed how poetry was written and are still celebrated for their works to this day. With their use of romanticism their poems touched the hearts of others through personification and imagery. Although Dickinson and Whitman both use personification and imagery, they differ in uses of other poetic devices.

Emily Dickinson was an American poet who wrote during the 19th century. Her work is both emotional and thought-provoking and her lack of social interaction during her lifetime give her poetry a personality that is vastly different from other poets of her time. Desmond Powell writes in “Emily Dickinson” “She was not seeking new forms; she was only writing in a form inherent in her, a form quite different from the conventional ones employed by the other poets of her day.” Dickinson was not worried about copying the work of other poets, but instead concentrated on making an art form that was entirely her own and that has managed to stand the test of time even to this day. As one of the most recognizable names in American literature, she is truly