Sexuality And Sexual Language During The Times Of Dickinson And Whitman

Frances Willard and Walt Whitman are two significant nineteenth century American figures. Although Willard and Whitman are famous for different reasons, they do have one characteristic in common: they have both been accused of being homosexuals. However, most people do not know this because it is not put in history textbooks or taught in the classroom, for good reason. Public school students should not learn about Willard and Whitman’s homosexuality through their textbooks and teachers because it does not affect the significance of what these two Americans had accomplished. Not only does it not affect their importance in United States history, but it also cannot be proven. Teaching public school students that Willard and Whitman were homosexuals would be disrespectful to the brave and inspiring acts they have made towards the history of America.

In early American Literature, there were several famous authors that shaped America and American literature into modern literature. Among those individuals are Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, and, Walt Whitman. Of particular interest is Walt Whitman, who has fascinated the masses for over a century with his unorthodox writings. Whitman was inspired by Emerson in the beginning of his career, and later Emerson was the one who helped give Whitman the courage to continue writing after the public did not accept “Leaves of Grass” which was the first work Whitman published. Sadly, Whitman had to publish “Leaves of Grass” privately in the beginning. One poem of importance is from “Leaves of Grass,” that being “For You O Democracy.” As with many of Whitman’s works “For You O Democracy” discussed new ideas and beliefs. The first being the belief that America could stand as one entity; an entity that accepts everyone regardless of their race or social standing. Previously the nation had been divided based upon race and social standing. The second work by Whitman is “America,” a poem which was not published in Whitman’s original work “Leaves of Grass.” Rather, it was one of Whitman’s standalone tributes to the nation. One may wonder why Whitman had to publish his first work privately. Publishing privately had a great deal to do with censorship and the culture during his era. At this time citizens were not open to the idea of accepting the freedom of slaves or homosexuality,

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

Clifton also wrote Adam Thinking and I believe Whitman as one of the greats poet would agree with this poem because his faithfulness of humans and as believer of Adam and Eve. Especially this poem is talking about Adam himself asking for partner in life saying that “to reconnect the rib and clay and to be whole again” (Clifton) we see Adam asking god to make out of his rib an other human to fulfill his sexual desire. We also sense the lost of direction because Adam has not named yet by god. Going back to Whitman automatically after reading this poem by the title I remembered Children of Adam by Whitman. Particularly in A Woman Waits For Me in Leaves of Grass shows us the sexual desire of man by saying “A WOMAN waiting for me, she contains all, nothing yet all were lacking if sex were lacking, or if the moisture of the right man were lacking ” (Whitman, 258) this poem is talking about the important of sex and that without female and male in this earth life would not last forever. Therefore, Whitman promotes “sex” because it to help us as human kind not only to be partner, but also to have children to carry on your last name. Overall, to live happily and joyfully in this earth with another human, basically to complete one

Dickinson starts her poem with the opening line, “Wild nights- Wild nights!” I believe she is going insane and is imagining things that never happened or only have taken place in her dreams. First off, based on the history and culture of Dickinson’s time, it was near impossible for her to have a man at her house and to sleep with him unless she was married and living together with him. Also, based on her biography, we know that she was not married. I can conclude that she either heard of people telling her about their sexual experiences, or she had seen couples around which inspired her to create a poem of this sort. The fact that she spent her life in her own room leads me to believe that she had not experienced the sexual pleasures of life, or else she would have written more, or been married, or even have escaped with her lover. There are some verses that give away the clues that all of these events were her imaginations

Both Whitman and Dickinson were legendary in the branch of poetry, making their marks by writing plenty of poems, concentrating on important themes such as the developing America/independence, and creating beautiful works of art by exceeding the norms of Iambic Pentameter in conventional poetry. These poets exercised great influence among the coming generations of poets, while also exemplifying their traditional uses of poetic devices. But an important aspect that distinguished the uniqueness of both poets was the tone that was exemplified in their works. As a result, Dickinson and Whitman’s poems incorporated a plethora of symbolic messages that supported their tone and mood of not only their writing, but also what influenced them in

How does “Keep your face always toward the sunshine - and shadows will fall behind you” relate to “Hope is the thing with feathers that perches in the soul - and sings the tunes without the words - and never stops at all”? For starters, both are quotes from Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson, who are considered to be the greatest American poets in history. Whitman, who was born in 1819, wrote many poems and essays heavily influenced by transcendentalist writers, and Dickinson, who was born in 1830, also wrote several poems influenced by them, but was considered more of a Romantic writer. Nonetheless, their poems introduced new ideas and meaningful outlooks in the twentieth century, perhaps changing the world of poetry in the process. Although they both were successful, their poems were very distinct from each other in a unique way: their writing styles. Whitman’s writing style expresses many similarities with Dickinson’s writing style, such as their poetry themes and shifts from realistic to metaphoric reflections, but also contradicts with her’s through the structure and straightforwardness of each poem.

Death is essentially comparable for some individuals. Possibly you're startled of it or you have excepted that it something everybody must experience. Numerous creators have their own point of view of what happens. To the extent Emily Dickinson goes, Death, as an obliging kindred suitor, stops to get the speaker and take her on a ride in his steed drawn carriage. They move along at a genuinely easygoing spot and the speaker has all the earmarks of being peaceful with the man if his oath. As they experience the town, she sees kids at play, fields of grain, and the setting sun. Genuinely tranquil, isn't that so? As dusk sets to some degree cool, as she is under-dressed-simply wearing a thin silk shawl for a coat. She was not prepared for her spur of the moment date with Death when she got dressed that morning. They stop at what will be her memorial park, set apart with a

In the 1855 edition of Leaves of Grass, Whitman wrote “The proof of a poet is that his country absorbs him as affectionately as he has absorbed it.” His popularity increased after rising to the occasion following a Ralph Waldo Emerson essay stating the country’s need for an admirable poet leader: “O poet!... Thou shalt have the whole land for thy park and manor, the sea for thy bath and navigation, without tax and without envy; the woods and the rivers thou shalt own” (Emerson). Whitman is also widely believed to have been either homosexual or bisexual, as he spent much time with men. Oscar Wilde wrote to gay-rights activist George Cecil Ives in 1882 that he has “the kiss of Walt Whitman still on [his] lips” (Wilde).

Whitman viewed sex as a “beautiful act that connects matter of energy” (Mott 276). His perspective is evident in “Song of Myself,” because the declaration of unifying the body with the soul is such a prominent theme. Emerson tried to convince Whitman to omit some of the more scandalous passages, but Whitman insisted that he could not do so without violating his aesthetic conscience. For Whitman, “the sexual urge, the urge toward procreation, lay at the base of all art as well as all life,” he thought it was unfortunate that the discussion of sex had been suppressed, but he said that he would “restore sex to

This word choice can be interpreted as Whitman believing that sexuality is a gift from God and is meant to be celebrated. Whitman holds a belief that sexuality is beautiful contrary to the belief of his time that sex is strictly a vehicle for reproduction.

Walt Whitman is considered one of the most important writers in the history of American Literature. The people of his own time called him a radical, a madman, and a pornographer. These days he is greatly appreciated and entitled as a fearless prophet of a new stage of human development. Sometimes Whitman would be in a slump and he felt that he needed to deflect the people who inquired too directly. This even meant using examples of homosexual elements in his work, as well as unbelievable stories of him having affairs with numerous women and fathering many children, unknown to him. Throughout these sorts of times W. Whitman has gone through both resentment and flattery, nevertheless showing us

Everyday the North American media sends millions of sexually provocative images through the airwaves and onto television screens. According to a recent study, an overwhelming 56% of all television programs contain sexual content (Vieth, 2). Our society has become so immune to the representation of sex that, for the most part, it goes unnoticed. Although concerns regarding sexuality still remain, society's tolerance level has changed dramatically over time. The history of attitudes toward sex and sexuality is a cultural process that can be seen through the literature of an era. The Awakening was the first piece of American fiction to blatantly

Emily Dickinson is highly recognized as being one of the best American poets to ever write. Her legacy lives on through her many published poems and some of her poems that I am sure were lost. When reading Dickinson’s work for the first time, some people can interpret her as a stuffy woman who never left the house. But, when you dig deeper into her poems and letters it is revealed that Dickinson was full of whit, sarcasm, and somewhat weird sexual tendencies (weird tendencies for the time period, not so weird in today’s society.) “A narrow Fellow in the Grass” is one of Dickinson’s many great poems. This poem is full of layers of meaning, with every aspect of the poem drawing in the reader’s attention. The strange wording, the dashes, the question

& nbsp;Divinity, Sexuality and the Self in Whitman’s Song of Myself       Through his poetry, Whitman's "Song of Myself" makes the soul sensual and makes divine the flesh.  In Whitman's time, the dichotomy between the soul and the body had been clearly defined by centuries of Western philosophy and theology.  Today, the goodness of the soul and the badness of the flesh still remain a significant notion in contemporary thought.  Even Whitman's literary predecessor, Emerson, chose to distinctly differentiate the soul from all nature.  Whitman, however, chooses to reevaluate that relationship.