Analysis Of Poetic Methods: Walt Whitman And Emily Dickinson
Since their inception in the world of American literature, Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson have composed several works emanating dark, intriguing, and beautiful images in the minds of those fortunate to have read their work while inspiring the writers of poems and novels in their time as well as those of today. Walt Whitman, a former newspaper reporter and teacher, is the author of over three hundred poems including works such as "Song of Myself, " and "I Sing the Body Electric. " Emily Dickinson, a quite contrasted character to that of Whitman, created her share of poems as well, however not reaching publication until the following of her death in 1886. While both notably influential writers of mid to late-nineteenth century made use of pronouns such as "I" to distinguish themselves within their authorship, Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson each created their works with a discernible system and pattern of diction that made them and the poems they bestowed upon American literature so unique from one another.
The notorious writing style of Whitman was somewhat personal and direct as he created a relationship between himself and the reader, while Dickinson's word usage tended to lean toward a descriptive style as she painted for the reader a picture of herself as well as her surroundings, allowing one to gain an understanding of her character. Recognized as "the father of free verse, " Whitman dismantled his many compositions of metrical rhythmic form. He instead tended to apply a narrative approach to his works that subsequently formulated a dialog connecting the narrator and reader. Whitman, in his literature, used the pronoun "I" to instill a relationship between himself and the reader, such as in his poem "I Sing the Body Electric, " "I sing the body electric, The armies of those I love engirth me and I engirth them, They will not let me off till I go with them, respond to them, And discorrupt them, and charge them full with the charge of the soul. " Within this particular excerpt, Whitman follows "I" with the use of verbs such as "love" and "engirth, " creating a sense of intimacy with the reader while concurrently forming with them a bond.
Similar to Whitman, Dickinson expressed herself within her poems as she stayed away from the traditional style of poems published at the time as well as, in her use of the first person, tended to create for herself distinct characters. In her untitled poem, Dickinson describes a distasteful and stressful state: "I shall know why -- when Time is over -- And I have ceased to wonder why -- Christ will explain each separate anguish In the fair schoolroom of the sky -- He will tell me what "Peter" promised -- And I -- for wonder at his woe --I shall forget the drop of AnguishThat scalds me now -- that scalds me now!" In her poetry, Dickinson frequently revealed a religious background composed of her strike against her family throughout her years of sporadically voyaging within New England, subsequently resulting in her rather dark and rebellious tales of Christianity. She described her current situations and states of mind following the pronoun "I" in contrast to the way in which Whitman used this pronoun in attempt to pursue a relationship with the reader.
In her review of "Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson: Poetry of the Central Consciousness" by Agnieszka Salska, Elizabeth McGeachy Mills gives her interpretation of Dickinson's poetry. "Chapter five describes Dickinson's belief, not in some external unity with which she can merge, but in the heroic self that confronts the abyss and makes art from 'the achievement of consciousness'. " As evident in her work, Dickinson made use of "I" not to equate, or "merge, " herself concerning the reader, but instead made the focus her character as she described the surroundings of her conscience. Dickinson’s poems have also been noted to be somewhat brief in language, not coming across as descriptive in comparison to Whitman who habitually formed sentences of rather long and complex sentences. However, some believe Dickinson to have made use of this brief writing method in an effort to leave the imagery in which she would describe herself to the mind of the reader. This brevity is exemplified in her following poem, insinuating familiarity as she again makes Biblical references: “It might be lonelierWithout the Loneliness --I’m so accustomed to my Fate -- Perhaps the Other -- Peace Would interrupt the Dark --And crowd the little Room --Too scant -- by Cubits -- to contain The Sacrament -- of Him” In comparison, it is clear how Whitman made use of lengthy, personal sentence structure in his poetry such as “Song of Myself”: “Through me the afflatus surging and surging, through me the current and index. I speak the pass-word primeval, I give the sign of democracy, By God! I will accept nothing which all cannot have their counterpart of on the same terms. ”
While Whitman used lengthy sentences to implement a relationship with the audience, Dickinson used a peculiar form of grammar and brief, unrevealing sentence structure requiring the reader to imagine the scene and determine her character. Though both poetic methods differing from each other, the two authors executed engagement of their audience.
