Comparison-between-Walt-Whitman-and-Emily-Dickinso

ComparisonbetweenWaltWhitmanandEmilyDickinson2012.6.30BothofWaltWhitmanandEmilyDickinsonaregreatpoetinthehistoryofAmericanliterature.Here,I’llmakeacomparisonbetweenthe2writers.Ingeneral,Whitmanseemstokeephiseyeonsocietyatlarge;Dickinsonexplorestheinnerlifeoftheindividual.WhereasWhitmanis“national”inhisoutlook,Dickinsonis“regional”.Informaltermsthe2poetsarevastlydifferent:Whitman’sendless,all-inclusivecatalogscontrastwiththeconcise,directandsimpledictionandsyntaxwhichcharacterizeDickinson’spoetry.NowI’llcomparetheminseveralaspects.ThemesWhitmanwasacatalogofAmericanandEuropeanthought,heemphasisoncohesivenessandsocialsolidarity,science,bothNewtoniaandevolutionary,pantheismtheideaofprogress,andcurrentAmericanlifewithitswesternfrontierspirit,Jacksonianlaissez-faireindividualism,andCivilWarUnionism—allthesefoundtheirwayintohissystemandhispoetry.AsforDickinson,shewritesthingsaboutlife,love,nature,timeandeternity,deathandmouring,religionandfaith,isolationanddepression,poetryandlanguage.Dickinson’spoetryisaclearillustrationofherreligious-ethicalandpolitical-socialideas,Sheexpressedapassionateyearningforreligiouscertitude,God’shelp,andthegoodlife.ByfarthelargestportionofDickinson’spoetryconcernsdeathandimmortality,themeswhichlieatthecenterofDickinson’sworld.IdealsSpecialmentionshouldbemadeofEmerson’sinfluenceoverinfluenceoverWhitman.InhiscareerasapoetWhitmandrewmostheavilyfromhisoldcontemporary.HewasgropingbothinthemeandformwhenhechanceduponEmerson’sworks.InresponsetoEmersonianconceptoftheAmericanpoetastheuniversalman,Whitmanstatesthatthegreatestpoetbreathesintotheworldthegrandeurandlifeoftheuniverse.