Essay Comparing Dickinson And Walt Whitman

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Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman were very famous poets during the 1800’s, they wrote powerful poetry that is still legendary today. Dickinson was very introverted and shied away from fame, while Whitman was very well known and famous poet. Two poems in particular talk about their perspectives and portrayal of death, a subject that was very bold during their time. In these poems their writings styles are very different. Dickinson is careful and precise, while Whitman is easy-going and simple. Dickinson and Whitman’s poems differ in the portrayal of death, structure and the use of figurative language. Dickinson and Whitman’s perspective and portrayal of death differ because of how they describe death. In the beginning of “712” by Emily Dickinson, personification is used to make death approachable and friendly by describing him as kind enough to come to her, instead of her coming to death. “Because I could not stop for Death — He kindly stopped for me —“(Dickinson 1). In the beginning of “Song of Myself” by Walt Whitman, personification is also used to describe his love for nature and how when he dies he will become one with it. “I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love”(Whitman 5). Whitman’s main point about death is that it’s a part…show more content…
In Dickinson’s death poem, the rhythm is very formal and not like a typical conversation. This is because of the poems meter. By stressing every other syllable, a regular beat is created that echoes a steady and calm perspective. However, she also occasionally breaks her meter to draw attention to important ideas in the text. Whitman’s poem however, does not rhyme and has no pattern of meter. The everyday, conversation-like sound of Whitman’s poem is a good fit for his tone and perspective on death. Just as the structure of these poems differed, the use of figurative language differed
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