I Heard A Fly Buzz And Walt Whitman's I Hear America Singing

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Emily Dickinson’s I Heard a Fly Buzz and Walt Whitman’s I Hear America Singing are drastically different in many ways however the both have distinct parallel themes that both, respectively, tie the poems together as a whole. Dickinson, known for her superb form and rhythm exemplifies this in I Heard a Fly Buzz, with her use of iambic meter enhancing the flow of the song. Whitman, taking a completely different approach, uses free verse, or what many would call open verse, yet still achieves the same level of fluidity as Dickinson, if not more in I hear America Singing. Both of their unique literary styles are what make their poetry so special and resonating to each and every reader. The fluidity created by the two drastically different styles of poetry is the most important factor of this audience enjoyment, and Dickinson and Whitman have this key element mastered for sure. In each their poems, Dickinson and Whitman utilize structure, repetition, and…show more content…
Walt Whitman’s poems are also generally much lengthier than the short poems of Emily Dickinson. Although both poets do not bluntly inform the audience of the meaning of their writings with explicit words, Whitman definitely describes what he is attempting to convey with many more words than that of Emily Dickinson. Whitman very rarely uses very noticeable caesura in his poems, as most of his notable poems utilize commas, question marks and periods to form more definite endings to sentences. In this manner, Whitman’s I Sing the Body Electric has a much happier and lively tone than Emily Dickinson’s I Heard a Fly Buzz. Not only is his subject matter much more optimistic than Dickinson’s, but the form and flow of the poem allow it to be a bit more sing-song and airy. His praises upon praises of both the female and male form also induce this happy vibe that the poem gives

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