Dickinson Vs. Whitman
...learning the printing trade; Emily Dickinson returned home after receiving
schooling to be with her family and never really had a job. Walt Whitman spent
most of his time observing people and New York City. Dickinson rarely left her
house and she didn't associate with many people other than her family. In this
essay I will be comparing Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman.
Emily Dickinson's life differs greatly from the life of Walt Whitman,
although they lived during the same time period. Walt Whitman published
practically all his poetry during his lifetime, but Emily Dickinson only
published seven of her poems during her lifetime. Actually, her poetry wasn't
published until after her death. Both Whitman and Dickinson were poetic
pioneers because of the new ideas they used in their poetry. Emily Dickinson
did not write for an audience, but Walt Whitman wrote for an audience about
several national events. The forms each poet used are different as well. The
rhyme in the poetry by Whitman is drastically different from the poetry written
by Dickinson, because Whitman didn't use any rhyme.
Emily Dickinson grew up in Amherst, Mass, and Walt Whitman grew up in
New York City, New York; this is one way that these poets' lives differ. The
main people that influenced Emily Dickinson were Ralph Waldo Emerson and Emily
Bronte. Walt Whitman was influenced by many people, some of which were: Elias
Hicks, James Macpherson and William Shakespeare. Whitman read many book reviews
by many people; from these, he realized Emerson was very influential. Whitman
was also influenced by the Bible, his walks in New York City, Tom Paine, and a
strong love for music. After Whitman started preparing to be a poet, he said he
was merely "simmering," but the ideas of Emerson brought him to a "boil."
Dickinson wasn't addressing anyone in particular through her poetry,...
View Full Essay
