walt whitman vs emily dickinson essay

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Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman Comparison

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Thematic differences, stylistic variations, philosophical perspectives, influence and legacy.

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The Civil War

A Smithsonian magazine special report

AT THE SMITHSONIAN

Walt whitman, emily dickinson and the war that changed poetry, forever.

The two titans of American poetry chronicled the death and destruction of the Civil War in their poems

David C. Ward

Part of Emily Dickinson’s traditional mystique derives from her supposed isolation from the world. The image persists of her as a reclusive genius, living in her big house in the sleepy little western Massachusetts town of tending to her garden, and writing out her hundreds of enigmatic little poems on scraps of paper.

Her writing seems to have come from nowhere and her verse was like nothing else both in her own time and in American literature. Yet despite her apparent physical and cultural isolation, careful study has found the tracings of the wider society threaded through her mysterious and elliptical poems. Questions of faith and salvation predominate, but current events pop up as well, none more than the Civil War.

Dickinson started writing in the late 1850s and there is a sense of a hush in many of her poems as the impending crisis turned into a full-blown war; studies have linked her writing to the effects achieved in landscape painting by the “luminists” and their sense of a foreboding, American sublime. Later her verse would reflect the battle being joined—she saw the dead and casualties being returned to her town; she may have seen illustrations of the battlefield—and then the awful aftermath. In the first stanza of one poem, she laid bare how the reality of war exposed the hollowness of the rhetoric that was used to instigate and justify it:

My Triumph lasted till the Drums Had left the Dead alone And then I dropped my Victory And chastened stole along To where the finished Faces Conclusion turned on me And then I hated Glory And wished myself were They.

Dickinson may have intended her poem to quietly turn upside down the emotional tone of Walt Whitman’s frenetic “Beat! beat! drums! –Blow! bugles! blow!/Through the windows–through doors–burst like a ruthless force.” Whitman concludes with the dead as well, but only to point out how they are ignored when the ferocious war music sweeps us along, out of ourselves.

Dickinson shows us the aftermath and the regret not only for the loss of life but of what war does to the living. Dickinson and Whitman show us two ways of working through the problem of how to mourn and how to gauge the effect that the war was having on Americans. Their point of view—Dickinson distant, Whitman near the front in Washington—inflected their writing, as did other factors such as gender: Dickinson’s is a more private grief; Whitman’s is a poem about propaganda. But both small poems reflect how, to adapt Lincoln’s words , “the war came” to American poetry.

Literary historian Edmund Wilson's influential 1962 book, Patriotic Gore, shows how the war shaped American literature. He writes, in particular, about how the war, in the need for orders to be terse, concise and clear, had an impact on the writing style that would characterize American modernism. To stretch a point, you can trace Ernest Hemingway’s famously terse, descriptive style back to the orders written by generals like Grant or Sherman. But things were still in balance during the war itself as new ways of thinking and writing—the “modern,” if you will—contested with older styles and habits of feeling—the Victorian and sentimental. Yet the boundaries were not clearly drawn at the time. Dickinson inhabited a world of Victorian sentimentality, but infused its musty conventions with the vigor of her idiosyncratic point of view and elliptical style. “My triumph. . .” in lesser hands could have been overwrought and bathetic instead of the carefully calibrated gauge of morality with which Dickinson infused it. Similarly, Whitman, supposedly the preeminent harbinger of modern sensibilities, oscillated between the old and newer cultures. Famously, he wrote two mourning poems for his hero, Abraham Lincoln and they are very different. “ O Captain, My Captain ” is a fine piece of Victorian melodrama and sentimentality, much anthologized and recited on patriotic public occasions, but read the lines of This Dust was Once the Man:

This dust was once the Man, Gentle, plain, just and resolute—under whose cautious hand, Against the foulest crime in history known in any land or age, Was saved the Union of These States.

Whitman would recite the poem at the conclusion of his public lecture “ The Death of Lincoln, ” and he grew weary of it. If “O Captain, My Captain” was rooted in the poetic vocabulary of mid-19th-century conventionality, Whitman’s second Lincoln poem, “ When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d, ” vaulted American poetry toward the future, creating a decisive break, both linguistically and in its cast of mind, with the time in which he wrote. It is a hallucinatory work that is as close as an American poet has ever gotten to Dante’s journey into the Underworld:

Passing the visions, passing the night; Passing, unloosing the hold of my comrades’ hands; Passing the song of the hermit bird, and the tallying song of my soul Victorious song, death’s outlet song, yet varying, ever-altering song, As low and wailing yet clear the notes, rising and falling, flooding the night . . .

Dickinson and Whitman were two of the most sensitive intelligences in the making of American poetry. That they were conflicted and pulled between the past and the future, only indicates the complexities that were in flux due to the war. Among other writers, from established authors to Americans who turned to poetry as a form of solace in a time of need, older patterns of expression continued to predominate. The over-stuffed furnishings of Victorian literature was a recourse and a comfort to people in great need. Later, Mark Twain, among others, would lampoon that culture and kill it dead in the 1884 " Adventures of Huckleberry Finn." (The wreck of the steamboat Sir Walter Scott in the novel is Twain's pointed comment on the end of the sugar-spun world of the romance.)

The violence of the war sloughed off all the over wrought, emotionally dramatic Victorian proprieties that evaded the immediate impact of the thing itself. As Americans recoiled from the reality of war, there was a sense of taking stock that in our literature and poetry would result in a more chastened and realistic language, one better suited to assess and describe the world that the War had created.

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David C. Ward | READ MORE

David C. Ward is senior historian emeritus at the National Portrait Gallery, and curator of the upcoming exhibition “The Sweat of their Face: Portraying American Workers."

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Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson Literary Styles Comparison

Introduction, stylistic choices, thematic elements, differences.

Journal Entry 5 Transcendental Thought

Reference List

One of the differences between Whitman and Dickinson was the thematic elements that were utilized by the poets. For instance, Whitman’s use of slang and “common” language in his poetry greatly contrasted with Dickinson’s overly formal language, however, this difference in the type of words utilized actually embodied a greater difference between the two authors which will be discussed in the succeeding sections of this paper.

This difference in word choice is of particular importance to take note of since the analysis of the article “Rebel Souls: Walt Whitman and America’s First Bohemians (2014)” shows that the use of slang terminology was an intentional aspect of Whitman in order to draw readers into the situations that he was presenting. The goal of Whitman was to create a reading experience that was, for all intents and purposes, relatable which would enable the reader to better understand the message or feelings that the poet was trying to impart. In comparison, the work of Dickinson focused more on the concept of God and spirituality and tends to praise God, criticize him, advocate for the performance of good deeds or exemplify the need for spiritual guidance (Ashwell, 2014).

While it can be stated that Dickinson’s poems have contributed significantly towards the incorporation of religion into popular poems that can be enjoyed by ordinary people due to the manner in which they were written, the fact remains that there is little in the way of being able to relate to what she wrote. People, on average, do not live, breathe, or espouse religion 24 hours a day and, as such, the poems are basically a condensed version of church sermons.

Whitman on the other hand placed a particular emphasis on utilizing everyday people, places and situations in order to appeal to readers in order to bring out what can be defined as a “sympathetic experience”. This term can be defined as the capacity of the reader to place themselves into the very situation that is being presented by the poet. In fact, the article “Rebel Souls: Walt Whitman and America’s First Bohemians (2014)” explains that there tended to be a “blurring of the lines” so to speak between the situation or person being described and Whitman himself. For instance, the poem “A Child’s Amaze” is a great example which showcases the “blurring of the lines” that was stated earlier. This can be seen in the phrase:

“Silent and amazed, even when a little boy” (Rebel Souls: Walt Whitman and America’s First Bohemians, 2014, p. 52)

While referring to a child that was observed can also appeal to individuals who remember being silent and amazed when they were little kids, however, this can also refer to Whitman’s own experiences as a little child

In comparison, Dickinson’s poetry was meant to appeal to how people thought rather than the experiences they had. For example, in her poem “Heaven is what I cannot reach” the following phrase is stated:

“Heaven is what I cannot reach! The Apple on the Tree provided it do hopeless hang that Heaven is to me!” (Ashwell, 2014, p. 85)

Such a phrase is related to the unreachable concept of heaven that people normally think about and, as such, shows how the work of Dickinson appeals more towards theological trains of thought rather than the everyday experiences of people (Ashwell, 2014). Aside from a slight similarity in verse and poem structure, there is nothing really similar between the two authors given their wildly divergent themes and styles.

Journal Entry 5 Transcendental Thought

One good example of transcendental thought comes from the following quote by Henry David Thoreau in which he states:

“ Do not trouble yourself much to get new things, whether clothes or friends….Sell your clothes and keep your thoughts” (Sullivan, 2005, p. 36).

This phrase can be considered as a prime example of transcendental thought that is applicable to present day life since it focuses on the concept of non-conformity and the need to focus on the self rather than on external trappings (Sullivan, 2005). For instance, the phrase can apply quite succinctly to the present day obsession people have with popular culture. It is often the case that people want the latest gadgets (ex: the iPhone), wear the latest fashions (ex: Converse, Gap, etc.) or like the latest pop idols (ex: Justin Beiber, One Direction, etc.). Yet, what people fail to realize is that they do not need these aspects of popular culture in order to live a fulfilling life. As emphasized by Thoreau, the given phrase can apply to getting rid of our popular culture obsessions and focus on what is truly important, namely, improving ourselves instead of getting caught up in what is popular at the present. What can be considered as “popular” is in a constant state of flux and can change very quickly; however, the concept of “the self” is something that is immutable and permanent. The transcendental thought in the phrase given by Thoreau helps us to realize that investing in something that is fleeting is foolish as compared to investing into something that is permanent.

Ashwell, S. (2014). All Things Dickinson: An Encyclopedia of Emily Dickinson’s World. Booklist , 110 (17), 85.

Rebel Souls: Walt Whitman and America’s First Bohemians. (2014). Publishers Weekly , 261 (26), 52.

Sullivan, E. T. (2005). Henry David Thoreau. Book Links , 14 (4), 35-36.

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Walt Whitman: Poems

Desire and fulfillment: emily dickinson vs. walt whitman anonymous college.

American poets Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman are best known for their confessional works, in which they express their inner desires and urges. Both poets reflect their own unique qualities through choice of style, form, and language, as they discuss their feelings of sexual dissatisfaction and longing. Dickinson and Whitman stand on opposite ends of the poetic spectrum in terms of their expression of desire, which is clearly reflected in Dickinson’s “Wild Nights—Wild Nights!” and Whitman’s eleventh section of “Song of Myself.” Each poem addresses a different model of desire, contains different language and structure, and describes different ways in which desires are fulfilled. While both poems may appear quite distinct from one another, there is one steady similarity to consider. In the two poems, Dickinson and Whitman coalesce through their expressions of separation and expulsion from one’s somatic desires.

Emily Dickinson’s “Wild Nights—Wild Nights!” is commonly known as her most erotic poem. The title of the poem itself signifies a sense of mental and sexual release as the word “wild” is often affiliated with untamed freedom and a loss of self-control, and “night” is known as a time of darkness and secrecy as the...

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Walt Whitman

Discussion Topic

Comparison of themes and content in Walt Whitman's and Emily Dickinson's poetry

Whitman's and Dickinson's poetry both explore themes of self and death, but Dickinson's work is more philosophical, while Whitman's is celebratory. Both poets use nature as a metaphor for human life, employing natural themes and animals to convey insights about human nature, such as Dickinson's frog in "I'm Nobody" and Whitman's various creatures.

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An early career in finance as a licensed stockbroker and insurance agent was later followed by a return to college, studying literature and the poetry of Edmund Spenser and Geoffrey Chaucer, along with economics and environmental science.

How do themes in Whitman's poetry compare to those in Dickinson's?

Though both speak of the themes of self and death, Dickinson focuses more on a philosophical exploration of the elusive realities of these themes, while Whitman focuses more on a celebration of these themes.

Cite this page as follows:

Hardison, Karen P.L.. "Comparison of themes and content in Walt Whitman's and Emily Dickinson's poetry" edited by eNotes Editorial, 29 July 2011, https://www.enotes.com/topics/walt-whitman/questions/comparison-of-themes-and-content-in-walt-whitman-3131849.

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I am a middle and high school English teacher, as well as an instructor in a Master of Education program at a major university.

Both Whitman and Dickinson use nature as a metaphor for human life. Natural themes are prevalent in both their poetry, and both use the animals and places to tell us something about human nature. For example, Dickinson describes a frog in "I'm Nobody" and Whitman also uses animals and creatures.

Tracy, Trinity. "Comparison of themes and content in Walt Whitman's and Emily Dickinson's poetry" edited by eNotes Editorial, 26 July 2011, https://www.enotes.com/topics/walt-whitman/questions/comparison-of-themes-and-content-in-walt-whitman-3131849.

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I taught English, social sciences, and education at the college level from 2005 to 2008.

We need to think of purpose and ambition when it comes to these two very different poets. Dickinson never meant her work to be published, from what we can gather, and sent her poems mostly to close relatives. She only gained fame after her death. Thus the scope of her poetry is restricted to the everyday, the America of the individual and her unique take on it. Whitman, by contrast, deliberately set out to write grandiose works capturing the experience of America as he saw it. He set out to be a poet and have his work published in his lifetime. This results in an essential difference between these two poets and the sphere of their work.

Hathaway, John. "Comparison of themes and content in Walt Whitman's and Emily Dickinson's poetry" edited by eNotes Editorial, 10 July 2011, https://www.enotes.com/topics/walt-whitman/questions/comparison-of-themes-and-content-in-walt-whitman-3131849.

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I agree that one significant difference between Dickinson and Whitman is their perspective on self. Dickinson reflects on life as an individual and how that works in life, death, and the universe. Whitman reflects on life as part of a collective, as indivuals who are free to be themselves (or at least they should be) but are also connected to one another.

Steinbach, Lori. "Comparison of themes and content in Walt Whitman's and Emily Dickinson's poetry" edited by eNotes Editorial, 9 July 2011, https://www.enotes.com/topics/walt-whitman/questions/comparison-of-themes-and-content-in-walt-whitman-3131849.

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I currently teach middle school history and have taught at various K–12 levels over the last 13 years.

In my mind, I think that Whitman's poetry and Dickinson's poetry is strikingly similar in their embrace of individual freedom and the ability for the individual to be the author of their own narrative. Where there is significant divergence seems to be in their embrace of a political end to this freedom. Whitman is very open about his belief that individual freedom and endeavor has to strive towards this concept called America and the promises of its fledgling democracy. This becomes part of Whitman's core value system and something highly evident in his writing. Yet, Dickinson does not outwardly embrace this political end, remaining to reside the domain of the personal and introspective. To this end, there is significant difference between them. This is not saying that Dickinson would not have embraced the political ends that Whitman did in his work. Yet, it does bring out another important difference between them. The poetry of Dickinson is very individualistic, while the poetry of Whitman embraces a community. It is here where the differences on more than a political level for a choice within the individual. Dickinson's individually drawn sense of identity is set against Whitman's embrace of American consciousness, one where a political community is forged through individual freedom. It is here where I think that themes and implications of both writers end up taking form and shape. There might not be an ultimatum being forced upon the reader, but certainly there are different implications in each upon which reflection is critical.

Kannan, Ashley. "Comparison of themes and content in Walt Whitman's and Emily Dickinson's poetry" edited by eNotes Editorial, 9 July 2011, https://www.enotes.com/topics/walt-whitman/questions/comparison-of-themes-and-content-in-walt-whitman-3131849.

What are some of the ways that you can compare and contrast Whitman and Dickinson?

The previous post was quite thorough. I would only like to add that one particular point of convergence in both is how the notion of American literary voice was rooted in self expression. Both thinkers held true to the idea that any notion of the universal comes from the subjective, and that from this only can truth be fully understood. However, within this form of expression might also be a point of divergence. Whitman is quite passionate about the democratic political form as being the best political structure to express this subjective experience. Whitman is able to assert complete confidence in how the heterogeneous composition of American Democracy helps to enhance individual voice. Dickinson is not so sold on the idea of political expressions of the good, in general. Her writing does not explicitly articulate how politics fits into the subjective expression of self. This difference in perception on the role and function of political orders might be one additional area of contrast between both thinkers.

Kannan, Ashley. "Comparison of themes and content in Walt Whitman's and Emily Dickinson's poetry" edited by eNotes Editorial, 20 Apr. 2010, https://www.enotes.com/topics/walt-whitman/questions/comparison-of-themes-and-content-in-walt-whitman-3131849.

I teach English (British literature) to high school seniors.

Fetters, Courtney. "Comparison of themes and content in Walt Whitman's and Emily Dickinson's poetry" edited by eNotes Editorial, 20 Apr. 2010, https://www.enotes.com/topics/walt-whitman/questions/comparison-of-themes-and-content-in-walt-whitman-3131849.

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How does the content of Walt Whitman's poetry compare to Emily Dickinson's?

[eNotes editors can only answer one question per posting. If you have additional questions, please post them separately.]

Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson are extremely different in terms of the content of their poetry.

Whitman became educated to a higher degree than his parents, but spent a great deal of time after "organized" education to educate himself. He was of the working class, and had several different kinds of job, and a variety of literary experiences. It is then, no surprise, that Whitman developed a strong literary voice based upon the extensive experiences of his life.

Whitman became involved in writing about politics, and at some point, it is uncertain what the particulars are...

As we have noted, Whitman the journalist spoke to the interests of the day and from a particular class perspective when he advanced the interests of white workingmen while seeming, at times, unconcerned about the plight of blacks. [There was] a change that [may have been] intensified by an increasing number of friendships with radical thinkers and writers who led Whitman to rethink his attitudes toward the issue of race. Whatever the cause, in Whitman’s future-oriented poetry blacks become central to his new literary project and central to his understanding of democracy. ...While most people were lining up on one side or another, Whitman placed himself in that space—sometimes violent, sometimes erotic, always volatile— between master and slave.

Whitman became a poet of the people, and changed poetry forever. The world-at-large was his inspiration.

Emily Dickinson is a very different kind of poet; the first reason would be that she was a very different person. Emily was particularly able to observe and understand what was going on around her, although she did not an active social life. Whereas Whitman wrote about the world-at-large, Emily wrote about the microcosm in which she lived: a world she grew up in. In fact:

She was born in a large house built by her grandfather...except for absences of about a year for her schooling and seven months in Boston, she lived in it all of her life and died there...

As with Whitman, she was inspired to write by the world which she occupied. Her work was much more philosophical, dealing with people in her "every day" experiences.

It is paradoxical that a woman who led such a circumscribed and apparently uneventful life managed to acquire the rich perceptions that enabled her to write...poems unlike any others in the English language. ...many are masterpieces. The circumstances of her life, therefore, hold a special fascination for readers of her verse. Dickinson's sharp perceptions and brilliant inner life arise primarily from her background.

When the Civil War broke out, Emily was greatly influenced by the atmosphere this created, as well as concerns for friends with poor health and involvement of one man in the Union's efforts in the war. Then, between 1874 and 1882, Emily lost six family members and friends, and began to write a great deal about death. By 1886, Emily herself would have passed away.

Whitman's was a strong poetic voice, driven by his experiences out in the world. He wrote about what he saw, and the people he knew. He changed the face of poetry. Even though Emily Dickinson also lived during the same time, her poetry was emerged from the limited circle in which she lived, but her poetry was no less impressive for her lack of life-experience.

O'Brien, Jill. "Comparison of themes and content in Walt Whitman's and Emily Dickinson's poetry" edited by eNotes Editorial, 15 Jan. 2011, https://www.enotes.com/topics/walt-whitman/questions/comparison-of-themes-and-content-in-walt-whitman-3131849.

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What are the theme differences in Walt Whitman's and Emily Dickinson's poetry?

Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson are considered to be the two greatest poets that America has ever produced. That said, they could not have been more different in style, though not entirely in content.

Whitman is known for sprawling free verse. His poetry attempted to embrace an entire nation (e.g., " Song of Myself "), then the entire globe (e.g., "Salut au Monde"). According to Whitman scholar Ed Folsom, Whitman believed, however foolishly, that a poem could prevent the Civil War. He responded to an ad which requested such a reconciliatory poem in jest, though the young poet's intentions were very much in earnest.

In his construction of "Song of Myself," he attempted to limn and describe every aspect of American humanity, allowing every type of person -- Northerner and Southerner, slave and free, male and female -- to enter through him. The poem did not prevent the war, but it did help more Americans to appreciate the diversity of the nation. Whitman would create a collection that would focus on the Civil War, "Drum Taps," as well as a controversial cluster of poems in Leaves of Grass called "Calamus" that would explicitly deal with sexuality.

"Explicit" is not a word that should be used to describe Emily Dickinson. While Whitman dealt with broad themes, working from the outside-in, Dickinson focused more on interiority -- working from the inside-out. Instead of free verse, she employed near-rhyme, generally rhyming every other line. Whereas Whitman's verse sprawled out onto the page, Dickinson economized, leaving much empty space. While Whitman made bold proclamations, Dickinson chose to be wry and elliptical, always leaving the reader wondering about her true meaning or intent.

Though Whitman had not traveled much, only within the United States and once to Canada, Dickinson seldom left Amherst, Massachusetts, only traveling to Boston. She stayed in her family home until the end of her life and focused much of her time on botany. Many of her poems are about flowers, which she is suspected of having used as metaphors to describe other aspects of life.

Whitman, too, was interested in aspects of the natural world. His continually revised collection, Leaves of Grass, also expresses an interest in nature. Both were influenced by the Transcendentalist movement in this respect.

Though both poets expressed an empirical, or observational, interest in the natural world, they were repelled by fields of science that attempted to dissect every aspect of life until there was nothing left to examine. They disliked the idea of scientists eliminating mysticism from nature.

Whitman expressed his distaste in his poem "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer," in which the narrator walks out of a lecture on astronomy to go and look at the stars for himself. Dickinson expressed her distaste in the poems "The Chemical Conviction," in which she imagines (perhaps) the study of chemistry tearing her body apart. However, she is more elusive in "'Faith' Is A Fine Invention," in which she may be deriding blind religious faith in favor of science, or in which she may be wryly attacking science for its presumption of clearer insight. With Dickinson, one can never be sure.

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Sutton, Mary. "Comparison of themes and content in Walt Whitman's and Emily Dickinson's poetry" edited by eNotes Editorial, 9 Sep. 2016, https://www.enotes.com/topics/walt-whitman/questions/comparison-of-themes-and-content-in-walt-whitman-3131849.

Walt Whitman And Emily Dickinson: Comparison of Literary Works

Category: Literature , Life
Topic: Emily Dickinson , Famous Person , Walt Whitman

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Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman Comparison

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Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson Literary Styles Comparison

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Journal Entry 5 Transcendental Thought

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Walt Whitman: Poems

Comparison of themes and content in Walt Whitman's and Emily Dickinson's poetry

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Walt Whitman And Emily Dickinson: Comparison of Literary Works

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