Comparing Walter Whitman And Emily Dickinson

Walter Whitman and Emily Dickinson wrote in the same era but had a different way of creating their own writing styles. Dickinson and Whitman’s lives were absolutely opposite, Whitman traveled often and wanted his poems published. While Dickinson lived in solitude and solemnly traveled, and never wanted her poems published. Whitman and Dickinson have left a legacy of new writing and have created an idea that there are rules to poetry but they do not have to be followed. The legacy of Emily Dickinson is unique because Emily lived in solitude, yet wrote such delicate and deep poems all while only looking out her window for inspiration. Including how Dickinson wanted nothing to do with fame and did not want her poems published. Dickinson
In Whitman’s writing he talks about jobs, he has done throughout his life. Whitman writes about everyday jobs, “singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs” (1.11), although Whitman is talking about jobs, he really is trying to show freedom in America. Whitman romanticizes jobs in America at this time. The jobs required people to work very hard for what they had. So, they may not have actually been singing. Whitman uses everyday jobs in his poems “The carpenter… / The mason… / The boatman… / The shoemaker… (1.3-6), while Whitman explains basic jobs needed at the time, he uses cataloging. He puts the labor jobs in groups and tell what the work entails. This helps the reader focus on the jobs individually. Whitman traveled often and gain knowledge from the American experience. Whitman had created his own type of poetry by creating a style that was no longer a matter of organized word structures. In Whitman’s early years of writing, Leaves of Grass was published but was not recognized and noticed because of the new style Whitman had written with. Later Whitman would send copies to endorsers to gain more attention to the
Both Whitman and Dickinson have created new styles of poetry that were not valued in their era, but are currently valued now, and used as examples and ways to inspire young writers to show their ideas and express their feelings. Whitman and Dickinson have overlapping topics and but use them in different ways. Both Whitman and Dickinson talk about the love and care for others. “I had him sit next me at table, my fire-lock lean’d in the corner” (5.11), Whitman takes in an ill stranger and helps him recover, Whitman trust this ill stranger to allow him to stay with him, but does not trust him enough because he has a loaded gun in the corner. Whitman’s care for this stranger shows he has compassion and care for others. If you were coming in the fall” (1.1), Dickinson talks about her love life and how she always loved married men. Dickinson sets herself up for heartbreak because of the men she longed for. “Choose One- Then- close the Valves of her attention” (3.2-3), Dickinson make choices in her life that she knows will only hurt her in the end. Whitman and Dickinson talk about love and how they showed love to others that probably will not love them back. Whitman and Dickinson write about one-sided relationships and how they can endlessly care and show love to someone but will not receive the same thing back. Whitman writes about the love of trades and things done