Dickinson Vs Walt Whitman

Dickinson vs. Whitman

After receiving five years of schooling, Walt Whitman spent four years 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.
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, but Whitman addressed the citizens of the United States, most of the time, through his writings. After reading "The Poet" by Emerson and seeing how he defined the role of the poet in democracy, Whitman was eager to assume that role. Whitma n loved to have his picture taken and there are many pictures of him.
Whitman wrote for many newspapers before he actually began writing poetry. The world found out he wrote poetry when he published the first edition of Leaves of Grass. The major turning point for Whitman was in the 1860's, when his work started to gain more recognition from critics. Eighteen sixty-two was the major turning point for Dickinson's life; 1862 was when she wrote most of her poetry. She was writing about one poem each day. During the year 1862, the man Emily Dickinson loved left for San
Francisco. After he left, she started wearing only white, and during the last ten years of her life she didn't leave the comfort of her home. The last y ears of Walt Whitman's life were spent revising and writing poetry. Emily Dickinson stayed very close to her family, but Walt Whitman traveled and lived alone toward the end of his life. The forms that Dickinson and Whitman used are also different because both used new and innovative ideas in writing their poetry. Walt Whitman used no real form other than free verse. The characteristics of free verse are: 1)
No rhyme or rhyme scheme, 2) Has a cadence or beat, 3) No set line length, 4)
Has stanzas, but no set stanza length, 5) Uses repetition. Whitman's use