Dickinson Writing Style

The writing style of Emily Dickinson was very original and different from other poets of her time. She was definitely influenced by Ralph Waldo Emerson and she read a lot of his work (Wayne). He was a very strong influence on her poetry. Emily Dickinson had a lot of characteristics from the romanticism time period in her writing. She wrote about her appreciation for nature a lot and she wrote about the value of individualism (Wayne).

Emily Dickinson lived a large period of her life in solitude. She did not communicate with the outside world very much, so writing poetry was her way of still being a part of the outside world and her way of communicating with it as well. She said that she enjoyed living in solitude, probably because she liked being independent. She said that living her life the way that she did- in solitude, made her feel liberated instead of trapped like many people believe that she may have felt (Kort).

Emily Dickinson was praised for her writing style. Many of her poems were very short and at first glance seemed to be very simple. She was praised for her originality in her poetry and for her imagery and “stylistic complexity” (Kort). Her poems were very witty, even though they contained some very dark themes, such as death. She always had a way of keeping her poems witty and light. Her ideas came from very simple things. She was inspired by everyday items, such as a blade of grass or a birds song (Kort). When she would be doing her daily chores and inspiration would strike, she would jot down ideas very quickly, and finish writing and perfecting the poem late at night.

Many of Dickinson’s poems were short and light. One very popular poem by Emily Dickinson is called “I am Nobody! Who are You?”. Dickinson kept her poems upbeat sounding by using different punctuation. For example, in this poem, she uses exclamation marks to keep the poem having a happy sort of feel to it. This poem is also very short. The entire poem is composed of only two verses which are four lines each. This is like most of her poems which are very short. In this poem she talks about how she enjoys being a “nobody” she writes “How dreary to be somebody! How public, like a frog To tell your name the livelong day To an admiring bog!” (Dickinson). This poem shows that she appreciates her privacy and she values living in solitude. She would rather be an individual and live her life in peace and quiet alone, than to be a “somebody” and have people admiring her all day with no privacy in her life. This view is probably different than other poets of her time who value being famous and having their poetry read. They wanted to be recognized for their talent, but Emily Dickinson would rather write for her own enjoyment than to have everybody up in her grill.

Bibliography

Kort, Carol. "Dickinson, Emily Elizabeth." A to Z of American Women Writers, Revised Edition. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= ffazwmwr0036&SingleRecord=True (accessed March 21, 2012).

Wayne, Tiffany K. "Dickinson, Emily." Encyclopedia of Transcendentalism. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2006. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= ETRA104&SingleRecord=True (accessed March 21, 2012).

Dickinson, Emily. "I'm Nobody! Who Are You?" By Emily Dickinson. Web. 21 Mar. 2012. <http://www.online-literature.com/dickinson/448/>.

Whitman writing style

The writing style of Walt Whitman was very different than other poets during his time period. He believed that the poets of his time were very unoriginal. He called their poetry “copious dribble” meaning that it did not really mean anything (Connors). He thought that their poetry was boring because it was all the same with the same rhyme schemes and stanzas. He wanted to change the way that Americans viewed poetry. Walt Whitman set out to change the writing of other poets during his time. He thought that poetry of his time had little creativity and that the writing did not represent the America that he knew (Connors). He wanted to create a “new American poetry” (Connors) that could better represent his country. Whitman wanted to replace the normal exaggerated style and subject of poets in the mid- 1800’s with genuineness and honesty in the way things really are. Another thing that Whitman wanted was for Americans to become more literate. He wanted more Americans to be able to read and be literate in that sense, but mainly, he wanted Americans to be able to digest what they just read and to be able to understand and “absorb what they were experiencing” (Connors).

Walt Whitman’s poetry was revolutionary. He used expressive language when writing and he also used free verse which was new and interesting to readers. The most unordinary thing about his writing during that time was his intensity of his emotions in his poetry, especially when he was discussing love and democracy, both individual and for a whole country. He thought that what America needed was a type of poetry that was more relatable for the reader and that embraced more people. He believed that this was something that only he could accomplish.

Before Whitman was a poet, he was a journalist. He was not very popular as a journalist. He wrote about many things from politics, to crimes, to slavery and fires. His journalism coverage was described as “solid, but forgettable” (Connors). Whitman also wrote some short stories, but those too went undistinguished. Even when Whitman was a poet, he was not very appreciated. He was ignored by other poets and was often “chastised, criticized, and dismissed”(Connors).

            The subject matter that Walt Whitman used was bolder and contained a lot of nature, something that other poets of his time did not write about as much. This is represented in his poem On the Beach at Night Alone. This poem has a lot of references in it to nature and it displays Walt Whitman’s appreciation to nature. “As I watch the bright stars shining, I think a thought of the clef of the universes and of the future” (Whitman). In this poem, Whitman shows the importance that he puts on nature by connecting a piece of nature- the stars- to pretty much everything else in the universe. Whitman had a huge appreciation of nature and even though not many other poets of his time wrote about nature, he did anyways because it was something that he enjoyed.

Bibliography

Connors, Judith. "Whitman, Walt." In Bloom, Harold, ed. Walt Whitman, Bloom's BioCritiques. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishing, 2002. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= BCWWh02&SingleRecord=True (accessed March 21, 2012).

Whitman, Walt. "On the Beach at Night Alone, by Walt Whitman." Poetry Archive. Web. 21 Mar. 2012. <http://www.poetry-archive.com/w/on_the_beach_at_night_alone.html>.