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Nonconformity In The Poetry Of Walt Whitman And Emily Dickinson

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The 19th century, a period characterized by strict conformity and societal standards, provided limited room for individuality or creative spirit. Those living in this time were expected to follow the path most traveled, and suppress their true selves so as to not differ from the rest. If one appeared different, they became an immediate outsider with accusations of madness set forth. However, certain individuals refused to accommodate the insular expectations of their society. Despite constant ridicule, two poets by the names of Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson, stood their ground and created revolutionary literature. By contributing their own compelling language of nonconformity, Whitman and Dickinson perpetually altered the domain of poetry. …show more content…

Free verse, the name given to his modern style, characterizes itself mostly by insufficient rhyme and meter within the work. The dialect focused on cadence, or the natural rhythms of spoken language, and were often read in a song-like manner. Most of these poems also lack proper punctuation resulting in enjambment, or the running over of sentences. Those who read the work of Whitman considered him the master of literary devices, as he offered a plethora in each of his works. Cataloging, one of the most common devices in Whitman’s content, contains the creation of lists. Cataloging possesses the power to put forth emphasis and details in areas that Whitman deems important. The vast majority of his work “I Sing the Body Electric” contains large lists of the human body parts: “... Eyes, eye-fringes, iris of the eye, eyebrows, and the waking or sleeping of the lids, ... Mouth, tongue, lips, teeth, roof of the mouth, jaws… .“ By cataloging over fifty parts of the body consecutively, Whitman hopes the reader will realize the complexity of their body, and appreciate it further. Whitman also utilized other devices including anaphora (parallel structure at the beginning of lines), and consonance (the repetition of consonant sounds), to add even more color to his poetry. …show more content…

They broke out of the predetermined mold set for them by society, and created incredible works with their unique styles. However, although Dickinson provided many thought-provoking concepts, Whitman helped shape the future of poetry. With his groundbreaking development of the free verse style, he has opened society’s eyes to a world of creative

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To begin, it’s important for the two poets to led the readers to understand the context about death behind their poems and how it has inspired them to write about it. Throughout Dickinson’s life, she has experienced death in many ways and forms: with that, death has made a great impact in her writings. In Dickinson’s poem, “I heard a Fly buzz – when I died –,” Dickinson looks into the physical procedure of dying and how it affects not just herself, but others as well. When Dickinson was dying on her deathbed, she describes the fly as a figure of the theme death itself, as the wings of the fly basically cuts off the speaker of the poem. For Whitman, he has experienced death in the time of the Civil War.

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He uses many literary elements that include, rhyming, rhyme scheme, and end rhyme. His poems are also not light hearted and funny but are about more serious matters. In his poem “Toast to Dayton” every other line rhymes. For example in “Toast to Dayton” passion rhymes with fashion which is two lines below it, and know rhymes with flow, and flow is two lines below know. In “The Debt” each line rhymes with the next line making every two lines a couplet.

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This writing expresses such a dramatic and romantic view. The background of Dickinson is much more rich and privileged. She was able to get a proper education at Harvard and lived a very realism kind of life. Her background effects her writing differently and makes her poetry sound much more proper, formal and depressing compared to Whitman’s brighter and more informal poetry. The Themes in these authors writings are also different.

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Ralph Waldo Emerson and Walt Whitman emphasize the importance of living true to yourself and developing complete self-acceptance. To live true to yourself and completely accept who you are, you must understand your identity and your sense of self. In Self-Reliance, Emerson explains that your identity and your sense of self is spiritual. Whitman argues, in Song of Myself, that your identity and sense of self is based on both your soul and your body. While both Emerson and Whitman allow for intimate connections and friendships, Emerson encourages people to have relationships with a select few, whereas Whitman encourages people to connect with everyone and anyone, due to their different views of self.

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However, both of them were two different personalities from a completely distinctive society because Emily Dickinson came from a conservative and strict family. Therefore, she is withdrawn, and on the other hand, a controversial personality because she dealt with the modern poetry. For that reason, her contradictory feelings often fight a battle with each other in her poems. Walt Whitman came from a simple civilian family, whose parents were very hardworking people who had big national values, thus according to his revolutionary and national ideology Walt Whitman fits into the modern American poetry. Nevertheless, the ideas of two poets are similar at a certain point because in their poems both of them

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One way that Whitman conveys his poetry is through the eyes of the everyday man. In this period of American history, the civil war was ongoing, and his poetry did not shy away from the everyday

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In this grand poem, Whitman glorifies the unity of all people and life. He embraces the geographical diversity as well as the diversity of culture, work, as well as sexuality or beliefs. Whitman’s influence sets American dreams of freedom, independence, and self-fulfillment, and changes them for larger spiritual meaning. Whitman appreciates hard work as well as being simple and non-egotistical. His major ideas are things such as soul, good health, as well as the love of nature.

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