ipl-logo

Poe And Emily Dickinson Comparison

580 Words3 Pages

Edgar Allan Poe and Emily Dickinson, both so similar and yet so different. One lived a life of despair and loss as the other when from hopeless to hopeful, turning a new leaf. While Poe and Dickinson differed in tone and structure, they shared a similarity in the theme of their poems which circulated around life and death. Starting with theme, Dickinson and Poe shared aspects of their lives in a handful of poems. “From childhood’s hour I have not been / As others were—I have not seen / As others saw—I could not bring” (Poe, “Alone” 1-3). These lines represent the lonesome childhood of Poe, who had trouble fitting in with others. Despite a change in tone, the topic is the same in the following lines, “Yet - never - in Extremity, / It asked a crumb - of me” (Dickinson, “Hope is the thing with feathers” 11-12). Dickinson uses a pronoun here, making the poem about her. She talks about being given hope and how that it has never asked for anything in return, causing her to have more of that hopefulness where even if her life may have been strict or …show more content…

Dickinson romanticized death, showing no fear whilst Poe had a more candid tone. To illustrate, “We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain – / We passed the Setting Sun –” (Dickinson, “Because I could not stop for death” 11-12) in contrast to, “The mimes become its food, / And seraphs sob at vermin fangs / In human gore imbued” (Poe, “The Conqueror Worm” 30-32). Dickinson’s lines seem to be light hearted when dealing with death as she is lead to the after-life, to her it was more of a trip down memory lane. On the other hand, Poe described a scene of death in which it isn’t happy. Those lines from him demonstrate the darkness that surrounds it and how humans can die mercilessly, he also shows passion in how he creates the scene of death, in this case it was being eaten up and decayed which was a metaphor for the downfall or destruction of

Show More
Related
277 Words | 2 Pages

He was probably writing about his wife dying. The poem is also based on the raven being a “Mournful and Never-ending Remembrance”. While the

Read More
598 Words | 3 Pages

Edgar Allan Poe wrote two distinct but extremely identical poems, The Raven and Annabel Lee. “The Raven” is about a man that lost his wife, and a raven flies to his window. The poem “Annabel Lee” on the other hand, is about a man who is obsessed with a woman who might not even adore him as much as he does. Both narrators deal with loss in slightly different wats in the two poems, and he the setting are very different as well. But they share some similar traits.

Read More
433 Words | 2 Pages

Henry David Thoreau and Edgar Allan Poe Henry David Thoreau and Edgar Allan Poe have some characteristics in common. Their writings also have similar aspects which relate to how we see things in the world. Thoreau expressed the way he felt, and the way he saw things through nature.

Read More
932 Words | 4 Pages

Whitman and Dickinson share the theme of death in their work, while Whitman decides to speak of death in a more realistic point of view, Dickinson speaks of the theme in a more conceptual one. In Whitman’s poems, he likes to have a more empathic view of individuals and their ways of living. For example, in Whitman’s “Song of Myself”, the poet talks about not just of himself, but all human beings, and of how mankind works into the world and the life of it. Even though the poem mostly talks about life and the happiness of it, Whitman describes also that life itself has its ending, and that is the theme of death. For Dickinson, she is the complete opposite of happiness.

Read More
157 Words | 1 Pages

There are many similarities in Poe’s writing I've noticed. Number one is there are very dark and twisted themes and ideas in each story. Including many hidden meanings and symbols that are hidden between the lines. The murders of rue morgue, the black cat, and the cask of amontillado all have a troubled past and both try to do something they all regret or are unaware of what they are doing. However at the end the themes are all revolving around death.

Read More
828 Words | 4 Pages

Two examples of Romantic poets are Edgar Allan Poe and Emily Dickinson, whose writing exemplifies the Romantic theme of individuality, or the divergence from traditional societal norms and beliefs. The poems “A Dream Within A Dream,” by Edgar Allan Poe, and “Much Madness is Divinest Sense,” by Emily Dickinson perfectly display this theme of individuality. Within these poems, one can see both the similarities and differences regarding the theme, numerous elements of Romanticism such as individualism, imagination, and insight, the impact the theme has on societal norms, and the timelessness of the theme by being incorporated into modern day culture. To begin, there are many similarities to be found within “A Dream Within A Dream” and “Much Madness Is Divinest Sense”. The most prevalent similarity between the two is the theme.

Read More
1290 Words | 6 Pages

She concludes her poem with “Yet, never in extremity, it asked a crumb of me” telling us no matter where you are, how bad things get, or what the circumstances are, you will always have hope with you. (Dickinson, 12­13). The speaker stresses hope is the last inherent instinct humans have left when all else is gone, and yet only gives us positive efforts while asking nothing from humans. I n sum, she delivers her point to the reader by saying hope stays inside of us despite all of our struggles just as the little bird stays perched on the tree in the face of the

Read More
1302 Words | 6 Pages

Although there are many differences between these two gifted authors, similarities can be discovered as well. The background of Walt Whitman is enormously different from that of Emily Dickinson. Because Walt Whitman was such an under privileged kid and rose from his struggle in avery romantic life style, we see this slight bit of romanticism in his writing, like when he says, “ But O heart! heart! heart!/O the bleeding drops of red,/Where on the deck my Captain lies,/Fallen cold and dead” (Whitman).

Read More
1098 Words | 5 Pages

He also finds out that he was not the only one when he says that ‘I saw pale kings and princes too. They also use repetition when he says that they were all ‘death pale’. This is showing that other important and significant people fell into her trap as well and ended in the same fate. Imagery and symbolism is found in various parts of the poem. In line 3, the ‘sedge is wither’d’, symbolizing that the environment is near autumn.

Read More
1279 Words | 6 Pages

Emily’s poems are often stressful and depressing while Whitman’s poetry is graceful and candid. In addition, Whitman’s poetic style is opened while Dickinson is rather private and

Read More
1214 Words | 5 Pages

When Dickinson was young she thought of death as a kind, peaceful gentleman. She elaborates on this idea in her poem “Because I could not Stop for Death”, “Because I could not stop for Death/ He kindly stopped for me/ We slowly drove - He knew no haste,” Emily Dickinson uses the personification of Death in a way that bears resemblance to a classy, peaceful gentleman who is willing to slowly guide and patiently wait for a lady. Her wording also gives the connotation that she is young and in love with this gentle Death. This idea abruptly turns into hatred when she loses her parents.

Read More
421 Words | 2 Pages

Poe and Frost “Fire and Ice” by Robert Frost is about that desire is like fire and hatred is like ice. “ Road Not Taken” by Robert Frost is about that he is standing a cross road, and he choices the road less traveled on, but the roads are actually choices that is why he can not turn back once he chooses. “The Bells” by Edgar Allen Poe is about how there is a date .then a wedding next there is a fire finally there is a funeral.

Read More
327 Words | 2 Pages

There are many themes that are used when authors create works of poetry. Each poetic author will have a different style compared to another. There can also be similarities within the works of poets. There are many examples of poems by separate authors that show unique similarities and differences. Such examples are the themes used in poems by Maya Angelou and Emily Dickinson.

Read More
893 Words | 4 Pages

Compare and Contrast We Grow Accustomed to the Dark and Acquainted With the Night Based on Emily Dickinson’s and Robert Frost’s biography, the two poets struggled a lot while writing this poem which enhances the poem to a mush superior level. Emily Dickinson’s “We Grow Accustomed to the Dark” and Robert Frost’s “Acquainted With the Night”, in particular both poems talks about uncertainty of life but Emily Dickinson presents darkness more than Frost through point of view, symbol and structure. There are many possible contributing factors to the point of view of the two poems. Emily Dickinson uses first person plural, as evidenced in multiple lines, “We”. She makes it clear when she also uses uncertainty in a universal way because of “We”.

Read More
1072 Words | 5 Pages

This thesis will be dealing with the life and work of two most prominent women writers of the 19th and 20th century, Emily Dickinson and Sylvia Plath. For better understanding of complex topics their work reflects, I will describe important events from their biographies. Although Dickinson and Plath lived in two different centuries they were connected by a common thread, the position of women in the male-dominated world. Not only that they wanted for women to have the same rights as men, but also to be free from the roles of housewives and mothers which were imposed on them by a conservative society. They fought for these rights in only way they could, by writing.

Read More

More about Poe And Emily Dickinson Comparison

Related Topics

Open Document