Comparing Emily Dickinson And Walt Whitman's Song Of Myself

The early 20th century, a revolutionary time period for poetry, the commencement of a new form of writing commonly known as “modern poetry.” During this period arose two great poets; Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman, who in time were labeled as the ‘father and mother of American poetry.’ The true singularity shown by each of these two poets comes out in there true sense of privacy, or lack-there-of, juxtaposed with the persona that is given off through their writing. Dickinson who wrote to be private and gives off through her material a feeling of this privacy, had no intent of giving off a persona in that she did indeed write in solitude. Whitman with the intent of releasing to the public gave off a sense that his writing was somewhat self-descriptive, …show more content…
At first glance a reader assumes when he writes the word “I” he s speaking of himself, but after further examination it becomes quite evident that this is not the case. With rhetoric such as “You will hardly know who I am or what I mean, But I shall be good health to you nevertheless, And filter and fibre your blood,” it becomes clear that Whitman is referring to deeply subjective concepts in his writing. In this particular instance Whitman is speaking to the concept of existence itself; the “I” in this stanza is a subconscious notion of existence and the significance that comes with this notion. This concept of one’s personal existence to Whitman is not an everpresent trait, in fact you will only notice it in specific instances. The fact that Whitman used this example of a concept that may even be unknown to the average person would not even be able to contemplate, or “hardly know,” of this subjective concept that lives deep within them speaks wonders to his views on existentialism. The brutal truth that even though the concept of existence is severely influential and center to everyday life, it is often something that is ignored and even if this is subconscious and unintentional, it still holds much …show more content…
Towards the beginning of “Song of Myself” he describes a runaway slave, one that “came to [his] house and stopped outside.” He then goes on to explain how, in this fictional circumstance, how the situation was dealt with. He completes a narrative in which following the arrival of the runaway slave, “[I] brought water and filled a tub for his sweated body and bruised feet, And gave him a room that entered from my own, and gave him some coarse clean clothes, And remembered perfectly well his revolving eyes and his awkwardness.” What this stanza really does is embody symbolism with the use of a metaphor. This metaphor includes a runaway slave who represents the society that we live in today, this person is tired, bruised, and awkward; paired with a utopian or ideal society. This idyllic society helps those who are less fortunate, it helps the less fortunate out, assisting them into a better situation. This rhetoric presented in Whitman’s writing is purely an extension from his existential views to his perspective on the darkness and hardships that come with existence. This metaphor also makes comments on the catastrophic nature that Whitman observes in society, and its absolute