Edgar Allan Poe and Walt Whitman are both known as literary figure heads of their time, though despite being born only 10 years apart, found themselves in separate eras of literary writing. Poe known for Romanticism, and Whitman known for Transcendentalism leading into Realism. While their writings held similarities such as reverence for nature and the individual, Poe focused more on an escapism world for his readers rather than Whitman, who focused on the details of everyday and urban life. These two authors exemplify the major shift in national thinking during the 19th century, exiting the 18th century and entering the 20th. Romanticism emerged mainly as a response to modernity as a whole--namely, the Industrial Revolution, the Age of Enlightenment
