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LITR 4328 American Renaissance  |
Final Exam Essays 2015 Sample answers for |
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Elizabeth Myers
The Lyrical Attributes of Poe, Dickinson, and Whitman
A
significant aspect of Dr. White’s American Renaissance course has been the study
of lyric poetry. As discussed in Dr. White’s notes and lectures, lyric poetry is
a popular genre of poetry, and one regularly described when individuals discuss
“poetry.” Lyric poetry is frequently recognized due to it remaining a prominent
art form throughout history since its emergence in antiquity. Lyric poems are
primarily a subjective form of expression because they “. . . are usually short
verbal expressions . . .” of “simple or mixed” emotions that were originally
sung in ancient times “before writing became widespread . . .” (White, “Lyric
Poem”). This form of poetry maintains its historical musical connection in
modern times due to lyric poems still demonstrating musical qualities, like
rhythm, melodies, and rhymes even when read silently or aloud and with
contemporary songs being examples of lyric poetry (White, “Lyric Poem”).
Moreover, the popularity of lyric poetry is due in part to how it appeals to
readers and listeners. Individuals enjoy lyric poetry because of its intensive
and impulsive nature, evocative imagery, and the poems’ words and structures
creating a musical ambiance (White, “Lyric Poem”). Edgar Allan Poe, Emily
Dickinson, and Walt Whitman are three American Renaissance writers who wrote
lyrical poetry that continues to resonate with readers. Poe, Dickinson, and
Whitman’s lyrical poetry demonstrate the unique approaches each took when
creating their literary works.
Due to the distinctive topics and writing characteristics associated with
each of the three aforementioned authors, it is easy for readers to
differentiate between the writers when reading one of their lyric poems. For
example, out of Edgar Allan Poe, Emily Dickinson, and Walt Whitman, Poe’s poems
are the “most formal and musical or lyrical” due to his poetry’s “traditional or
fixed verse forms . . .” (White, “Comparative Study of Poe, Whitman,
Dickinson”). Poe’s use of fixed verse forms would cause his poetry to have
consistent rhymes and meters, which emphasize his poems’ musicality for readers.
In addition to Poe’s use of fixed verse, his subject matter also distinguishes
him from Dickinson and Whitman in that he primarily focuses on dark topics that
align with Romanticism’s gothic themes such as death, horror, and the
juxtaposition of desire and loss (White, “Comparative Study of Poe, Whitman,
Dickinson”; “Poe Style Guide”). Moreover, Emily Dickinson is similar to Poe in
that she too utilizes formal verse in her poetry, but she also differs from him
because of her using an informal, free verse form in some of her other poems as
well (White, “Comparative Study of Poe, Whitman, Dickinson”). Dickinson’s free
verse is categorized by her use of “improvised punctuation, line shifts,
half-rhymes or off-rhymes” (White, “Comparative Study of Poe, Whitman,
Dickinson”). The subject matter in Dickinson’s poems include gothic elements of
Romanticism like death, the significance of domesticity, and a
transcendentalist-like mystical view of nature, household settings, and ordinary
life occasions (White, “Comparative Study of Poe, Whitman, Dickinson”; White,
“Dickinson Style Guide”).
Unlike Poe and Dickinson, Walt Whitman is the “least formal” of the three
American Renaissance writers due to his predominant use of free verse in his
poetry (White, “Comparative Study of Poe, Whitman, Dickinson”). Although Whitman
writes in free verse, his poetry still utilizes poetic conventions such as
alliteration, anaphora, and “occasional or interior rhymes” (White, “Comparative
Study of Poe, Whitman, Dickinson”; White, “Whitman Style Guide”). All of these
poetic conventions can influence his poems’ lyrical natures. Furthermore, the
subjects in Whitman’s poetry may include a celebration of everyday life and the
individual and discussions about the changes occurring in how people connect to
nature, the universe, and other individuals (White, “Comparative Study of Poe,
Whitman, Dickinson”; White, “Whitman Style Guide”). Similarly to Poe and
Dickinson, Whitman’s poetry has aspects of Romanticism like the importance of
nature and the adoration for individualism, while also differing from the other
two poets due to his poems including significant features of Realism such as his
“. . . attention to city life . . .” and the realistic particulars of human life
(White, “Comparative Study of Poe, Whitman, Dickinson”). Whitman’s use of
Realism within his poems resonates with readers because they can relate with his
subject matter.
By
reflecting on the poetry of Poe, Dickinson, and Whitman, readers can gain a
greater understanding on how these poets’ works conform to the conventions of
lyrical poetry. Poe’s poem, “The City in the Sea,” is an example of a lyrical
poem because of his descriptive words invoking an intense and mystical vision of
death ruling over a silent foreboding city of the dead. Poe states in stanza one
that death “has reared himself a throne/ In a strange city lying alone” where
all individuals no matter the depth of their morality reside eternally once they
die (1.1-1.5). In addition to Poe’s powerful diction aligning with lyrical
poetry’s imaginative use of words, his poem utilizes a formal verse form that
promotes a lyrical rhythm when read aloud or silently. For instance, most of
Poe’s stanzas are arranged in deliberate end-rhymes as is seen in the
aforementioned stanza one lines discussed previously. Moreover, Poe’s use of
anaphora, alliteration, and parallelism further provides a lyrical rhythm within
his poem. In stanza two, Poe uses anaphora and parallelism when he describes how
the light from the sea creeps “up domes-up spires-up kingly halls-/ Up fanes-up
Babylon-like walls-” (2.6-2.7). Alliteration is also seen in stanza two in the
line “The viol, the violet, and the vine” (2.12). Besides the poem’s musical
nature, “The City in the Sea’s” theme of death, darkness, and horror aligns with
both the gothic characteristic of Romanticism, and Poe’s other poems such as
“The Raven.”
Emily
Dickinson’s poem, “I heard a fly buzz, when I died,” is another example of a
lyrical poem. Similarly to Poe’s “The City in the Sea,” Dickinson’s poem is
predominately an example of formal verse in poetry and is written in an English
ballad form. “I heard a fly buzz, when I Died” is written in four line quatrains
with every alternating line being iambic tetrameter or iambic trimeter.
Dickinson’s use of formal iambic meter produces a resonating lyrical rhythm
within her poem. Differing from Poe, Dickinson does not use a vast number of
end-rhymes in her poem. In fact, Dickinson only uses one end-rhyme, and that is
in her last quatrain. This is seen when the narrator states in the last quatrain
“Between the light-and me-” and “I could not see to see-” (14 & 16). Although
Dickinson does not have a definite rhyming rhyme scheme in her poem, she does
have some internal rhymes such as “. . . me be” and slant-rhymes like “. . .
Room” and “. . . Storm-” within her poem (2-10). “I heard a fly buzz, when I
died” not having a definite end-rhyme rhyme scheme, but utilizing iambic meters,
natural sounding internal rhymes, and slant-rhymes, illustrates Dickinson’s
incredible writing skill, and it is reminiscent of modern writers. Moreover,
Dickinson’s poem has another similarity to Poe’s “The City in the Sea” because
her poem also aligns with how lyrical poetry provides readers with intense
experiences. Like Poe’s poem, Dickinson’s poem includes a gothic element
reminiscent of Romanticism. Despite her poem being much more concise than Poe’s
poem, Dickinson’s words give readers an intense view of what death looks and
feels like. Dickinson accurately depicts an individual’s last moments surrounded
by her bereaved family members. The narrator’s thoughts interposed with dashes
emphasizes how her thought process is deteriorating the closer to death that she
becomes, and the last dash placed at the end of the last line symbolizes the
narrator’s death. “I heard a fly buzz, when I died” is an example of how a
lyrical poem’s imagery, rhythm, and intensity can leave a lasting impression for
readers.
Walt Whitman’s poem, “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer,” has several
similarities to Poe’s and Dickinson’s previously discussed poems. Whitman’s free
verse poem is another example of a lyrical poem. Like Dickinson, Whitman’s work
is a concise example of lyrical poetry. Whitman carefully chose his words when
writing his work, and this causes the poem to give an intense description of a
man who undergoes a transcendental experience. The narrator in the poem
succinctly describes how he overcomes his disappointment in an astronomer’s
lecture when he went out and “Look’d up in perfect silence at the stars” (8).
Whitman’s words illustrate the value Romanticism places in nature and how nature
can teach individuals truths about the universe far better than men can. Like
Poe, Whitman’s use of anaphora and parallelism helps his poem have a lyrical
rhythm. The first four lines of “When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer” all begin
with the word “when,” and one example of parallelism is seen in line three. The
narrator states, “When I was shown the charts and the diagrams, to add, divide,
and measure them;” (3). Unlike Poe and Dickinson, Whitman’s subject for his poem
does not concern death, but instead focuses on human beings relation to the
world around them.
The three poems by Poe, Dickinson, and Whitman are all great examples of
lyrical poetry. All three authors’ poems displayed the rhythm, intensity, and
imagery associated with lyrical poems. The poems had several similarities. Poe
and Dickinson both discussed death within their works, while Poe and Whitman
used several of the same poetic conventions that helped increase their poems
musicality. The differences in each of the poems forms and in Whitman’s subject,
demonstrates how lyrical poetry could be unique expressions of authors’ thoughts
and feelings. By analyzing these three poems, readers gain a greater
understanding of lyrical poetry, and how each author individually approached
this genre.
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