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LITR 4328: American Renaissance  |
Final Exam Essays 2015 Sample answers for |
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Michael McDonald
Whose Line Is It Anyway?
Poetry comes in various forms and fashions, shaped by many all that have
a unique style that makes poetry their own. Often poetry is meant to entice its
audience into diving deeper into the words and finding the meaning beyond the
lines. Lyric poetry in my opinion is the most accessible form of poetry because
need to look further into the poem to understand what the poet was attempting to
say. Much like music lyric poetry wants its audience to really listen to what is
being said and take it in and find their own meaning in the words. If thought of
as lyrics to a song, Poe, Whitman, and Dickinson would undoubtedly be described
as different kinds of musicians.
Poe, Whitman, and Dickinson are among the elite American writers of the
American Renaissance. What distinguishes them from one another and other authors
and poets is the subject matter that the three faced. All three poets displayed
great skill in their writing, but did so with widely varying technique, format,
and style. Because of this the three poets have enabled their writings to be
recognized with ease by their audience.
Edgar Allan Poe may be one of the easiest poets to identify, as much of
his poetry is dark and gothic in subject matter as evidenced by his line from
the poem “The City in the Sea”, “There open fanes and gaping graves” (The City).
Poe unlike, Whitman and Dickinson, uses the formal verse exclusively and rarely
strays from it. Poe is also the most romantic of the authors as much of his work
deals “escapism to anything but here and now” (Three Poets Style Sheet). The
meaning to that is Poe tends to write about more European appearing settings,
rather than focusing on “dust and bustle of American cities” Poe resided in
(Three Poets Style Sheet). Poe in his works also uses more distinguished
language when describing buildings or objects. For example, in Poe’s poem “The
City in the Sea” Poe uses the term fanes in place of the more common term
temple. Poe does this because fanes has a much more ominous tone than temple.
Poe also does this in his poem “Annabel Lee” where he replaces tomb with
sepulcher. Poe does this because it adds to the “sensory pleasure in his diction
or word choice” (Poe Style Sheet). Poe in his style does appear the most lyrical
as it has a definite rhythm, due to Poe’s rigorous use of the formal verse.
Dickinson, like Poe, is easily identified due to her use of dashes in her
line of poetry.
Dickinson along with her dashes has a tendency to capitalize various words in
the middle of line that make her identifiable. Dickinson in her poem, again like
Poe, discusses death, but not in the same gothic manner. Where Dickinson
ventures away from Poe in her view of death is in the ideas of transcendentalism
that she includes. “Everyday household or natural images may be realistic, but
they become symbols of transcendent or mystical meaning” (Three Poets). “I heard
a fly buzz when I died— / The stillness in the Room /
Was like the Stillness in the air— / Between the Heaves of Storm—“ (I
heard a fly buzz when I died). Dickinson in those lines takes the passing of a
person and appears to magnify their existence in their passing moments, making
them utterly more aware of the nature of the world around them. Dickinson in her
poems will sometimes show formal verse before suddenly venturing into free
verse.
Whitman’s poetry would be the hardest to identify as at its surface does
not resemble poetry. I say that due to Whitman’s use of free verse. Because of
this Whitman is not restrained to any kind of rhythm or lyrical nature in his
writings. Instead he is free to venture wherever he feels necessary. Much of
Whitman’s poetry “was raw, exploratory, unafraid of descending into dirt and
potential degradation” (Whitman Style Sheet). Whitman’s poem “When I Heard the
Leanr’d Astronomer” he appears to deal with the ideas of human existence, which
is a theme that Whitman often refers to. “In the mystical moist night-air, and
from time to time, / Look'd up in perfect silence at the stars,” Whitman appears
to be searching for some kind of answer that he feels cannot be presented in
graphs and numbers from the astronomer (When I heard the Learn’d Astronomer).
Whitman draws similarities to Dickinson in terms of subject as both appear to
deal in transcendentalism. A stylistic advantage that Whitman uses is his
“elision of silent verbs” (Whitman Style Sheet). This ensures that Whitman’s
lines are read how they would be spoken (Whitman Style Sheet).
The American Renaissance was a period that produced many great works, but
possible the three biggest authors of the time were Poe, Whitman, and Dickinson.
Similarities in Whitman and Dickinson can be found as they both found
inspiration in the events of everyday life. Stylistically the two have their own
unique signatures within their works that make them identifiable as a Whitman or
Dickinson piece. Poe separates himself from the others as he is the most
recognizable author of the time. This is due to his dark, rhythmic works. Poe
stands out because his writings have a far more musical styling to them, despite
their gothic nature.
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