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LITR 4328: American Renaissance  |
Final Exam Essays 2015 Sample answers for |
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Tanner McLean
Poe, Whitman, and Dickinson: Same Time, Different Style
Edgar
Allan Poe, Walt Whitman, and Emily Dickinson are arguably the most infamous
names in poetry during the American Renaissance.
Each writer had their own individually unique styles that not set them
apart from the others and made their works recognizable to literary audiences
then and now. They used formal and
free verse, which are the typical styles of verse that are associated with
poetry; however, each author had their own form of expression that really
defined their style.
Free verse is a little looser in form, almost giving the illusion that
the poetry was made by accident. It
allows for the poet to reminisce and express their own thoughts and feelings to
be free and more open to change on a whim.
Formal verse on the other hand is much more rigid in structure and
follows a regular rhyme scheme much of the time.
Often times this form is associated with rhythmic poetry such as what is
used in music; and the rhymes can be varied into half-rhymes, sight rhymes, and
internal rhymes.
Poe can most likely be best set apart by the content of his works.
To sum it up simply, his poems contain, “…the pure sensory pleasure of
the surface of his prose, which can sound more like poetry and create a
hypnotic, dream- or fugue-like state in the reader that matches the mental
excitement or derangement he describes in his characters” (Poe Style Sheet).
One could possibly say this is thanks to his “recreational” opium or
alcohol use, but that is neither here nor there.
Poe’s poetry most frequently appears in formal verse, but there were some
occasional exceptions. Poe also was
primarily a gothic writer. His
works were often very dark and morose.
This content can be seen throughout his poem “The City in the Sea”.
His opening lines state, “Lo! Death has reared himself a throne, In a
strange city lying alone, Far down within the dim West, Where the good and the
bad and the worst and the best, Have gone to their eternal rest,” (Poe).
The presentation of death is directly gothic in nature, and the “dim
West” presents the dark setting at hand.
This poem is a perfect example of how his content and his perfected
formal style is so easily identifiable for readers.
Whitman’s style on the other hand, can be simply defined as having almost
the exact opposite style of Poe.
Whitman specialized and thrived in free verse.
Whitman’s style, “…faces what needs to be faced. Poetry is not an evasion
or escape but a direct, highly-charged encounter” (Whitman Style Sheet).
Whitman often times was intriguing to readers of his era because his
works commonly dealt with subjects of that time period.
My favorite Whitman poem is “There Was a Child Went Forth”.
This might be because of my aspiration to be a teacher, or possibly
because it’s a personal life experience that I went through myself, I’m not
entirely sure. It is very realistic
in the experience of the child, yet kindles the reader’s emotions through such
elevated language. Whitman’s poem
“When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer” differs from “There Was a Child Went
Forth” a bit. For instance, “When I
Heard the Learn’d Astronomer” still starts and continues throughout as realistic
with the exception of this being in the last stanzas which state, ““In the
mystical moist night-air, and from time to time, Look'd up in perfect silence at
the stars” (Whitman). This is still
in the same stereotypical free verse style Whitman sticks to, but is much more
romantic and transcendental than his typical realistic style.
Comparatively, Dickinson utilized many of the same romantic elements as
Poe and Whitman, yet she can’t be saddled as easily as having one particular
type of poetic verse. Her poems
typically maintain the lyrical style in their stanzas, but often times aren’t
seen to follow an identifiable pattern.
In summary, “…her thought and style refuse to be pinned down or reduced
to a single truth or technique. What is true in one place may not be true in
another,” (Dickinson Style Sheet).
This can be seen in “I Heard a Fly Buzz When I Died”, as none of her stanzas had
any rhyming scheme until the final lines, “With Blue—uncertain—stumbling Buzz—,
Between, the light—and me—, And then the windows failed—and then, I could not
see to see—,” (Dickinson). This can
often be seen as what makes Dickinson’s works so intriguing to read, but
frequently hard to analyze or teach.
It is also a large part of what sets her works apart and makes her as
identifiable as she is as a writer.
Overall, Whitman was much more realistic in the content and style of his
poetry. Both he and Dickinson seem
to stick to lyrical poetry, but vary greatly in their style of expression in
their poetry. Whitman wrote about
subjects more closely associated with realism, while still maintaining many of
the elements that define romanticism.
Dickinson did the same, but her poems were much freer and were often left
with an ending that was quite inviting to the audience’s interpretation.
Both writers dealt with realistic subjects, but Whitman was much more
matter of fact while Dickinson was much less precise due to her switching of
styles, rhythm, and verse structure.
Poe used many of the same elements of romanticism as Whitman and
Dickinson. Poe incorporated many
elements such as: the gothic, transcendentalism, the sublime, nature, loss and
desire, and the Byronic hero. Poe’s
style, however, was much more formal in structure and style.
His style was much more formal and often times more lyrical and that
style is what could be considered to make many of his pieces American classics.
Each author’s individual style is what sets them apart from one another,
and is also what makes them each literary rock stars of the American
Renaissance.
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