The three main qualities that Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson
share is their transcendentalist beliefs about the individual self, the intensity
with which they describe how the physical and the spiritual world are connected
through life and death, and they both use their intuition to decipher mystical
experiences. In Dickinson’s poems, she isolates herself by expressing, “I’m
nobody! Who are you?” which sends the message that she prefers to live a
solitary life, than be somebody in public. In “I heard a Fly buzz--when I died,”
she shares her belief that our soul transcends from the physical world to the
spiritual world, but does not know how this mystical experience happens. To
her, “parting is all we know of heaven, and all we need of hell,” implying that
through death a person would come to terms with heaven or hell depending on
their actions on earth. For Dickinson, death is but a realization that heaven
and hell exists. While Dickinson prefers to live life in private and isolation,
Whitman sees life and the outdoors as an opportunity to embrace nature
wholeheartedly as he joyfully sings, “I celebrate myself, and sing myself, and
what I assume you shall assume,” implying that he believes in the natural
existence of things and brotherhood. To Whitman, nature is beautiful and views
living in the world as, “nature without check with original energy.” He sees
the spirit of a person in nature and when a child curiously asks, “what is the
grass?” he believes that the grass can represented any symbol of mankind found
in civilization. The grass could symbolize God or humans, “the handkerchief of
the Lord,” “Or I guess it is itself a child, the produced babe of the
vegetation.” Whitman views death as an extension of life and observes that the
grass that keeps sprouting time after time is similar to our soul that continues
to exist after death and eternally moves forward. This is described in his quote,
“The smallest sprout shows there is really no death,” and he continues, “all
goes onward and outward, nothing collapses,” “and to die is different from what
anyone supposed, and luckier.” Whitman believes that birth and death is a continuous
and never ending process and this beautiful cycle never really ends. This belief
is expressed symbolically in his chant, “the past and present wilt- I have fill’d
them, emptied them. And proceed to fill my next fold of the future.” Whitman
sees beauty in death and is excited at the prospect of being reborn again as
she sings, “I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love.”
You’re spot on in pointing out these similarities. Certainly the transcendentalist heritage these authors share shows up in the works we’ve read. Whitman’s belief that he is “not contained between his hat and his boots” comes to mind, specifically. Such statements, and similar statements by Dickinson reveal a belief in a particular type of soul, that was new to the American consciousness. Also, I like your comments on the difference in how these poets relate to the world and other people. Certainly the private life of Dickinson comes out in “I’m nobody! Who are you?” and makes us question the nature of our own identity. Similarly, Whitman complicates the nature of identity by applying his poetic voice to pretty much the whole scope of human existence. Your notion of each authors ideas of the Spiritual and Physical world are intriguing as well, especially with regards to how each poet deals with death, as a both a physical event of the body and a spiritual event of the soul.
ReplyDeleteI believe your analysis and interpretations of the poets and their writings are pretty accurate. Whitman and Dickinson both write with an intensity that pulls the reader in, and makes him feel involved in the writing somehow. Though their intensities are of a different nature (Whitman being excitable and thrilled at the thought of living, and Dickinson being excited at her own loneliness), they both have a strength about their writings that has made them stand the test of time. I believe it is their intensity more than anything else that has modern readers coming back for more. i also agree wholeheartedly about your observation of the focus on the individual self. Both poets write from the first person and seem very self-involved at their own experiences and observations in the world surrounding them. Even though Whitman speaks of others around him, he always manages to find a way to relate it back to himself; the title of his work is even "Song of Myself." Dickinson's is a bit more understandable, as she spent most of her years alone with her ailing mother; but still, she is utterly focused on things as they happen and revolve around her.
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