Analysis of the Poems by Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman - Essay Example

Poetry Explication By closely studying the words selected and the way in which they are organized in a poem, even one as short as the three stanza poems “The Soul Selects Her Own Society” by Emily Dickinson and “One’s Self I Sing” by Walt Whitman, one can learn a lot regarding the way in which the author viewed their relationship with themselves and others. This information is usually communicated through literary tools such as metaphor, personification and allusion, among other things. In both of these poems, the authors speak eloquently of their own individual attitudes toward the self and how the self should or does relate to the greater society around them by using these devices. Although each poem is kept relatively short, both of these poets, writing during the same time period, convey similar thoughts regarding the individuality of the soul, yet also exhibit different attitudes regarding how that individual relates to others around him/her. Emily Dickinson writes her poem to indicate that while the Soul remains an entity that should remain true to itself, it is all right for it to allow others in on a highly selective basis. She personifies the soul by first spelling it with a capital letter (1) and then referring to it throughout the remainder of the poem with the pronoun ‘she’. At first, it seems almost as if Dickinson is saying that the soul should remain aloof and untouched by the society around her as the Soul “shuts the Door - / On her divine Majority - / Present no more” (2-4). By creating the metaphor of the soul as being something along the lines of a house, with a front door that can be used to shut out the outside world, Dickinson is able to illustrate how the soul can objectively observe life occurring around her without actually taking part in it. This happens in the second stanza where she points out how the soul “notes the Chariots – pausing - / At her low Gate - / Unmoved – an Emperor is kneeling / upon her Mat” (5-8). The high status alluded to by both of these images, first the wealth associated with those who would ride chariots and then the obvious significance of the Emperor, indicate that many of the people who come begging for entrance to the soul are not of low-born or base natures. At the same time, though, they are not invited in, as indicated by the idea that the chariots merely “pause” (5) and the soul is “unmoved” (7) by the Emperor’s taking to his knees. Yet, just when the reader is convinced that Dickinson wants the Soul to remain locked up in itself, the poet breaks in for the third stanza, “I’ve known her” (9), to provide the true relationship she envisions. Rather than locking out the entire world, the soul is expected to “Choose One” (10) “from an ample nation” (9). This one, by also being capitalized and personified, indicates a special status, a highly selective process, an individuality so unique that it, too, possesses something unique to the crowd of those who pass her by. Then, to fully appreciate the uniqueness of this one, the poet indicates the Soul should “close the Valves of her attention - / Like Stone” (11-12). Unlike the door through which she peered earlier, watching the world go by and rejecting the people, thoughts and ideas that went by, once she has selected one special idea/thought/person, the windows to the world go opaque, like stone, shutting out the outside world completely until she has had the chance to completely appreciate the new addition to herself. Walt Whitman also celebrates the uniqueness of the individual in his poem, but envisions a more flowing interchange between the one and the many. He starts off the poem with a broad, bold declarative sentence that proclaims the importance of the individual: “One’s Self I sing, a simple separate person” (1). His choice of the word ‘sing’ to describe how he is referring to himself is the clue to the importance of this one, of the individuality of the soul. Leading off with this statement, he is in accord with Dickinson in supposing that everything must start with the individual, just as everything must end there: “The Modern Man I sing” (9). Everything that happens between the first line and the last has helped to shape the individual into the modern man as he exists at the end. Far from the process that Dickinson’s individual undergoes to reach her greater refinement, Whitman indicates a series of oppositional states that work to pull and temper the individual into a final shape that is at once individual and also more complete through its symbiosis with the world around it. This idea is suggested by his second line: “Yet utter the word Democratic, the word En-Masse” (2). These two words brought forward pull in a much larger individual than the single soul. Rather, it is discussing a single nation, a single group, which is necessarily comprised of several individual souls. “Of physiology from top to toe I sing” (3), indicating that the individual is a wonderful unique creature that deserves to be celebrated, but which individual – the soul, the group, the nation – is left unclear. This ambiguity is further expressed in the following lines: “Not physiognomy alone nor brain alone is worthy for the Muse, I say / the Form complete is worthier far, / the Female equally with the Male I sing” (4-6). Outward appearance is not worth more than inward intelligence, the female is not worth less than the male, the one is not worthier than the many – the entire group is necessary for full enlightenment and greatness (5). For Whitman, the soul can only be complete, then, through taking “Of Life, immense in passion, pulse, and power, / Cheerful, for freest action formed under the laws divine” (7-8). Only by fully exploring the various ways in which the individual and the greater form interact and intertwine can the Modern Man emerge. By using the metaphor of the human body to indicate the greatness of the individual, he also alludes to the greatness of a nation that can appreciate all its many parts and allow each to perform its function to its greatest benefit. Thus, while both poets have communicated their vision of how the individual soul attains the degree of sophistication and understanding necessary to take part in the modern world, they each have vastly different ideas of how this process should be undertaken. Dickinson feels that the soul must carefully select the influences and ideas that come across her doorstep, slowly analyzing each one by careful consideration, only inviting them in when they have more to say than the crowd and then studying them one by one until all their parts are understood. Whitman, on the other hand, feels it is necessary to fully interact with the world around one, to become one with the greater world as well as remain individual within it. Indeed, he indicates that there is no other way in which a man may become a Modern Man than to understand the vast relationship between the various functions of the single body with the various functions within the greater body of society. While both poets underscore the importance of the individual and the importance of thought to the growth of that individual, only Whitman indicates a sense of responsibility to the greater society outside the door as a result of that growth. Read More