Compare and Contrast 2 American poets - Essay Example

Many scholars and poets consider Walt Whitman as one of the most influential American poets who sought to use transcend traditional epics and eschew normal aesthetic form to define the nature of the American experience and its democracy. On the other hand, Emily Elizabeth Dickinson was an American poet born in 1886 in America. Notably, the two poets had unique writing styles although they were both American. Many people consider them as the founders of modern American poetry. Indeed, modern poets borrow from their works although the prowess of the two poets stands out.

A careful consideration of their works shows numerous differences in terms of writing styles. From the physical inspection, Emily Dickinson’s poems are short and seemingly simple while Walt Whitman’s poems are long and seemingly complex to read and understand. The poems, “To a stranger” by Walt Whitman and the poem, “I am alive-I guess” by Emily Dickinson confirms this assertion. Indeed, Walt Whitman’s poems use extensive descriptions to elongate his ideas. This portrays him as an outgoing, social, and talkative poet.

For example in the poem “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry,” each line and word insinuates a picture in our minds and the poem goes on for a long time (Lehman 131-136). On the other hand, Emily Dickinson uses compact and concise words and lines to describe her works. Indeed, we can derive so much meaning from just a few words in her short poems. The short lines and phrases in her works allow the audience to derive their own meaning from her poems. It is thus clear that she uses few words to create diverse meaning.

The poem, “Much Madness is divinest sense” uses the terms “Much Madness is divinest sense-to a discerning eye-Much sense-the starkest madness-Tis’ the majority” to derive a deeper and diverse meaning. Nevertheless, although their writing styles are different, the two poets