Whitman's Use Of Free Verse example essay topic

Modern Poetry / Whitman and Dickinson Before delving into Modernist aspects of Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson's poetry, I feel it necessary to explain where and how this movement blossomed. The Modernist movement was in many ways an extension of the Romantic Movement's ideals, although it brought it to an elevated level. The Romantic movement blossomed out of the rigid ness and formality of classicism. It was in a sense a kind of renaissance, and rediscovery. It rejected the idea that one could not write about oneself, and explored man's relationship not just to society, but also to nature and to the mysteries of the universe.

Nature ceased to be an objective, intellectual concept, but instead a subjective one. The Romantic poets delved into the beauty of metaphors and imagery to render these ideas. The Romantic Movement would be the catalyst to the Modernist Movement. It is said that Modernism also arose from a backlash against Victorian ideals, which then seemed questionable in the widespread turmoil and suffering of the early 20th century. Modernist poets were concerned with breaking away from established rules, traditions and conventions, and finding a distinctly contemporary mode of expression, through many experiments in form and style. One such style was called free verse, which went against the natural rhythm and rhymes of traditional verse.

They also explored the themes of the self, and man's relationship to nature and the ethereal world. They were not inhibited to a single stance and often moved from one theme to another. Because of this kind of fragmentation in their writing critics often said that Modernists were incoherent. Instead, I feel that they had broken down all boundaries, and were now speaking a language that was difficult for many to understand. Both Whitman and Dickinson were expressing modernist ideas in their poetry before the movement even had its name. They were poetic pioneers who challenged the norm of the poetic world.

One of the fundamental aspects of Modern poetry is the way in which it is written. Whitman and Dickinson were quite different in their writing styles, but both reflected the ethos of Modernism. Lets take a look at these different writing styles. Whitman got most of the techniques of writing poetry from biblical verses.

Whitman used no real form other than free verse. The characteristics of free verse are: 1) No rhyme or rhyme scheme, 2) Has a cadence or beat, 3) No set line length, 4) Has stanzas, but no set stanza length, 5) Uses repetition. Whitman's use of free verse marked a break in the syllable-stress tradition. We can see some of these aspects in this verse from Songs of Myself.

I sound triumphal drums for the dead. I fling through my embouchure's the loudest and gayest music to them. Viva to those who have failed, and to those whose war vessels sank in the sea, And those themselves that have sank in the sea. And all the generals that lost engagement, and all overcome heroes, And the numberless unknown heroes equal to the greatest heroes know. In nearly all of Emily Dickinson's poetry there is the use of quatrains of three iambic feet, that is four lines of poetry to a stanza, where each line has an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable, three times. The early poems by Dickinson are conventional in sentiment and in form.

She used many forms in her poetry, but the forms she used had a twist from the normal because she would make them more complex and altered the metrical beat. Dickinson did this to fit her thought. Dickinson also started the wide use of off rhyme. We can see this in poems such as, I Shall Know Why- When Time is Over, There's a Certain Slant of Light, The Difference Between Despair, I dwell in Possibility, and many more. It is was this expression through free verse and form exploration that shows the essential disparity between classic poetry and Modernism.

Although these two were pioneers of Modern Poetry at the same time in history, and covered many of the same themes, such as the topic of the self, and the self's relationship to nature, Whitman seem to extend himself into other areas. For instance, Whitman often wrote about the politics of the time, such as slavery and the Civil War. Dickinson stayed out of politics and stuck to personal themes such as death and nature. In this verse Whitman gives us a glimpse into how he felt about the issue of slavery as he describes his encounter with runaway slave. The runaway slave came to my house and stopped outside, I heard his motions crackling the twigs of the woodpile, I went where he sat on a log, and led him in and assured him, And brought water and filled a tub for his sweated body and bruised feet. I find this particular passage to be very touching, beautiful and courageous.

Even though Whitman lived in the north, helping a runaway slave was illegal. Dickinson on the other hand delves into the matter of her mortality in the poem, "Because I Could Not Stop for Death."We slowly drove- He knew no haste And I had put away My labor and my leisure too, For his civility" Although here I point out some of their distinctive differences in subject matter, I would also like to point out the similarities. In Whitman's Song's of Myself he also covers the topic of his mortality. "I pass death with the dying, and birth with the new-washed babe and am not contained between my hat and my boots". Another difference that I noticed between the two poets is that Dickson's poetry has more elegiac emotions, whereas Whitman appears more hopeful and positive. We can see this in Dickinson's poem " Me From Myself to Banish".

Me from myself to banish Had I art Impregnable my Fortress Unto all Heart But since Myself-assault Me How have I peace Except by subjugation Consciousness? And since We " re mutual Monarch How this be Except by Abdication Me of Me? Dickinson words seem to express her on going sadness in the search for love and her reclusive lifestyle. Whitman on the other hand appears to more of a man of the people. He socializes and feels at one with his surroundings. In Songs of Myself he says, I am not an earth nor an adjunct of an earth, I am the mate and companion of people, All just as immortal and fathomless as myself.

At first glance Whitman and Dickinson seem to be coming from different angles, he with his focus on large experiences, and she with her focus on personal experiences. But underneath their different angles is the foundation of what Modernism stands for; the willingness to challenge old paradigms, the courage to create new ones, and the ability to render them in a way that is indelibly inspiring.