The Romantic Poets

1
Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson
                

• The Romantic Poets

2
Walt Whitman

• 1819-1892

3
Background

• He came from a large family (seven brothers and
  sisters)
• Had the opportunity to live in both a country
  setting and the city of New York (Brooklyn)
• He attended school until he was eleven, then
  worked as a printers assistant and a teacher

                                                

4
Background

• Worked in journalism until the age of thirty
• Moved to New Orleans to continue journalism
• Eventually returned to New York as a journalist
  and part-time carpenter/contractor.
• He kept journals and diaries that became the
  basis for much of his literary work.

5
Poetry

• Based on cadence, which is the long, easy sweep
  of sound that echoes the Bible and the speeches
  or orators and preachers.
• Cadence was the base for free verse, which is
  poetry without rhyme or meter.
• In 1855, he published his most important
  collection of poetry, Leaves of Grass. He revised
  it nine times before his death in 1892.

O captain! my captain! our fearful trip is
doneThe ship has weathered every rack, the
prize we sought is wonThe port is near, the
bells I hear, the people all exulting,While
follow eyes the stead keel, the vessel grim and
daring.
6
Walts Style

• Frequently uses catalogs the piling up of images
  or concrete details
• Example from Song of Myself
• My tongue, every atom of my blood, formed from
  this soil, this air/Born here of parents born
  here from parents the same, and their parents the
  same (lines 6-7)

7
Style

• His catalogs here represent the spiritual unity
  among all forms of being.
• He frequently uses parallelismthe repeated use
  of phrases, clauses, or sentences that are
  similar in structure or meaning.
• Use of parallelism helps to create a sense of
  unity within his poetry and it also provides a
  structure, creates a rhythm, and emphasizes
  important ideas.

8
Style

• Uses free verse verse that has irregular meter
  and line length
• Whitman was the first American poet to use free
  verse.
• His use of free verse allowed him to express
  himself without restraint

9
Emily Dickinson
We never know how high we areTill we are called
to riseAnd then, if we are true to plan,Our
statures touch the skies.

• 1830-1886

Hope is a thing with feathersThat perches in the
soul,And sings the tune without wordsAnd never
stops at all.
10
Background

• Born into a wealthy New England family and had a
  happy childhood. Everyone assumed she would grow
  up to marry and have a family.
• At 24, her father took her on a business trip to
  separate Emily from a drastic situationshe had
  fallen in love with a married man she could never
  marry.

Behavior is what a man does, not what he thinks,
feels, or believes.
Beauty is not caused. It is.
11
Background

• Ironically, while on the trip, she fell in love
  with another married man, Charles Wadsworth, a
  Presbyterian minister. She was once again
  separated from the man she loved.
• She then withdrew from all social life except
  involving her family.

12
Emily alone!

• Within a few years, Emily was dressing in all
  white and lived in total seclusion.
• Her only activities included writing her poems
  and household chores.

13
Emilys Poetry

• She only printed a handful of her poems during
  her lifetime.
• However, she made sure that she left bundles of
  her poems to be found after her death.
• Family and friends edited her poems and published
  them in numerous installments.
• Her poems were brief and contained brilliant
  metaphors.

14
Emilys Style

• Uses unconventional punctuation and
  capitalization
• Most of her lines and stanzas are very brief
• Most of her poetry is writing in quatrains
• Usually, only the second and fourth lines in her
  quatrains rhyme.
• She often uses slant or partial rhymes.
• She has a tendency to use figurative language to
  convey her ideas.