19th Century American Poetry

7 February 2008

On Whitman and Dickinson

Poetry is the rhythm of the soul . The said notion has often been implied or made particularly evident in the variety of voices and themes which emanate from every lyric of ever poem . Like most art , poetry reflects the sentiments , ideology or persuasions of a poet or artist as he or she is experiencing it , and perhaps , trying to communicate to readers and the rest of the world at a particular point in time . Poetry ultimately and essentially reflects or defines , in crude terms , a

piece of an individual . To American poets Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson this same reality applies . Although both poets emerged and gained significant recognition at the turn of the twentieth century , and both are highly regarded and acknowledged as prominent figures in literature Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson inevitably differ from each other , as evident in their writing and poetry

In Whitman 's A Noiseless Patient Spider ' and Dickinson 's A Narrow Fellow In the Grass ' this difference is further affirmed and illustrated . Where Whitman 's poems are usually stretched and long drawn however , and Dickinson 's is conversely short and seemingly rudimentary A Noiseless Patient Spider ' and A Narrow Fellow In the Grass departs from both of the poets ' usual mold and routine in terms of poem length and indulges in the opposite . Whitman 's short poem of two stanzas appears to be summed up in the title and in the initial part of the poem , this is what readers are made to believe . A Noiseless Patient Spider ' begins with his observation of the creature , as he writes .It stood , isolated / It launch 'd forth filament , filament filament , out of itself / Ever unreeling them - ever tirelessly speeding them (Whitman . His observation of the noiseless patient spider ' ends with the arachnid engaged in laborious web spinning . The tone of the second stanza shifts abruptly when it pronounces quite beautifully

And you , O my Soul , where you stand / Surrounded , surrounded in measureless oceans of space / Ceaselessly musing , venturing , throwing - seeking the spheres to connect them (Whitman

The verse picks up from the mundanity and apparent literal observation of a spider as it engages in a seeming routine and rudimentary activity which is to be expected of it . It then turns its focus to the writer 's soul , which exists much like the noiseless patient spider ' in that it tirelessly tries to weave meanings and experiences into being , a characteristic inherent to humanity , and in the human soul 's perhaps cliched quest for reason or meaning . Whitman speaks of the soul 's complex and boundless nature , of the gossamer thread ' which it appears to constitute , in reference and analogy to the poem 's title Most of the poet 's writing , disguised , perhaps in crude terms , as animal poetry ' inevitably turn out as odes to humanity , much like A Noiseless Patient Spider ' illustrates

On a similar but theless contrasting note , Emily Dickinson 's A Narrow Fellow In The Grass...