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Essay / A Theme of Death Poems by Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson
Table of Contents Similarities Between Dickinson's Poetry and the Work of Walt Whitman Historical Context Theme of Death in "I Felt a Funeral in My Brain » ConclusionReferencesThe purpose of this essay is to show and analyze the differences and similarities that Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman had in relation to the symbol of death, as they expressed this subject in their poems, not only in terms of structure, they used it in the writing, but also in the way in which they both give it this meaning. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why violent video games should not be banned”?Get an original essayIn order to achieve this goal and understand how certain facts of their lives relate to the topic discussed in this essay, the authors will be analyzed in common terms of a recurring subject that both spoke about in some of their poems. First of all, it is necessary to contextualize the reader in relation to these two authors and the facts which would inspire them and encourage them to write about death. On the one hand, Dickinson had a close relationship with death, experiencing it throughout her life, making death a recurring subject in her poems. On the other hand, Whitman had a close connection to death during the Civil War, witnessing the images and scenes of the cruelties that this war offered, observing the human remains that flooded the hospitals of the battle camps and how these people died before him; these events had a major impact on his poems and also on the way he viewed human beings. Similarities Between Dickinson's Poetry and the Work of Walt Whitman Dickinson and Whitman have many similarities through their relationship in transcendentalism, and were also recognized as founders of America. poetry, but there are many differences, from writing to the perception of life. Walt Whitman is a devotee of poetry in which he speaks of the joys of life, but he is to the same extent a poet of the dead. Whitman's poem illustrates the universal truth that death is not only the most shocking and least understood event of our existence, but also the most interesting. He understood from the beginning of his poetic career that he had to speak about death openly, with imagination. As he attempts to convince the audience that death is not a terrible closure to life and that immortality is a quest, Whitman's character takes on many ideas. He also confesses to and imagines all kinds of empty-headed experiences and contemplates his own death through fantasies. His statements about death may offend the reader, who may see him as tempting, contradictory, or provocative. It is rarely doctrinal; he never develops a first coherent theory of death. And, as his poems attest, he is aware of his limited capacity to understand cosmic truths while struggling to maintain a humane and ameliorative belief. Faced with conflicting evidence and ideological views in every way, he chooses to preserve his own situation, convinced that his wisdom in death is as valid as any argument or body of evidence. In "Song of Myself", Walt Whitman does not capitalize on death, personifying it as Emily Dickinson, "Song of Myself", as a normal process, as a law of nature, as the beginning of a rather as an end. Whitman denies the importance of death as a negative aspect of life and gives it positive qualities. context Whitman and Dickinson, two American poets, lived and wrote poems during the Civil War. Dickinson did not interact with the world around her like Whitman, but apart of his body was written during the Civil War. One of Dickinson's most famous poems about war opens: It is a shame to be alive –/When men so brave – are dead –, clearly posing a question around the value of life and of death in war. Dresser,” found in mid-war poems, Whitman writes that “Aroused and angry, I had thought of sounding the alarm and/inciting implacable war.” This quote sums up the entire tone of the first part of Drum-Taps and is the best explanation of how Whitman envisioned the coming of war. This spirit is found in much ancient poetry, including the first three poems which will be analyzed throughout this article, but only one of these three can be considered truly autobiographical. “First O Songs For A Prelude” opens this work and sets the tone for the first half by expressing the chauvinistic tone of the beginning of the war while acknowledging that some sacrifices will be made. As a whole, it can certainly be called a celebration of the mainstream American spirit, but despite all that, it provides a clear view of how Whitman viewed the war and, by extension, how he viewed America. This view of America is extremely important because, as noted above, it influences every poem. to remove mental pain with repression or cessation of consciousness or mental dislocation. “I Felt a Burial in My Brain,” like many of Dickinson's poems, deals with the subject of death. She particularly likes to tackle the subject of the moment of death and burial. The whole scene takes place in the speaker's brain, in his mind and soul. She doesn't know if this is happening in her mind, a huge, hollow world that contains an entire universe, or if the speaker is alive or dead. “I Felt a Burial in My Brain” by Emily Dickinson is a terrible poem that follows the speaker's mad fall. The speaker is confronted with the loss of self in the chaos of the unconscious, and the reader senses the speaker's ascending madness. Dickinson uses the funeral metaphor to represent the speaker's feeling that a part of him is lost, dying, overwhelmed by irrationality. of the unconscious. A funeral is a good image for this attempt. The most obvious connotation of funerals is death. Life, death, and reincarnation are described in Emily Dickinson's poem "I Felt a Funeral in My Brain." The use of words associated with death gives the poetry a stunning and somber atmosphere. At the beginning of this poem, the feelings of pain are evident, but it is not physical or mental pain, pain that comes from the most hidden place of the speaker's consciousness, in a state of impossibility in relation to the world. During a first poetry reading, the speaker must make a choice between a world full of problems and pain or a paradise that brings solitude and peace. It's all part of a vicious cycle. This is clearly reflected at the end of the poem. The speaker lives his life, moves away and is reborn in this world, in all this poetry. It is a poem condensed with striking images and astonishing ideas about the irrationality of human beings. It is a terrifying poetry that allows readers to imagine themselves in their place, living in full consciousness, their death. This poetry is not just a description of the physical death of the speaker, but rather a description of the death of a part of the speaker, namely the death of his mental health. The most likely interpretation that the speaker describes is actually the life of one's own burial in consciousness. The sensation of hearing and the ability to feel the speaker is one of the main points of poetry and describes the sound of a box'