New Style of Poetry

1. New Style of Poetry Walt Whitman & Emily Dickinson

2. Walt Whitman larger-than-life figure broad audience during his lifetime free verse; broad, flowing style direct messages Emily Dickinson private and reclusive died unknown, leaving unpublished poems short, terse lines and tight rhythms mysterious meanings American Masters

3. Two Paths for American Poetry • Whitman boldly published Leaves of Grass at his own expense in 1855. • At first the book was mostly either ignored or considered too radical. • The poems gained attention over the years, and Whitman eventually became famous.

4. Unlike Whitman, Dickinson was content to write in obscurity. • She rarely left her house and made little effort to publish her poems. • Although her poetry was read by very few while she was alive, she received widespread acclaim from subsequent generations.

5. Whitman poetry as public speech still prominent many poets using the cadences of free verse young poets drawn to Whitman’s broad vision Dickinson poetry as private observation prominent careful rhyme and meter often used poems often regarded as experiences rather than statements Models for Future Poets

6. Born May 31, 1819 Died May 26, 1892 Walt Whitman

7. Why do we study Whitman? • Perhaps the most important American poet: • incorporated sounds, sights, experiences of the common man, of the city. • Considered the voice of America and all Americans; poetry praises America & democracy

8. Characteristics of Poetry • First American writer to use free verse -no regular rhyme scheme or meter 2. Parallelism/parallel structure – repetition of similarly constructed phrases or clauses or sentences. 3. Imagery – use of language to evoke visual images, as well as sensations of smell, hearing, taste and touch

9. 4. Cadence – the run of words that rise and fall in emphasis when he has a particular point to make and measures his line to make it • Catalogs – long lists of images, people, or things used to emphasize an idea 6. Alliteration– repetition of consonant sounds

10. Whitman’s Themes • Transcendent power of love and brotherhood • Imaginative projection into others’ lives • Optimistic faith in democracy and equality • Belief in powers of nature and its value as a teacher • Equivalence of body and soul and the unabashed exaltation of the body and sexuality

11. Whitman and the War • Whitman experienced the Civil War first hand – impacting his poetry. • Great admirer of Abraham Lincoln: • “O Captain! My Captain!” • “When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d”

12. Anchor poem in Leaves of Grass, along with 11 other poems 1,346 lines (the longest poem in Leaves of Grass) Begins in tone of boastful authority Asserts notion of self and identification with all selves Filled with symbols of resurrection and rebirth, from fish eggs to sprouting grass 52 stanzas = 52 weeks of year = cycle # “Song of Myself”

13. Words from Whitman A great poem is for ages and ages in common And for all degrees and complexions and all departures and sects And for a woman as much as a man and a man as much as a woman A great poem is no finish to a man or woman but rather a beginning

14. Whitman used his broad, flowing, conversational style to celebrate brotherhood and democracy • He had grand expectations and saw his poems as a way to pass his message along to future generations.