Whitman &Dickinson by: Jose Badrena Skylar Esparza Nicole Orsini

Emily Dickinson  Emily Dickinson was born December, 10, 1830 and died May, 15,1886  She studied at Amherst Academy for seven years  Later in life she went into social withdrawal, never leaving her house and rumored to rarely leave her room  Many of her thousands of poems were discovered after her death and very few were published in her lifetime

Emily Dickinson Success is counted sweetest  success is counted sweetest  By those who ne'er succeed.  To comprehend a nectar  Requires sorest need.  Not one of all the purple Host  Who took the Flag today  Can tell the definition  So clear of Victory  As he defeated--dying--  On whose forbidden ear  The distant strains of triumph  Burst agonized and clear!  this lyrical poem emphasizes that only those who have failed before fully understand the meaning of successes', and that appreciating a boon requires deprivation and failure.

Emily Dickinson Tell all the truth but tell it slant  Tell all the Truth but tell it slant---  Success in Circuit lies  Too bright for our infirm Delight  The Truth's superb surprise  As Lightening to the Children eased  With explanation kind  The Truth must dazzle gradually  Or every man be blind---  In this poem Dickinson says to tell the whole truth but to approach it at an angle as to prevent people from getting overwhelmed by it and so that they can see the truth itself.

Emily Dickinson Much Madness is divinest Sense  Much Madness is divinest Sense —  To a discerning Eye —  Much Sense — the starkest Madness —  ’Tis the Majority  In this, as All, prevail —  Assent — and you are sane —  Demur — you’re straightway dangerous —  And handled with a Chain —  This poem states that what is called “madness” is often the purest form of sanity. It states that what is sanity is not determined by right or wrong but by what the majority rules, so by agreeing to the public eye you are sane and by disagreeing you are insane and considered dangerous

Walt Whitman  Walt Whitman was born on May 31, 1819, died on March 26, 1892, in Long Island, New York.  In his works you see the influence of both transcendentalist and realist movements.  He is often considered the father of free verse and his most known for his poetry collection titled “Leaves of Grass” published in 1855, which at the time was considered overtly sexual.  Biographers still debate over Whitman’s sexuality. He is often described as either homosexual or bisexual, but there is still some debate on whether he experimented sexually with men.

Walt Whitman  Bang, Bang, Drums  Beat! beat! drums!--Blow! bugles! blow!  Over the traffic of cities--over the rumble of wheels in the streets:  Are beds prepared for sleepers at night in the houses? No sleepers  must sleep in those beds;  No bargainers' bargains by day--no brokers or speculators--Would they  continue?  Would the talkers be talking? would the singer attempt to sing?  Would the lawyer rise in the court to state his case before the  judge?  Then rattle quicker, heavier drums--you bugles wilder blow.  Beat! beat! drums!--Blow! bugles! blow!  Make no parley--stop for no expostulation;  Mind not the timid--mind not the weeper or prayer;  Mind not the old man beseeching the young man;  Let not the child's voice be heard, nor the mother's entreaties;  Make even the trestles to shake the dead, where they lie awaiting the  hearses,  So strong you thump, O terrible drums--so loud you bugles blow.

Walt Whitman  Interpretation: Here Whitman describes the horrors of war. He signifies the sounds of war using the bugles and drums. These disruptive sounds of the drums and bugles interrupt the harmony of everyday life of the people in the poem.

Walt Whitman “ The Spotted Hawk Swoops By”  The spotted hawk swoops by and accuses me,  he complains of my gab and my loitering.  I too am not a bit tamed,  I too am untranslatable,  I sound my barbaric yawp over the roofs of the world.  The last scud of the day holds back for me,  It flings my likeness after the rest and true as any on the shadow'd wilds,  It coaxes me to the vapor and the dusk. I depart as air,  I shake my white locks at the runaway sun,  I effuse my flesh in eddies, and drift it in lacy jags.  I bequeath myself to the dirt to grow from the grass I love,  If you want me again look for me under your boot-soles.  You will hardly know who I am or what I mean,  But I shall be good health to you nevertheless,  And filter and fiber for your blood.  Failing to fetch me at first keep encouraged,  Missing me one place search another,  I stop somewhere waiting for you.

Walt Whitman  Interpretation: In the poem the hawk is angry at the speaker for intruding in his habitat. The speaker is enjoying life so much that he lets out a tremendous yell for the world to hear. The speaker talks about death and will probably be forgotten, but will remain connected through nature.

Poetic Devices:  Allusion: is a figure of speech that makes a reference to, or representation of, a place, event, etc., either directly or by implication  Blank Verse: Blank verse is poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter(meaning the commonly used metrical line in a traditional verse.)

Cont.  Imagery: are the elements in a literary work used to evoke mental images, not only of the visual sense, but of sensation and emotion as well.  Personification: a description of an object as being a living person or an animal.

Cont.  Rhyme: is a repetition of similar sounds in two or more words.  Rhythm: Rhythm is a musical quality produced by the repetition of stressed and unstressed syllables.