Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson

1. Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson Creating Uniquely American Poetry

2. Walt Whitman • Born May 31st, 1819 on Long Island, NY • Attended grammar school but left at age 12 to work as an apprentice at a newspaper • Largely self taught; well read in the classics • Worked in journalism and education • Held a variety of positions

4. Leaves of Grass • Volume of poetry published in 1855 • First edition did not sell well but was praised by Ralph Waldo Emerson and other progressive thinkers of the time • Most famous poem in collection is “Song of Myself” • Whitman published several editions during his lifetime, making alterations each time

5. Early edition of Leaves of Grass

6. The Civil War • Brother was wounded during war • Whitman went to visit brother and was outraged by death and injury • Secured a civil service job which enabled him to travel between military hospitals • Lived in Washington D.C. • Later worked in Attorney General’s office • Interviewing former confederate soldiers • Had a stroke in 1873 and moved in with his brother in New Jersey

7. Civil War hospital

8. Later Years • Later publications of Leaves of Grass sold well which helped Whitman accumulate some wealth • Purchased house in New Jersey • Grew in popularity; lauded as important American poet • Corresponded with writers around the world • Lord Tennyson • Bram Stoker • Oscar Wilde • Died in 1892

10. Whitman’s Legacy • Free verse poetry • No rhythm and no rhyme • Unique Voice • Style seems to combine elements from the Bible, journalism, and speech/oratory techniques • Writing about American democracy • Building the importance of America as a nation • Writing about American ideals • American political and social climate

11. Emily Dickinson • Born in Amherst, MA in 1830 • Raised in Calvinist household • Did not join the church, but was religious • Well educated • Amherst Academy • Mount Holyoke Female Seminary • Moved back home • Dickinson’s brother married and built home next door • Very popular for gatherings and parties

12. One of the few images of Dickinson

13. Poetry • Wrote a majority of her poems in her 20s and 30s • At least 1100 poems total • 800 of them in small booklets that she kept private • Dickinson shared some of her poems with her family • Regular correspondence with: • Sister-in-law- Susan Dickinson • Thomas Wentworth Higginson • A handful published during her lifetime, but most were not discovered until after her death

14. Copy of handwritten poem

15. Later Life • Led reclusive lifestyle but was not completely anti-social • Spent time with siblings • Had visitors at the house • Had health problems • Eye condition • Blackouts, headache and anxiety • Died May 15, 1886

16. Dickinson Family Home

17. Dickinson’s Legacy • Prolific female poet • Used a variety of rhythms • Commonly used alternating iambic tetrameter/ trimeter (known as common meter) • Sometimes used: • slant rhyme (inexact rhyme) • no rhyme • No titles on her poems • Given numbers later and titled by first line • Unique punctuation • Dashes • Interior capitalization

18. Dickinson remains popular today