Williams, Whitman and Dickinson

The two great American poets, Whitman and Dickinson couldn't have lived more disparate lives: one a lifelong recluse, too shy to come downstairs and say "hello"; the other a traveler over all of the United States, gregarious and curious. While these different lifestyles certainly contribute to major differences in their poetry, a certain American identity still ties the two together.

The first chant of Whitman's "Song of Myself" celebrates, well, himself. He sings forth his individual self so that he may feel the connection with all other things and people around him. He asserts " My tongue, every atom of my blood, form'd from this soil, this air, / Born here of parents born here from parents the same, and their parents the same." Whitman feels intimately and eternally connected to not only all living people but to all living things as well. The conceit of the grass, pervasive of the whole poem and introduced in this first chant, represents the unity connecting all beings. Emily Dickinson, on the other hand, uses a metaphor from nature to ridicule people in "I'm Nobody! Who Are You?", an interesting reversal of Whitman's style. Dickinson expresses the urge to remain hidden to the world, a fierce claim laid on her individuality. She is resolutely "Nobody" and wishes to remain that way, rather than become the frog who tells its name "the livelong June--/ To an admiring Bog!" While Whitman wishes to expose himself in order to achieve unity with the universe, Dickinson wants only to remain an anonymous individual. However, both poets have just that in common: a celebration of individuality.