While Whitman’s 3rd chant revels in individuality, calling it a “breed of life,” Dickinson’s “I’m Nobody! Who Are You?” cautions: “Are you-Nobody- too?/ Then there’s a pair of us?/ Don’t tell! they’d advertise- you know!” The harsher tone of Dickinson does differ from Whitman’s soft writing, but the idea of uniqueness is equally exalted (“How dreary-to be-Somebody!”).
“Clear and sweet is my soul, and clear and sweet is all that is not my soul,” writes Whitman, keeping with the above mentioned exaltation, emphasizing beauty of not only his individuality but that of theirs. Here lies the biggest difference, as Dickinson focuses on “…how dreary it is-to be-somebody.” Concentrating on the dullness of conformity (a somewhat Thoreau-ish idea), a negative tone of Dickinson doesn’t give the best impression of humanity. The darkness mixed with a child’s voice in “I’m Nobody! Who Are You?” is odd and contrasts to the lucidity and sweetness of Whitman’s work.
This is pretty good, but you might have done more with Whitman's sense of the individual.
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