Essay Comparing Dickinson And Walt Whitman

The demands of freedom from Great Britain by the American colonies inspired two crucial literary movements beginning with the Age of Reason. Many authors of this literary movement embraced principles of reason to explain why the colonies were powerful enough to break away from the mother country. These authors explained to their readers that colonies that were economically and politically independent should not be controlled by an inferior body of government over 3,000 miles away. Emotions from these works eventually led to America’s victory in the Revolution, and a spirit of optimism and hope for the future. Along with the repercussions of the Industrial Revolution, a period of economic prosperity, the American Revolution grew the United States
But, two authors who displayed these attributes in their writing most successfully were Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson. Walt Whitman became widely known for his novel Leaves of Grass, published in 1855 (VanSpankeren). In the story, he embraced the democratic opportunity America possessed, which he expressed by characteristics of nature. He wrote about certain animals like birds, and how he saw himself in nature due to an adventurous spirit. He also encouraged the view of unity with people and the physical environment, a view that Emily Dickinson also shared. Dickinson was a poet who celebrated nature around her and expanded the “limits of human consciousness” about problems by use of imagery and nature (VanSpanckeren). Dickinson is known for her wide use of simple but powerful words of imagery in her vast number of poems. Plus, she wrote about a broad range of topics that showed her intelligence, mostly through simple objects but also discussed complex issues. Also, Whitman and Dickinson’s theme of nature came to define part of what Romanticism stood