Poe Vs Whitman

Many people may not realize this, but the arts and literature are very important to society. The arts and literature give everyone an outlet for their thoughts and emotions. In the 1700s and into the 1800s there were two famous poets and authors who expressed themselves through poetry and fiction. Their names were Edgar Allan Poe and Walt Whitman. Poe had lived a hard life losing, having lost both parents by the age of three and then having a bad relationship with his godfather John Allan. Sadly, not only did he have a hard life Poe had a short one living to be only forty years old. Whitman, on the other hand, had a good life living to the age of seventy-two. The only trouble he had being the Civil War. During the Civil War, he seemed infinitely
Edgar Allan Poe was an author and poet. He was an author because of the fiction stories he wrote and a poet because of the poems he wrote to express himself. In the poem “Alone” Poe expressed how isolated and alone he felt all of his life because of his experiences and perspective. An example is “From childhood’s hour I have not been As others were—I have not seen As others saw”(62-63, Smith). At an early age, Poe was orphaned causing him to have a new perspective on the world, and his perspective set him apart from others who had not had such bad experiences. The second poem of Poe’s is “Annabel Lee”, in which he expresses the loss of a beautiful woman. In the last few lines, the speaker of the poem says that he lay beside Annabel Lee in her tomb, not wanting to leave his beautiful bride alone by the sea. Therefore, it can be inferred that Annabel was beautiful and dearly loved, but sadly came to an unfortunate end. In brief, Edgar Allan Poe used poetry to show his emotions and thoughts that he wanted to share with
Whitman’s manner was now subdued and he now expressed the carnage of war. One of the poems he wrote was during the Civil War when he was a nurse. That poem is “The Wound Dresser” and it speaks of the soldier’s wounds and their loss. Some examples are “their priceless blood reddens the grass”, “poor crazed hand”, and “I dress a wound in the side, deep, deep,”. Through Whitman’s word choice he expresses to the audience the loss of blood and the depth of the wounds. Then there is his poem “Reconciliation” that express the loss of the Civil War. In the “Reconciliation” Whitman personifies death and night as sisters that are able to sweep the land, and how they must wash the soiled Earth of loss. In brief, Whitman has expressed himself using his poetry.
Throughout history, many have been able to express themselves using the arts and literature. Both Edgar Allan Poe and Walt Whitman stated their thoughts and emotions through their choice of literature, poetry. In the end, poetry is important to keep a stable