People should compare the creations of authors such as Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson to understand poetry better. Whitman’s When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer, in which he talks about an Astronomer explaining facts about stars, was chosen for the comparison (Whitman, 2014). Dickinson’s Some Keep the Sabbath was also chosen as she talks about customs in Christianity (Dickinson, 1960). The main topics of the two poems can be seen as the narrators’ points of view differ from other people. One should compare the poems based on used poetic devices as they can show each poet’s outlook by explaining the structures of the verses.
Certain poetic devices set different tones for poems as some can be monotonic, and others can make the poems easier to read. For instance, rhyme refers to the recurrence of syllables in a poem and is not present in Whitman’s verses (Brinks, 2019; Whitman, 2014). However, rhyme can be found in every other line of Dickinson’s poem, such as “Home – Dome” and “Wings – Sings” (Dickinson, 1960, p. 153). Such a simple poetic device as rhyme can help to perceive a poem to someone new to poetry.
There are more poetic devices that poets use, such as figurative language and repetition. Figurative language refers to various implications which can be seen in Whitman’s work (Brinks, 2019). As he writes, “I wander’d off by myself,” he implies that he was reluctant to Astronomer’s words (Whitman, 2014, p. 311). Similarly, Dickinson implies that attending a formal ceremony may not be the only right way of God (Dickinson, 1960). One more poetic is repetition which refers to repeating certain words or phrases (Brinks, 2019). For Dickinson, repetition is not utilized much as she repeats “Some keep the Sabbath” twice in her poem (Dickinson, 1960, p. 153). However, Whitman starts his first four lines with “When,” referring to the Astronomer’s lecture (Whitman, 2014, p. 311). Poets use various poetic devices that can differ from one to another.
To summarize, the two poems have some similarities and differences in their poetic devices. Dickinson’s poem is an example of a poetic device such as rhyme, while Whitman’s verse is not. However, Whitman’s poem uses relatively more repetition of words compared to Dickinson. Both authors use figurative language to imply that their minds differ from the others, as Whitman is not persuaded by the Astronomer and Dickinson does not completely agree with people in terms of religion.
References
Brinks, M. (2019). The 20 poetic devices you must know. PrepScholar. Web.
Dickinson, E. (1960). The complete poems of Emily Dickinson. (T. H. Johnson, Ed.). Little, Brown, and Company.
Whitman, W. (2014). The Walt Whitman: More than 500 classic poems, essays, and letters, including Leaves of grass. Wildside Press.