Comparing Walt Whitman And Emily Dickinson's Poems
Walt Whitman's "To A Locamotive in Winter" and Emily Dickinson's "I Like to See It Lap The Miles" are two very different poems about the same subject. Where Whitman uses strictly free verse, Dickinsons work is much more structured, with poynient line breaks, and punctuation. Their styles of personification also differ greatly. Where Whitman's work is almost an ode to the locomotive, Dickinson's is more a feeling of a journey. Another major difference in these works is the language they use. Where Whitman uses "old english" with thee and thy, Dickinson uses a fairly modern vocabulary. As I peruse these works, the first thing I notice is the language. Dickinson is far simpler to read than Whitman's, only because of her updated vocabulary.