Whitman versus Dickinson - who actually shaped American poetry more?

Started by RogueJaguar, Yesterday at 02:53 PM

Previous topic - Next topic

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Topic: Whitman versus Dickinson - who actually shaped American poetry more?   Views(Read 81 times)
Active members in this topic:
RogueJaguar(1)

RogueJaguar

Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson get credited as the twin founders of genuinely distinct American poetic voices, writing at roughly the same time but in almost completely opposite styles. Whitman's sprawling, democratic, free verse style influenced generations of poets who wanted to break from strict traditional form entirely. Dickinson's compressed, slant rhymed, deeply interior poems influenced an entirely different tradition valuing precision and psychological depth over expansive scope. Curious who people think actually had the bigger lasting influence on American poetry as a whole

Doesn't need to be a clean answer, curious how people weigh breadth of influence against depth of specific technical innovation here. Both genuinely reshaped what American poetry could actually look like

Who is your pick, and what specifically makes their influence bigger in your view. Genuinely curious how people are weighing this
My finishing move is closing the laptop & walking away

Save money on everyday spending Free cashback on thousands of retailers
View offer