19th Century American Poets: Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson - Prof. López, Apuntes de Filología Inglesa

¡Descarga 19th Century American Poets: Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson - Prof. López y más Apuntes en PDF de Filología Inglesa solo en Docsity! 19th CENTURY POETRY (Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson) AMERICAN RENAISSANCE: Also called New England Renaissance, period from the 1830s roughly until the end of the American Civil War in which American Literature, in the wake of the romantic movement, came of age as an expression of a national spirit. - Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882) • Belonged to Boston Brahmins • Considered one of the most popular poets at the time • Loved and venerated by his contemporaries not just in America but also in Europe • Used domestic symbols and legends and cast them in a classical form. • Today often regarded as too sentimental. • Regarded as a fireside poet. - Walt Whitman • Born on Long Island, grew up in Brooklyn. • Received limited formal education. He was a self-educated man. • Worked as printer, schoolteacher, reporter, and editor. • Supported soldiers fighting in the civil war – admiration for Abraham Lincoln. - Leaves of Grass (1855) Collection of poems, which were a revolution for the American poetry. • Published at the writer’s expense • Doesn’t bear his name. • Contained 12 poems originally but underwent several subsequent editions during his lifetime. • Ralph Waldo Emerson declared the first edition to be ‘’the most extraordinary piece of wit and wisdom that America has yet contributed’’. Whitman the poet: • Little critical acclaim during his lifetime – openness regarding sex, self- presentation as a rough working man, and stylistic innovations. • Poet of contradictions: poet of the city, crowd and the machine but also the poet of nature, he wrote about it in his poems. • Embodies female and male, farmer and factory worker, prostitute and slave; represents the totality of American experience. • One of the first to write about female desire, eroticism, masturbations and homosexual love. • American but also the citizen of the world. • Travels between the past, the present, and the future. • Speaks of unity in diversity: One’s Self I Sing – poetic declaration of purpose. In this poem he speaks about himself, who is at the same time part of everybody else. He celebrates himself, America, men and also women. This poem transmits energy, life and passion. Poem: O Captain! My captain! Context: United States, 60s. This poem become so popular among students and the common people. this poem represents the feelings of a part of the population. ‘Our fearful trip is done’ – This refers to the end of the civil war. ‘The port is near, the bell I hear, the people all exulting’’ – this is related with the happiness. The captain which the poem makes reference is Abraham Lincoln, the only one able to lead the ship, and he is dead. There exists a wish for the return of Lincoln, who was a spiritual leader. At the end of the poem, he writes about his captain, his father, and the fact that he cannot ignore that he is dead, he has gone forever. Democracy is represented throughout maritime metaphors in this poem. - EMILY DICKINSON: (1830-1886) • Born in Amherst, Massachusetts in a wealthy and well-respected family. • Spent a year at a seminary – preferred her own of faith to the institutionalised religion. She was very rebellious. From a pretty early age, she has her own ideas and communication with God. • Spent most of her time at home; made only a few trips away from Amherst, all of her poetry was written in her solitary room.