1819-1892

-“poet who spoke to all the world”-7 siblings-left school at age 11-journalist in Brooklyn then NOLA-editor of Brooklyn Freeman, part-time carpenter, building contractor -1885: published Leaves of Grass and sent copies to people he hoped would write endorsements (Emerson got one)-tended hospital wards in Civil War-believed role of a poet was to become a “saving force”

-extravagant with words and careless style-based on cadence: long easy sweep of sound that echoes the Bible and the speeches of orators and preachers-wanted to show the New America he saw growing around him- structures reflect his democratic ideals by using lists as a way to bring together a wide variety of items without imposing a hierarchy on them-perception rather than analysis

– appears in Leaves of Grass and introduces the poet’s major theme of America’s cultural diversity-celebrates work through the “varied carols” of men and women who take pride in their occupations-uses catalogs: long lists of related things, people, or events-showcases the jobs of men and women who keep our country going and retain American spirit

1830-1886

-born in Massachusetts-fell in love with a married pastor from Philly, but she never married; she always dressed in white-told fam to destroy poems after she died but instead they began to publish them-was not recognized as a genius poet until 70 years after her death

-used precise language and unique poetic forms to reveal/conceal her private thoughts and feelings-meticulous about evoking feelings rather than just talking about them- stanzas are neat and controlled-rhyme and meter like that of a hymn book

-slant rhyme-eye rhyme-true rhyme

a kind of consonance (relation between words in which the final consonants in the stressed syllables agree but the vowels that precede them differ: add/read, up/step, peer/pare

rhyme that appears correct from the spelling but is not so from the pronunciation

vowel and succeeding consonants are the same but the proceeding consonant sounds are different

-many people find solace in solitude (Dickinson lived her life in solitude)-people called her mad but she was living deliberately-asserts that those who are judged “mad” are really the sane ones and those who are judging are actually mad-poem serves as a warning that if you do not conform to society you will be ostracized

-explores how the absence of a loved one can take a psychological toll on someone- “I don’t care how long you will be gone, as long as you will return to me and we can be together forever.”-Four of the stanzas begin with “if,” indicating uncertainty-We assume that the speaker is a woman due to domestic metaphors, such as the housewife and fly as well as the balls of yarn-The time of absence in regard to the speakers lover becomes larger as the poem progresses. As a result, the speaker’s doubt increases progressively from brushing it off to thinking that she might possibly never see her beloved again

-Dickinson’s speaker is communicating from beyond the grave, describing her journey with Death, personified, from life to afterlife-the speaker is too busy for Death, so Death—”kindly”—takes the time to do what she cannot, and stops for her.

-This “civility” that Death exhibits in taking time out for her leads her to give up on those things that had made her so busy to enjoy the ride-we see reminders of the world that the speaker is passing from, with children playing and fields of grain-she has stopped being an active agent, and is only now a part of the landscape-after the realization of her new place in the world, her death also becomes suddenly very physical-After this moment of seeing the coldness of her death, the carriage pauses at her new “House.” aka her grave-she says that although it has been centuries since she has died, it feels no longer than a day, showing a glimpse of immortality

A happy-go-lucky flower gets its head chopped off by the frost. The sun sees the whole thing from up above, but doesn’t give a flip.

Somewhere above, God watches it all thinking what a swell job he’s done.