Journal #27: Dickinson Poem Tunes

Many of Emily Dickinson's poems can be sung to the tune of many well known songs. This is because they have a very rhythmic beat and they can be sung with the classical folk songs. Emily Dickinson was not around when all of these songs were written, but her poems were written with that same musical beat. These songs have a typical beat and it goes really well with her typical rhyme scheme. She was the first poet to start writing in this rhythm because she wanted to be different than the typical poetry style of the time. It was really ironic that her poems can be read to the tune of "Amazing Grace" because she was not involved with the Christian Church because she did not want to be. The only reason that she was even involved in the church was because of her family's influence. I found it really weird that the song that fits the best was Amazing Grace. Emily was not an involved member in the church and her poems seem to fit really well with many different church hymnals. I figured that because she was not involved in the church that she would not write poetry that went with the same beats and rhythms. Maybe she thought she was coming up with something original but she really was not. She would have known the songs if she went to church and actually paid attention. She probably was not too concerned with with paying attention because she did not have a very strong relationship with god. The reason that it seems really ironic that her poems go with songs that were really important to society is because she was disconnected with society in her seclusion. She must not have liked being around people because she did not go out just for any occasion. She secluded herself from society, but the she went and wrote poetry to the tunes of many popular songs.

Reflection: Emily Dickinson Writing Style

Along with Walt Whitman, Emily Dickinson was also considered a "tweener." Also, like Walt Whitman, she was in between the two writing eras of Realism and Modernism. Being grouped with Walt Whitman and Walt Whitman only, Emily Dickinson's works were very popular. If I was asked to name a female poet that I have learned about in High School, I would probably name Emily Dickinson. She wrote very strong and emotional poems. That characteristic made her writings not fit in with the style of the Realism time period. She gave way too much detail and used too much emotion to have her poems classified as Realism writings. It is very unusual that Emily Dickinson did not want her writings published. She only showed her writings to her sister Lavinia (Glencoe Literature). Lavinia sometimes edited the poem before she published them after Emily's death. This means that we really do not know what the exact thoughts of Emily Dickinson were because it is possibly that her sister went back and changed some things after she died. The Before You Read section in the Glencoe Literature book said that her sister Lavinia eliminated dashes, undid capitalizations, and completely changed some words. Emily Dickinson was a Christian because her family pressured her into it. She lived in a very religious time period, and her family thought that their Christian faith was very important. Another reason that she joined the Christian Church was because she was very close with her sister and her sister was very dependent on the teachings of Christianity. Dickinson often wrote of love, life, death, nature, and would often question immortality (McChesney). The subjects of her poems makes it really hard to put her into a category because she does not fit the Realism period of the Modernism period. She did not fit in to the Modernism time period becuase her writings seemed to keep a steady rate and the writings of other Modernist writers seemed to jump back and forth on controversial topics. In the Modernism time period, writers were said to have been trying something new. This means they were purposely trying to write like that of no other previous author. The Modernist writers were trying something new simply because they were trying to get all of the attention and glory for coming up with a new great writing era. A modernist writer believed that a real person who is both thoughtful and real does not fit into society because it is mindless after the first world war we had. Emily Dickinson did not feel this way therefore she did not fit directly into this literary period. I do think that Walt Whitman could have been classified as a Realist/ Transcendentalist because his writings were very similar to those of the other Realism and Transcendentalism writers. I cannot say the same for Ms. Emily Dickinson however. Emily's writings were unlike anyone else's from the time and I think that she does deserve that title of "tweener" because she really did not fit the characteristics of the Realism period or the Modernism period.

Wilhelm, Jeffrey D., Douglas Fisher, Beverly Ann. Chin, and Jacqueline Jones. Royster. "Before You Read: Whitman's Poetry." Glencoe Literature. New York: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, 2009. 455. Print.

McChesney, Sandra. "A View from the Window: The Poetry of Emily Dickinson." In Harold Bloom, ed. Emily Dickinson, Bloom's BioCritiques. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishing, 2002. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. Web. 20 Mar. 2012.

Reflection: Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman began a revolution in poetry when he first published "Leaves of Grass" in 1855. Whitman's poetry was realistic, free flowing, and shocking candid (Glencoe Literature).Whitman was the first poet to write extensively in free verse. Free verse is an unregulated form that sounds like the cadences in everyday speech.

Walt Whitman was considered a “tweener.” This title was given to him simply because he was between two periods of Literature. He did not fit all of the characteristics of Realism, but nor did he fit all of the characteristics of Modernism, he was considered to be a “tweener.” Most of the Realism writings were more structured than the writings of Walt Whitman. Walt Whitman’s writing looks like he did not revise anything. Most of his poems are telling some sort of story and go on in the cadences of normal speech. Most examples of Realism writing pertained to real life events or events that could actually happen. In Realism writings, the authors got straight to the point. There was no sugar coating reality. “Whitman's poetry was certainly revolutionary, not only for its expressive language and free verse but also for the intensity of his emotions when discussing his prominent and pervasive themes of love (spiritual and physical alike) and democracy (collectively for the nation and individually for each person's own self-fulfillment). He believed America needed a new poetry, one that related to and embraced more people; Whitman felt that he was the poet who could supply that type of verse”(Connors). Connors backs up the idea that Whitman’s writing was too descriptive for the Realism period.

Whitman may have started the Modernism period. Because his writing was “revolutionary,” he was causing a change in the style of Literature in that era. The writers of the Modernism time period were more of the risk-taking style. They were willing to try weird things in their writing. Modernism writing was not always written in a logical fashion. Because it was a controversial time for religion, there was not always equality amongst the different religions. This may have caused some of the authors to not always tell the truth and nothing but the truth. Walt Whitman fell more into the style of Realism than he fell into Modernism. Whitman knew much information on the topic of politics. Politics was a big topic of discussion in the Realism time period. The Realism time period was a good time to talk about politics because the authors were not dancing around the points. This allowed the public to actually know what was going on in the government system.

Whitman's style of free verse poetry was closely related to the ideas of the Transcendentalist writers, even thought they were popular before his time. Walt Whitman used nature as a major topic of many of his poems, which would be a typical topic for Transcendentalism writers to use. I think that if I had to choose and put him in a time period, it would be the Realism/Transcendentalism era. His writing has both characteristics from the Realism period as well as the transcendentalism period.

Connors, Judith. "Whitman, Walt." In Bloom, Harold, ed. Walt Whitman, Bloom's BioCritiques. Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishing, 2002. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= BCWWh02&SingleRecord=True (accessed March 21, 2012). 

Wilhelm, Jeffrey D., Douglas Fisher, Beverly Ann. Chin, and Jacqueline Jones. Royster. "Before You Read: Whitman's Poetry." Glencoe Literature. New York: Glencoe/McGraw-Hill, 2009. 408. Print. 

Reflection: Walt Whitman: On The Beach At Night Alone

"On the Beach at Night Alone" was a good poem. Walt Whitman uses so many different literary tools that his poems are really easy and fun to read. In the second line He refers to the ocean as "Old Mother" (Whitman). This shows that he agrees with Emerson and Thoreau about the importance of Nature. This seemed to be more like the Romanticism writers because he was really descriptive. In the time of the Realism writings, the authors seemed to be giving way less detail on the elements and Nature, so I can tell that this was not a part of the writings in the time of the Realism period. Whitman was really into giving the details. While the speaker was on the beach at night he saw the stars and the planets and the moons. I feel like he made the reader use almost all of their senses. When I read about the waves crashing in on the beach, I immediately could hear the sound of the waves crashing in from when I was in vacation in Mexico this summer. I could also seem to smell the salt. When I am at any beach, one of the things that I like the most is the smell of the salt water. I’m not sure what makes it so relaxing, but the smell is one of my favorite things about the beach. One other thing that I notice at the beach actually happens after a day at the beach. That is feeling the tightness of your skin after a day in the salt water and being in the sun all day. Whitman seems to have quite a few poems that deal with Nature. Because he wrote during the Naturalism time period, most of his poems are related to Nature. I love nature and I feel like it is still very influential in the world today. People do not seem to always treat nature with the best intentions, and nature come back to bite people in the butt. 

Huff, Randall. "'On the Beach at Night Alone'." The Facts On File Companion to American Poetry, vol. 1. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CPAP0300&SingleRecord=True (accessed March 12, 2012).

Whitman, Walt. "On the Beach at Night Alone, by Walt Whitman." Poetry Archive. Web. 12 Mar. 2012. <http://www.poetry-archive.com/w/on_the_beach_at_night_alone.html>.

Reflection: Emily Dickinson: Heart, We Will Forget Him

The poem, "Heart, We Will Forget Him!" was a very interesting poem. It was about how Emily lost a man in her life. She was basically making a plan with her heart about how they were going to cope with their loss. She was speaking to her heart as if it was an external force. She was telling her heart that it was going to have to forget about the warmth of her heart. She knew that her heart was going to miss the warmth of this man. Because she was living in seclusion, she knew that she was not just going to randomly run into him on the street because she never leaves the comfort of her own house. I think that Emerson and Thoreau had similar ideas to those of Emily Dickinson. They were all individualistic. This means that they all valued the individual over society and others. I can definitely relate this idea to Emily Dickinson because she was so individualistic that she stayed at her house every hour of everyday. This shows me that she cared more about herself than society because she did not ever care to go explore any of the things that society had to offer. In the poem at the end she tells her heart that whenever it is feeling down, it can just remember him (Dickinson). This is kind of ironic because the title says that she and her heart are going to forget him. The idea of the poem kind of goes with the philosophies of Thoreau. He said that he was not one to conform. This poem was written about the loss of a man. Because this poem was written, it tells me that she had a hard time making the adjustment when he was gone. Dickinson also had a simple way of living. She was home all of the time, so she did not really have a complex lifestyle whatsoever. Although Dickinson was more realistic in getting to the point of her stories than Emerson and Thoreau, they did have some similarities in writing style.

Dickinson, Emily. "Heart, We Will Forget Him!" The Literature Network. Web. 12 Mar. 2012. <http://www.online-literature.com/dickinson/829/>.

Diamond, Marie Josephine, ed. "realism." Encyclopedia of World Writers, 1800 to the Present. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2011. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= GEWW480&SingleRecord=True

Reflection: To Build a Fire: Jack London

Jack London's "To Build A Fire" was a very strong story about nature. Nature plays a huge role in this short story. In the style of Naturalism, authors wanted to show that Nature was really strong. They are proving that in order for you to get along in life and have a good time, you need to respect nature and you will you be treated back nicely by nature. In Naturalism the authors really wanted to show the strength and power that Nature holds. I think that Jack London was really trying to illustrate the fact that Nature was going to kill this man just because he thought he was stronger than nature. Because he decided to walk out into -75 degree temperature in the Arctic, Nature was going to show him whose boss. In Naturalism, authors focused on an accurate, almost clinical, record of a character struggling to survive some form of displacement from his or her surroundings (Sommers). This was represented in the story because the man was definitely at a displacement of his surroundings. He was never used to resorting to building a fire to save his life. Because he was going to have to take his shoes off to warm up his feet, he needed to build a fire. This was a life or death situation because without his feet he would not be able to make it back to civilization. At the end, the author makes nature the “winning team” because he showed that nature was stronger than man and that men should never mess with nature. I think that this story showed some of the beliefs of Emerson. Emerson believed in the quality of self reliance. This means that you kind of value yourself over anyone or anything else. I think that the man in this story was definitely self reliant because he was going out into the wilderness thinking that he was going to more big and bad than nature. Emerson believed that you learned through experience. I think that the guy in the story probably would have learned his lesson if he lived. Emerson thought that you would have to mess up somewhere along the lines in order to better yourself and learn lessons.

Sommers, Joseph Michael. "naturalism." In Maunder, Andrew.Facts On File Companion to the British Short Story. New York: Facts On File, Inc., 2007. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= CBSS450&SingleRecord=True (accessed March 8, 2012).

London, Jack. "To Build a Fire." American Literature. Comp. Jeffrey D. Wilhelm. Columbus: McGraw Hill, 2009. 601-614. Print.

Reflection: Richard Cory : Edwin Arlington Robinson

I think that the poem Richard Cory was really sad. It sounds like he had everything going for him. He was rich and it sad he was admired by others and he seemed to be a nice gentleman. He said good morning to others and he seemed to brighten everyone’s days, but I guess he was a little insecure inside because he committed suicide at the end I the story. I was honestly expecting a happier ending to the poem because everything was going so perfectly for him until the very last like where it said that he went home and shot a bullet through his head. This is really sad because I know some suicides really happen like this in real life. People see the victim as being really confident in everything they do, but in reality they are just really good at hiding their inner emotions. This went against the ideas of Emerson and Thoreau because they were into individualism. They believe that you could have a successful life just by living up to your full potential. I think that suicide is a very selfish thing for anyone to do. Just because you think that it is going to help you, it really hurts all of you friends and family more that you were suffering in the first place. I guess that the idea of Realism was accepted in the Realism time period. The characteristics of Realism say that Realism works will show the imperfections of life. I think that this situation would have been an imperfection. It also says that Realism was showing life as it really is, not as people think it should be. I think that they should not have talked about this man committing suicide, but that was how life really was, so they were not going to sugar coat the truth at all. This guy, Richard Cory was definitely more concerned about himself than anyone else around him. It was really selfish to kill himself because it negatively affected so many other people.

Diamond, Marie Josephine, ed. "realism." Encyclopedia of World Writers, 1800 to the Present. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2011. Bloom's Literary Reference Online. Facts On File, Inc. http://www.fofweb.com/activelink2.asp?ItemID=WE54&SID=5&iPin= GEWW480&SingleRecord=True (accessed February 21, 2012).