Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman

LifestylePrivate and shyHomebody

CareerPoems were personal, not meant to be

publishedPopularity started after her death

StylePrecise, economical, neat, meticulousRhyme and meter prevalent

Heart! We will forget him!You and I—tonight!You may forget the warmth he gave—I will forget the light!

When you have done, pray tell meThat I may straight begin!Haste! Lest while you’re laggingI remember him!

LifestyleSocial, gregarious, traveled oftenPublic spokesman for the masses

CareerPublished Leaves of Grass at his own expense,

which made him famous around the worldExpected that his message would be carried into

the futureStyle

Extravagant, seemingly careless, repetitiveAimed for large, overall impressionUsed cadence—the long easy sweep of sound of

speakersLong lists, cataloguingFree verse (no set rhyme or meter)

Who makes much of a miracle?As to me, I know of nothing else but miracles . . . To me, every hour of the light and dark is a miracle,Every cubic inch of space is a miracle,Every square yard of the surface of the earth is the same; Every spear of grass—the frames, limbs, organs of men and women and all that concerns them,All these to me are unspeakably perfect miracles . . .