Kevin Dela Roca Doctor Reitter English 113 5 December 2011 Edgar and Emily There have been

many authors in American poetry, but the two most renowned and critically acclaimed would have to be Edgar Allan Poe and Emily Dickinson. The two had nearly identical themes that involved morbid illustrations in many of their works that follow the theme of Romanticism, the use of emotion to stimulate a more esthetic feeling. Both of them lived around the time of the American Romantic movement, Poe came at the beginning of the era and Dickinson came towards the end each having been clearly influenced by the term. As individuals vary, the result of their works varied in the ways that they had portrayed the similar themes based on different outlooks on how their works would be stylistically presented which includes their choice of structure. Their works not only reflect the era, but their own personal views of the world which happened to be particularly dark, most likely a result of their past experiences which could effectively be used to show the lifestyle appeals in the readers during the time that they had lived. The different styles and works that Dickinson and Poe used follow an apparent pattern used to adequately engage readers. In I heard a Fly buzz when I died (Dickinson 90) Dickinson chooses to capitalize seemingly arbitrary words in the middle of each of the lines that gives the reader a sense that there is a sort of breathing pattern for the person depicting the last

moments of his or her life. The structure of the poem supports the seemingly intentional breathing pattern in which lines are short to give a sense of a quick tempo yet the poem is written as a single sentence without a period in site. This nearly forces the reader to emulate the same breathing pattern of the narrators last dying breath of describing the scene without wasting a second of precious time. She follows a familiar pattern in Because I could not stop for Death (Dickinson 91) with the theme being immortality instead of an approaching death. There are illustrations of a slow moving carriage where she sat with Death and Immortality to simply watch time pass by around them such as the setting sun, grain fields, and especially the School, where Children strove, (Dickinson 91) presumably towards adulthood. Both of these works include broadly interpreted imagery that can be supported throughout the text while still being able to have other plausible aspects. As a writer, she had two main achievements. First, Dickinson had developed a unique literary genre where the work is intended to exist on the page alone and to be read silently (Morris 27). Aforementioned, the genre puts readers into a more precise intended state of mind while reading. Secondly, her overall style is particular to her own writing although her letters teem with references to and talk about literature, there are hardly any uses in her poetry of the language of other poets (Morris 27). This is what makes Dickinsons view of prose so enthralling. Prose is known as being plain, simple, matter-of-fact, (and hence) dull or commonplace expression, quality, spirit (Martin 78), but this would not be the case for Dickinson although she agrees that her use of language to be considerably conventional; the ideals and imagery when taking the poem as a whole is much more than commonplace quality and expression. Her style of writing does not use very sophisticated language; however, her diction allows the reader to become part of the scene with disregard to ostentatious word choice.

Edgar Allan Poes style, contrary to that of Dickinsons, makes much more use of varying diction in order to illustrate the same tone and ideas that he attempts to portray in his poems and short stories. The Raven is a prime example in that a tone of despair and scenery of darkness lit up by the moon is repeatedly communicated by word choice such as bleak, sad, darkness, mystery, ghastly, and much more that all share the same connotation. He understood that different interpretations came as a result of the tone where it is generally agreed that The Raven is a dark poem focusing on the melancholy of reminiscing about a better time in ones life. The intended tone not only comes from the details of the scenery, but the use of the symbols as well. The raven was originally a parrot and then an owl, but (Edgar) preferred the raven for its tone (and) had preferred it for the sake of the refrain, Nevermore (Hayes 192). The same supposed pattern is seen in The Cask of Amontillado as Montresor leads Fortunato through the catacombs while the ominous feel of the setting is constantly described by the characters including them saying it being insufferably damp, incrusted with nitre, white web-work which gleams from these cavern walls, along with other various chilling descriptions of the path to Fortunatos final resting place as Montresor inflict(s) the unnecessary cruelty of death by slow suffocation on his victim (White 553). The symbol Poe provides to set the tone is Montresors coat of arms with the motto No one attacks me with impunity (wherein) any kind of injury or insult of almost any degree would warrant retaliation (White 552). The coat of arms essentially tells the readers that revenge is inevitable in these instances where the slightest of disrespectful acts will be taken as malicious attacks. Another work reproducing the use of dark synonyms and menacing symbols is The Black Cat. The narrator is man that is going to be executed the following day for killing his wife. The man tells the tale of what led to his execution which started with gouging the

household cats eye with a penknife, followed by attempting to murder a second cat that suspiciously matched the first one, and finally hiding the his wifes body in a wall after taking an axe to her brain. Ironically, as an investigating policeman taps against the concealing wall, he hears the sound of a crying cat that happened to be eating the decomposing corpse of the wife. The black cat lives up to be the symbol of horror that depend on conventions like the haunting animal-figure (Badenhausen 1992) in such a way that the first dead cat was, for all intents and purposes, avenged by another black cat. These three works are a few examples of many quintessential productions where Poes alleged hyperbolic style is found in his satires and other comedic tales strained efforts at humor (Zimmerman 338) as well as his arabesque style (by being) emotional in tone, (using) bizarre and foreign words, words (being) used for the sounds, and (being particularly) suggestive (Zimmerman 339). There is a definite parallel in theme with Dickinson and Poe being reasonably influenced by the American Romantic movements emphasis on anxieties brought on by fear; however, the difference is just as apparent in each writers aspect of prose. The era that Dickinson and Poe lived in is not the sole result of their themes; personal experiences are what shape the style and mental development of any writer. Their vision of the world is reflected in their works supported by their mental state and well-being at the moment of writing. Dickinson shared some of the same symptoms that an Aspergers Syndrome patient would endure. She had acute senses to sound and smell, but suffered from mis-aligned eyes, a seemingly lack of taste for food and difficulties with motor functions such as handwriting that were so poor that she would need to cut out labels for packages instead of writing letters herself. Her impairments are overshadowed by her gift, for instance, she had few interests but pursued them avidly. The special interest that consumed her passion was writing: she wrote over 1700

poems in her lifetime (Brown 96) supplementary to writing thousands of letters to a hundred individuals which allowed her to connect meaningfully with others while at the same time avoiding social situations (Brown 97). Her vision of the world is narrowed through specificity of her ideals in these letters to the many individuals. A letter to a Susan Gilbert gives readers a sense that Dickinson believed marriage to be an institution that transforms the bride into a masochist (Noble 148) since women become submissive to a man so much that the marriage does not enable the relationship between a man and a woman, but a woman becoming dependent of a man. Another letter to a minister by the name of Thomas Wentworth Higginson indicated a melancholy time in her life when Dickinsons potential Harvard mentor was falling ill. She told Higginson that (her) dying Tutor told (her) that he would like to live till (she) had been a poet, but Death was much of a Mob as (she) could master (Pollack 21). Essentially, she feared that her mentors expectations would not be fulfilled in time that would be analogous to sending a gift to someone that was deceased upon arrival of the package. The collection of her poems and letters represent the anguish during her life that she attempts to emulate on paper. Poe is best known for his ability to illustrate a scene in his writing that typically takes place in depressing and gruesome environments. His gift of morbid imagery is most likely the result of his father abandoning him as a child, allowing him to produce such vivid illusions of a desolate and lonely ambience particularly of that in The Raven, and the haunting childhood memories of (attending the Stoke Newington boarding school) (Kennedy 30) that could be the reservoir of vengeful anger depicted in The Cask of Amontillado. Putting the obvious theme of dreadful despondence aside, Poe had an underlying theme of freedom. Poe had lived during the time before the abolition of slavery so he was exposed to the harsh lifestyle that the slaves endured. He had gone to nearby plantations to play with the slave children (and possibly) even

had a black Mammy who took care of him (Kennedy 29). The Raven had the yearning of a man to be free of his obsessive craving of being with the love that he had lost; The Cask of Amontillado consisted of a man that could not escape the pride of allowing an attacker to live on without any repercussions; The Black Cat followed more along the lines that no one is free from the law and therefore, justice. His past personal experience had greatly shaped his themes of writing and his writing style; Poe had been able to overcome being a victim of his environment by channeling his emotions to paper. Both Emily Dickinson and Edgar Allan Poe have been important in the analytical aspects of interpreting poetry and were able to capture the reader and bring him or her in the scene while avoiding extraneous details. Each had similar themes as a result of living amid the American Romantic movement and effectively portrayed their examples of morbid illustrations in such a unique way that both are considered essential in its development. We should continue to read their works because although themes such as naturally occurring death and murder are dark, they are fundamental parts of life and therefore would be inevitably addressed. Their style which includes the structure of the poems and diction is what makes this facet of literature necessary as a means of expression. A canvas is provided while readers are given subtle details to help guide in forming their personal image of the scene so as to salvage the necessary tone in the recesses of their mind. Not only are emotions reflected in their works, personal experiences play a large

role in underlying themes particularly Poes ability to give a sense of desolation in The Raven presumably as a result of his father abandoning him as a child and Dickinsons helpless uncertainty of fear in mortality apparent in I heard a Fly buzz when I died likely brought on by the death of her mentor that wished to be alive when Emily became famous. It is unfortunate that the reservoir of anguish and revenge depicted in Poes poems and stories came

from a harsh childhood and that neither Dickinson nor her mentor lived long enough to know her poetic influence; however, these misfortunes became a part of the fortunate upbringing in American Romanticism.

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