tman is speaking directly to us, here and now, generations later. He is also quite clear on what direction he wants us to go as he maps it out smoothly with his words. Emily Dickinson, however, in contrast does not lay out such a clear path with her words. She plants them in the audiences mind instead, like a seed, where, when given some thought it will grow and possibly then be understood. After great pain, a formal feeling comes is a good example of how she is not quite as clear as Whitman is. She writes The stiff Heart questions was it he, that bore, And yesterday, or centuries before? The reader can not gain a sense of what exactly she is talking about. This is the hour of lead-Remembered if Outlived, As freezing persons, recollect the snow-First chill-then Stupor-then the letting go. When she writes Remorse-is Memory-awake she talks about the emotion or feeling of remorse lies in peoples memories and no one can cure that feeling. Remorse-is Memory-awake Her parties all stir, Its past-set down before the Soul and Remorse is cureless-the Disease Not even God-can heal-For tis his institution and The Adequate of hell One can see that Dickinson is not as clear as Whitman and the emotion she puts in her works is tightly compacted. One must often read her works several times to further gain an understanding of it. Whitman and Dickinson although regarded as the pioneers in American modernism in poetry still definitely differ in their styles. Whitman is very much the realist, painting a clear picture in the readers minds of what he wants them to see, directing them where to go. Dickinson is more of an impressionist, projecting carefully chosen words to her canvas that read like a puzzle that must be put together first....
