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"In This Place (An American Lyric)" by Amanda Gorman 

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"In This Place (An American Lyric)" by Amanda Gorman 

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Much like Whitman and Dickinson, this contemporary poem by Amanda Gorman explores issues of identity within America through places that define modern-day America. As we have seen by reading some of her other poems, Gorman offers a specific look at this moment in history while eventually offering some hope and optimism. Similarly, both Whitman and Dickinson used their own time in history to comment on the world around them. All poets see America through the lens of identity.

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Choke

By Ed Roberson

maybe what I saw

was the earth’s shadow rise

up a cloud

turning it toward the top pink

then fading that back

to gray      then night.

then maybe I think I see.

too much.

the tiniest gradation      of  detail

squeezed from attention

by the choke hold

on thin air     for the sublime     a blessing.

when life stinks

and your eyes have to take it in      to live.

and your eyes have to take it in to live

the exact instant you need      to jump

out of  the way.     to safety

or see danger’s vulnerable spot and hit it.

your eyes have to think

through what they are seeing     to see

how measure measures itself

when you are in it      against you to match or dis-

entangle that nascent not null of  difference.     maybe what I see

is down to the continuum     where what it is

is what it is     one thing

undifferentiated all

except as     the surface of one perfect sphere

its paris and buenos aires the same     place.

What it is     is what is seen without observer.

it is     that said   what it is.

exo-existent

thought.     without outside.

there are lines     as of  poetry

of  information between us     though.

resonant.     structure.

what is     asleep when we turn the lawn mower on

if  only the pieces we think

something has caught it for—

the turning of  attention to.

the turning of  the earth.      the earth is what is     turning.

there is no setting

of  the sun          down.

of  the sun down

some inclination to impact

at our feet as fact we stand to have

written by being here—

the rocks have source saying the same.

except they translate silent.

the word of  the wind itself      spoken everywhere

has the version of  it all as well as of  not happening ...

the sun doesn’t move.      its designation.

what it is pushes forward the appearance.

and behind—

the eastern shadow rising of  the sun’s soft down down.

its paris and buenos aires a same place.

what it is is what is seen without observer.

not the thing itself

the quality of  the hold      on things

the choke   hold on the neck of the calling     bird

may be the 🤬

of  jacob’s ladder     what it is

could be the hands in the air     air

time of  the better roller coasters

pulled out     all stops     the no hold bar & café take

out.     item name

on the menu—

the ladder being an upward

clearer approach to step.

the life     the breath.

of an answer.     the questioning.

I     eye     iamb     I am

watching the sky     read

the line below it     the landscape

get shaken by storm.

a ring iamb married into

bone dance     stone crazy.

claws of  geese shadow

scratching wild song across the sky.

chicago’s potemkin waking

gun we’re off on.     the morning

fred hampton the bobbing flock of the 1919 boy

in the inner tube float up on the 100th anniversary of  the race riot

along lake shore drive     the commuters

no idea what it is.     they say it is what it is.

anger     joy     disgust    sadness     fear

are all mountains raising in the sky

an aire     jump up shout

sound shape song response as

not if  but is

one body.

even among themselves at some distance.

all one sphere     one point

a sense of  time can be that distance’s familiar

but the mind can empathize itself  that size the dreadlocks

of  black holes                where the anger digests itself

the joy carries its brother sadness also over

and fear realizes it’s ok

and the rains come     the forests     the  jungles     the birds!

I chose this poem because I think that is roots itself in the complexity of life, which I feel is mainly what Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson wrote of. This author also wrote their experience and view on life by using figurative langue and comparing abstract ideas to physical items, similar to how Dickinson wrote in her poems. The speaker talks of positive experiences in life, like clouds and birds, but then says how their own personal experiences and attitude affects their view of life. There is an individuality in this poem, similar to how the American master wrote. Additionally, the author writes of people and natural elements similar to how Whitman wrote in his narrative style of poems.

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This poem stuck out to me, originally because of the title; for the poem being about death the title seems like it would be written with a positive tone. Similar to Whitman and Dickinson, this poem conveys the message of death being impending for everyone. Both Whitman and Dickinson saw death as an unavoidable part of nature's cycle, connecting to Doty's view in this poem. Doty's poem is about a man's final days and the transition from life to death. Whitman and Dickinson both saw life and death as different stages to the same story.

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Similar to in Whitman and Dickinson's poems, identity in "Still I Rise" by Maya Angelou represents the intimacies of life and the individuality of the soul with intense metaphors and similes. Throughout this piece, the narrator expresses her sense of self and her retaliation against harmful external forces in order to hold true to who she is. She compares herself to powerful natural and manmade objects to demonstrate her strength and identity. Much like Angelou, Whitman and Dickinson both utilized this method with metaphors and similes to emphasized the important of maintaining a unique sense of self and to not let others weaken your identity. (Irie Graeser)

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Much like the poems of Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson, "Nothing Gold Can Stay" also explores the theme of nature reflecting the human experience. In this poem, the beauty of nature is described as something that is fleeting, inevitably coming to an end as the seasons change. This can be connected how humans experience change, as nothing lasts forever, and change is something that we cannot avoid. In Walt Whitman's poems, he describes people as both coming from nature and eventually returning to nature after death, modeling a cycle similar to the one shown in this poem. On the other hand, Emily Dickinson describes the beauty of nature, much like how Robert Frost uses specific details to describe the beauty of the flowers and leaves. Overall, I think this poem shares the theme of nature reflecting human experience with the poems of Whitman and Dickinson, with each poet describing its beauty and cycles.

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I picked this poem because of the title, "A Bookshelf" and it seemed fitting for an English assignment. It started positive, like Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman's poems. The image painted in the mind about a father reading poems or books to the speaker is happy and uplifting. The speaker loves being read to. Dickinson and Whitman's poems were uplifting and encouraging, with the same positivity about the beginning of the poem. The nature holding the animals, the moon, trees, thunder, and so on paints a scene in the mind that's uplifting. But at the end, the father 'loses his leaves' and 'becomes winter' suggesting that he has passed away. But the poem remains positive, as if remembering the beloved father.

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"anyone lived in a pretty how town" by E. E. Cummings

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"anyone lived in a pretty how town" by E. E. Cummings

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This poem is very strangely written, but the way it is composed, to me, is reminiscent of the somber poetry of Emily Dickinson and some of Walt Whitman's darker works. The protagonist, similar to Dickinson, is isolated from others, and the poem's airs of dreariness and hope reminds me of some of Whitman's poems, such as "Song of Myself" or "O Captain! My Captain!" There's also an element of nature in the story, with references to the seasons, snow, rain, stars, and other such things, which is very similar to both Whitman and Dickinson's usage of nature in their poetry.

(Sam Mathis)

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anyone lived in a pretty how town

(with up so floating many bells down)

spring summer autumn winter

he sang his didn't he danced his did.

Women and men(both little and small)

cared for anyone not at all

they sowed their isn't they reaped their same

children guessed(but only a few

and down they forgot as up they grew

autumn winter spring summer)

that noone loved him more by more

when by now and tree by leaf

she laughed his joy she cried his grief

bird by snow and stir by still

anyone's any was all to her

someones married their everyones

laughed their cryings and did their dance

(sleep wake hope and then)they

said their nevers they slept their dream

(and only the snow can begin to explain

how children are apt to forget to remember

with up so floating many bells down)

one day anyone died i guess

(and noone stooped to kiss his face)

busy folk buried them side by side

little by little and was by was

all by all and deep by deep

and more by more they dream their sleep

noone and anyone earth by april

wish by spirit and if by yes.

Women and men(both dong and ding)

summer autumn winter spring

reaped their sowing and went their came

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[anyone lived in a pretty how town] by E. E. Cummings

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anyone lived in a pretty how town (with up so floating many bells down) spring summer autumn winter he sang his didn't he danced his did.

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The sea can do craziness, it can do smooth,
it can lie down like silk breathing
or toss havoc shoreward; it can give

gift or withhold all; it can rise, ebb, froth
like an incoming frenzy of fountains, or it can
sweet-talk entirely. As I can too,

and so, no doubt, can you, and you.

Both Dickinson and Whitman used nature as a way to express human feelings. This symbolism can also be seen in the poem "A Thousand Mornings" by Mary Oliver. Oliver uses the sea to present the diverse emotions of people in her poem. Words like "smooth", "havoc", and "craziness" are used to describe the state of the water which represents how human emotions can be powerful and contradicting. Dickinson and Whitman both also saw water as something that could be harsh and uncontrollable, which is how the sea is being used in the poem above.

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Jade Bernholz - "From Blossoms" by Li-Young Lee

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Jade Bernholz - "From Blossoms" by Li-Young Lee

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From Blossoms

By Li-Young Lee

From blossoms comes

this brown paper bag of peaches

we bought from the boy

at the bend in the road where we turned toward

signs painted Peaches.

From laden boughs, from hands,

from sweet fellowship in the bins,

comes nectar at the roadside, succulent

peaches we devour, dusty skin and all,

comes the familiar dust of summer, dust we eat.

O, to take what we love inside,

to carry within us an orchard, to eat

not only the skin, but the shade,

not only the sugar, but the days, to hold

the fruit in our hands, adore it, then bite into

the round jubilance of peach.

There are days we live

as if death were nowhere

in the background; from joy

to joy to joy, from wing to wing,

from blossom to blossom to

impossible blossom, to sweet impossible blossom.

Much like Dickenson and Whitman, Lee talks about the simple pleasures of nature and life in general. Lee uses the metaphor of eating peaches to illustrate the joy of moments in life. Dickinson also uses many metaphors in her poetry. He also uses the word "O" to emphasize the emotion in his line, "O, to take what we love inside", like Whitman does in his poetry. At the end, he brings the message around full circle, which is something I have noticed in Whitman and Dickinson's poetry as well. Lee goes into great detail about how happiness is precious and momentous through his metaphor and ties into the theme that simple joys in life contribute to a greater happiness.

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Bettie Bluman - "How Beautiful" by Mary Jo Bang

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Bettie Bluman - "How Beautiful" by Mary Jo Bang

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"Just remember you are standing

On a planet that’s evolving.

How beautiful, she thought, what distance does

For water, the view from above or afar.

In last night’s dream, they were back again

At the beginning. She was a child

And he was a child.

A plane lit down and left her there.

Cold whitening the white sky whiter.

Then a scalpel cut her open for all the world

To be a sea."

This poem relates to the religious theming I've found in Dickinson and Whitman's poetry through similar aspects - the reverent tone and the call to "remember you are standing on a planet that's evolving" and phrases like "at the beginning" evoke a sense of newness and creation commonly found in religious views. "All the world to be a sea" also evokes openness and emptiness, similar to how religion tells us the world was before Creation.

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Julissa Navarro - "Wild Geese" by Mary Oliver

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Julissa Navarro - "Wild Geese" by Mary Oliver

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Wild Geese stuck out to me personal because to me it seems so similar in the way it feels as though Oliver creates the sense that this poem relates to finding your sense of self, individuality, which is very much something that both Whitman and Dickinson stressed. Both Whitman and Dickinson, with Whitman being referred to as the man who revolutionized poetry, brought new and amazing ideas to literature; more so poetry. Their unique way of conveying their ideas on the world that surrounded them was something that contrasted so deeply around, so the way that Oliver writes "Wild Geese" makes me think of that. In the beginning of the poem she creates the sense of longing for something more within oneself while witnessing others already having that sense of inner peace and being content with who they are. Her poem reminds me deeply of "I Exist as I Am" by Whitman, another poem that stresses the importance of being okay with yourself and not needing to seek validation for others. All three poets have produced beautiful work and have made a lasting impact on poetry.

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Emma Morgan                                                                       "Wasteland: on the California Wildfires" by Forrest Gander

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Emma Morgan                                                                       "Wasteland: on the California Wildfires" by Forrest Gander

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I chose this poem as its theme is nature. Nature was a very common theme in the poems written by Dickinson and Whitman. The two of them both wrote poems that had descriptions of elements of nature or used pieces of nature in a metaphor for a deeper meaning. In the poem by Gander, he describes many different things you can see in a natural setting, such as green grass, during a California wildfire. This poem in particular has a lot of similarities with the poems written by Dickinson that describes nature. Many of Dickinson's poems have a very dark meaning to them, and do not always portray nature in a positive light. This is similar to Gander, who discusses the dark side of nature. Additionally, they have similar formatting, as both the poem by Gander and Dickinson do not go with the typical formatting of poems.

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Jade Truxal - "Death to Paint Us" by J. Michael Martinez

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Jade Truxal - "Death to Paint Us" by J. Michael Martinez

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there is always
one more death
to paint us

an ochre
without axle
aiming us like

a sunflower
down a path
a harp once followed

to still the scythe
before losing
love against itself

-I chose this poem because I like the deep meaning it paints. The poem is saying that death is always there, that its always happening around us. It uses a lot of imagery to captivate the reader and express the ideas more clearly. Which is also seen in the poems by both Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman. The theme of death is very prominent in this poem, similar to the works by Emily Dickinson and Walt Whitman.

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To live without the one you love

an empty dream never known

true happiness except as such youth

watching snow at window

listening to old music through morning.

Riding down that deserted street

by evening in a lonely cab

past a blighted theatre

oh god yes, I missed the chance of my life

when I gasped, when I got up and

rushed out the room

away from you.

Much like the poems of Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson, this poem by John Wieners discusses the theme of death and loss. In the poem, Wieners shares how it feels to continue to live when someone you love passes away. This connects to Whitman and Dickinson because their poems also relate to the recurring theme of death and loss. Whitman focuses on the more physical and obvious aspects of death, which can be seen in the beginning of the poem as it is more straight forward and exact. However, Dickinson's approach is more abstract and works to hide the theme, which can be seen in the examples listed in Wieners' poem because they have a deeper meaning behind the loss and how nothing can be seen the same after losing a loved one.

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To live without the one you love / an empty dream never known

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Closely resembling Whitman and Dickinson's theme of inviduality, Maya Angelou with her poem "Still I rise" grasps this idea by using figuritive language. Her intentional metaphors and similes to portray herself as this individual greater self helps the reader understand this concept similarly to the way Whitman and Dickinson's did. Highlihting the importance of individuality and self portrayal, is the bridge I see in Maya Angelou's poem and Whitman and Dickinson work in poetry.

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Maya Angelou’s “Still I Rise” Poem | PDF | Poetry

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Maya Angelou’s poem “Still I Rise” describes the resilience of black people in the face of oppression. Over four stanzas, the speaker asserts that though they may be written down in history with lies, trod in dirt, shot with words, and cut with eyes, they will still rise up like dust, air, and a “black ocean.” The poem celebrates the gifts and legacy that black ancestors have passed down, saying “I am the dream and the hope of the slave” and “I rise, I rise, I rise.”

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"To live in this world

you must be able

to do three things:

to love what is mortal;

to hold it

against your bones knowing

your own life depends on it;

and, when the time comes to let it go,

to let it go.

In my opinion, this poem represents death in a much different way than Dickinson and Whitman. Whitman's portrayal of death is often involved with the Civil War and pretty much war itself, since he wrote his poems throughout the time the Civil War was taking place. Dickinson symbolizes death using personification, as exemplified from her poem, "Because I could not stop for death." Although, "In Blackwater Woods" has a similarity with Dickinson's style of death because they both discuss that death is a natural occurrence.