Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson: Religious Views (Research Paper Sample)

Essay
English Literature
Number of Pages: 3
Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson: Religious Views
Introduction
Poetry is one of the most romanced forms of art throughout the years. It is a form of expression of imaginative or experienced ideas, either written or spoken, through a rhythmic flow to create a form of emotion. This essay will consider the writing form of poetry or literal work. Two key figures changed poetry from the traditional ways of writing, namely, Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson. They are considered to be the first founders of the modern American Poetry since they adopted new ways of writing in contrary to the traditional methods that were being used earlier before their time. Although they had different ways of upbringing, living and writing, much of their work is seen to reflect on similar ideas and thoughts at the time. One of the ideas that they are referred to is the concept of Religion. Religion within the society can mean differently to different people and it is seen when Karl Marx asserts it as being the opium of the masses. For these two poets, religion, as an idea, is reflected in their work. Walt Whitman believes in the Hindu concept of discovering the Individual Self as the form for which nature and the human soul are connected. On the other hand, Emily Dickinson is seen having a differentiated view between the Christian doctrines and her own opinionated beliefs. Thus, it is quite clear that both poets really deviated from the traditional Christian concept and embracing their own religious views.
Whitman’s training on religion is that of his family friend by the name Elias Hicks. These heretical teachings, which he was brought up with, showed how man was supposed to enjoy life to the full brim by being instructed by one’s soul. This type of religion did not belief in man as being a worshipper to God for his glory, but asserted on no forms of restrictions to be placed on anybody in religion matters.
His form of religion is seen as also being highly influenced by Hindu teachings. In one of his poems "Song of Myself”, he gives a full description of his religion views. He is seen disregarding the traditional Christian faith about God and the human soul and substitutes with the belief in Individual or Universal Self, found in Hinduism. He talks of Individual Self being the cause of all things that exist including nature and human beings. In the first stanza, he says "I have said that the soul is not more that the body and I have said that the body is not more than the soul”.
Emily Dickinson’s training on religion was from the English faith called Puritanism. It was based on humans being sinful in nature and being completely at God’s mercy, which was loving and arbitrary. One was to join the church by choosing Christ, the son of God. Articles of faith had to be subscribed for one to become a member of the church inorder to offer proof of belief in Christ.
In her poem "The Bible is an Antique Volume”, she is seen mocking the bible itself by referring to it as an "Antique" instead of "Ancient" which is commonly known. The first few lines merely explain her acknowledgement of the bible as a literal documentation, its origin and the characters roles. Her choice of these characters depicts her viewing examples of sin and virtue like they happen every day ("Poem 1545”).
The other part of the poem shows how she criticizes the Christian doctrine by showing how uninteresting the bible can be spiritually. She asserts "Boys that ‘believe" are very lonesome-Other boys are "lost”. Here, she is criticizing the Christianity faith for using force and fear to make people join the church instead of simply inviting people by allowing them to choose whether to join or not. The fact that the Christian doctrine taught that man is sinful in nature and salvation is the only way, this instilled fear among people, making them to join this salvation faith.
This poem is purely a complaint of the interpretation of t...