Two poems may sound so similar and mirror each other almost identically, but they mean completely different things when taken into consideration the context in which they were written poems. When Walt Whitman wrote his first edition of the poem “Songs of Myself” in 1852, he was writing in a time of American expansionism and romantic ideas of the rugged frontiersman in nature dominated the national consciousness. Such romantic notions are represented in many lines of Whitman's poetry and have a great impact in making him a classic example like another great thinker, Henry David Thoreau. The literary styles in “Songs of Myself” such as realism, cadence, repetition, and the use of simple language had a great influence on subsequent American literature. Allen Ginsberg's "Howl," written in 1952, mirrors many aspects of "Songs of Myself" in its realism, cadence, repetition and use of simple language. By all accounts, it would appear that "Howl" is a secondary manifestation of "Songs of Myself", but this is not the case because the theme of "Howl" was not rooted in romance. Instead Allen Ginsberg's poetry conveyed a great deal of urban angst while Whitman's poetry conveyed and captured the true sense of nature. Although the poems shared many literary similarities, they were not completely similar in the sense that they both created their own contrasting movements. We say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Both the Washington State University literature department and Shmoop define realism as this literary technique that shows situations without all the idealism depicted in the world. The use of realism is evident in both Walt Whitman's “Songs of Myself” and Allen Ginsberg's “Howl,” but what he achieves for each poem produced different results. “Songs of Myself” celebrates the uniqueness of the human experience and its ability to transcend beyond consciousness. Whitman, in his writings, used many stanzas describing entirely new scenes as if to symbolize a rebirth of the human spirit in each scene. However the use of realism, and in stanza 15 he writes, “The madman is finally brought to the asylum as a confirmed case.” In such a poem intended for the Romantic idealization of the human spirit, Whitman's inclusion of this line about the reality of the mentally ill confined to asylums was decidedly at odds. Although disconcerting at first, this realism in Whitman's work is used to demonstrate that the human spirit is not perfect and that there will always be an unshakable weakness in the human soul. As a result, Whitman's poetry proceeded with an uncomfortable sense of caution even as he continued to write about the romantic characteristics of the great American frontier. In relation to “Songs of Myself,” Allen Ginsberg’s “Howl” used realism at every turn, but the intentions behind its use of realism go beyond simple caution. “Howl” was written during the prosperity of the post-war United States, under the dark threat of the Cold War. The poem was also influenced by the counterculture of American society of this period, "Howl" used a more serious (or intense) version of realism in portraying an image of the urban city. In the first part Ginsberg writes: “who sang from the windows in despair, fell from the subway window /, jumped in the filthy Passaic, jumped on niggers /, cried all over the street, danced on broken wine glasses / photograph smashed with bare feet records of nostalgic 1930s European German jazz they ran out of whiskey and vomited moans into thedamn toilet, groans / in their ears and the explosion of colossal steam whistles. Ginsberg's use of realism is simply appalling as it portrays a scene of anarchy even though it was meant to be a realistic picture of contemporary society. It is scary because of the language it uses and how it uses this to cause fear, and it implies as if people who were successful in the big city are still “singing out of their windows in despair” and feel depressed about their lives. This means that even those who were “successful and had financial support were still not happy, and this implies that those who were less fortunate were worse off. Ginsberg shows through his use of realism that human character was extremely flawed even in cities. These cities were centers of human innovation where technology was available; thus making life easier for those who lived in the city. If human character were flawed in modern cities, then what will happen when society fails? Are people in the city better equipped for this society, and if society were to collapse, what would that mean for the less fortunate? Both Whitman and Ginsberg's use of realism highlighted the flaws of the human spirit, both authors use realism to raise awareness and alertness to warn that an inevitable future may be coming sooner than we think. However, the poet Whitman uses a more positive effect to give us that warning, while Ginsberg's vision has a darker and more menacing use of words. The use of repetition or cadence was evident in both Whitman's and Ginsberg's work, but the results of their respective use were once again mixed. In Whitman's “Songs of Myself” he often uses repetition in many cases to highlight what greatly concerns him. For example, in stanza 21 he writes, “Land of sleeping trees and liquids! Land of the vanished sunset - land of misty-topped mountains! Land of the glassy flow of the full moon just tinged with blue! Land of splendor and darkness that dapple the river's tide! Earth from the limp gray of the brightest and clearest clouds for my love! The word "Earth", mentioned several times at the beginning of each line, clearly displayed a theme in Whitman's writings on the romanticism of nature. As you get closer to the poem, the sounds of these repeated words become more emphasized. Reading these lines aloud reveals a certain lighthearted tone in Whitman's poetry, and it feels like a humming song of life. Whitman's use of repetition or cadence reflects his carefree attitude towards life, which was that of a curious soul who found meaning in the magnificence of nature. Unlike Whitman's singing of cadence, Ginsberg's use of repetition had the opposite meaning. Instead of promoting a carefree attitude, Ginsberg's use of cadence highlighted the growing anguish in his poetry. In part three, Ginsberg writes: “Carl Solomon! I'm with you in Rockland, where you're crazier than me. I'm with you in Rockland - where you must feel very strange..." Ginsberg actually repeats the phrase "I'm with you in Rockland" many times, and at first it doesn't seem like anything negative, but upon further investigation, "Rockland" refers to the name of a mental hospital! With this, Ginsberg's phrase about “Rockland” suddenly becomes extremely troubling, and it seems that the repetition of this phrase highlights the poet's descent into madness and the deterioration of his mental health in a certain way sense, the pressure of urban life and contemporary society may have been too overwhelming. Overall, the use of repetition and cadence in the poems ofWhitman and Ginsberg achieve different results based on their respective contexts. Both poems' use of a common language was used to appeal to the masses of readers, but what this achieved for each poem was different. In Whitman's poetry, he often uses very simple English to write his lines. In one instance, in verse 20, he simply states, “What is a man anyway? What are they? What are you?" Most of the words here are no longer than four letters and simply ask very simple questions. Whitman asked very simple questions that anyone would be able to answer. Clearly, not all lines of his poetry have need to be dissected, but they have a very simple meaning. In this way, Whitman's poetry touched a wider audience in that period and allowed many to appreciate his works nature is so pure that it is not corrupted by a more authoritative figure. In "Songs of Myself" Whitman observes nature as it seemed most natural to him to have a greater sense of it. The use of common language was also used so that the readers they could read it with pleasure and make the poems reach more people. Whitman was not an elitist, but someone who genuinely cared that people read his work. On the other hand, Ginsberg's use of common language included many depictions of violence and depressing images. For example, Ginsberg uses words such as "war, sobs, death and burning" which are found on page 9 line 3 page 10 line 18, page 13-14 line 43, page 14 line 56, page 14 line 61. The use of the plain language in this case had the opposite effect because instead of finding joy, the plain language immediately connected readers to the anguish Ginsberg was feeling. The plain language has the effect of immediately bringing the author's intentions to the fore, and in the different contexts of both poems, it was easy to see how Ginsberg's use of common language shocked readers more than how the Whitman's use caused joy. Please note: this is just an example. Get a custom paper from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay What really set the two poems apart despite their literary similarities was the large theme behind each poem. Even though both poems used similar styles such as realism, repetition, cadence, and common language, the tone of the poems reflected a different mood. Whitman's poetry was written during a time of vast American expansionism, and the climate of this period was that of romanticism. The image of the frontiersman became a heroic figure, and the content of Whitman's “Songs of Myself” shows a tendency toward that perspective. In contrast, Ginsberg's mood in his poem was full of unease and uncertainty, and there were many scenes of random disturbances that seem to make no sense taken individually. However, when considered in the context of the Cold War and the many civil rights issues of the 1950s, Ginsberg's writing of “Howl” during this period clearly showed a tendency towards urban angst. As a result, both writers' similar uses of literary styles in their poems achieve different results even though the poems themselves might seem eerily similar on the surface. Beneath the surface, however, both poems represented the manifestation of two very contrasting movements. Whitman's "Songs of Myself" was intended to create a romantic group of people who strove to enjoy the mysteries of nature and discover the human spirit. On the other hand, Ginsberg's “Howl” aimed to put 2019.