Poetry Analysis

The poem 1601 by Emily Dickinson opens up with the religious line ‘Of God we ask one favor’ which is a provocation of the supernatural into the poem. This gives the supernatural the supreme power and sets the tone for the poem, one that is spontaneous. The poem is short and the poet seems to speak with laconic conscious, submitting to the hands of God and fate. The persona tries to appease the presence of God in his life, submitting to the direction that the supernatural may initiate, asking forgiveness for all that he may have done, even those that are not known to him, all with the aim of enjoying the happiness that is in heaven, further described as the ‘magic prison’. There is use of consonance, which are words of similar consonants used at the end of every other line. Forgiven (line 2), hidden (line 4), prison (line 6), heaven (line 8) (Elite Skills, 2016) all form consonance at the end of those lines. This creative use of consonance is meant to create rhyme in the short poem. The Rhyme acts to bring out the theme of calm and religious agreement with the supernatural. It highlights the peace the individual has being at the state he is in.
The second poem is an extract from a longer anthology, with only section 20 of Whitman’s ‘Song of Myself’ being considered in the context of this analysis. Though the poem is an extract from a longer anthology, this section depicts an individual who is fully content with his current state of being. His language and demeanor shows he wants to find happiness from everything and everyone around him. He says ‘I do not snivel that snivel the world over,’… ‘In all people I see myself’ (Poetry Foundation, 2018) which is an indication that he doesn’t want to lament over anything and deny himself the joy, he finds everyone worth the attention and that makes him happy. By extension, he wanted the readers to see the common bond that is among human beings, and that is what matters the most and makes people happy. The contentment in himself and the achievements he has made so far can be seen when he says ‘I do not trouble my spirit to vindicate itself or be understood,’ meaning he is fine with what he thinks is right and what he has achieved. Further he says ‘I laugh at what you call dissolution,’ meaning his conception of worry and dissolution is not defined by others. This poem has no use of consonance or assonance hence no rhyme in the entire section. This is intentionally done to emphasize on the theme of personal freedom and contentment as would have been wished by the persona. He is not restricted by rules of style and musicality to express his free will, but speaks his mind and writes those ideas in the stanza as thought out. The tone herein is an optimistic and cheerful at the same time.
These two poems are similar in the overriding them in that both express sense of optimism in life and certainty of a better tomorrow, with lesser care in life. On the other hand, the two poems have one striking difference, the poet in ‘1601’ gives a strong impression of entrusting God, a supernatural being with his happiness and future joy, while in ‘Song of myself’ the individual does not invoke the supernatural being for joy, indeed he implies that the joy one can have is self made and from the relationship with fellow humans.
References
Elite Skills, (2016). 1601. http://www.eliteskills.com/analysis_poetry/Of_God_we_ask_one_favor_by_Emily_Dickinson_analysis.php
Poetry Foundation, (2018). Song of Myself (1892 Version), by Walt Whitman. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/45477/song-of-myself-1892-version