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Rupert Dickinson And Emily Dickinson

Decent Essays

War poetry displays an accurate representation of the sensations felt during the horrid times of battle. In the novel The Catcher in the Rye, by J.D. Salinger, D.B. asks Allie, “who was the best war poet, Rupert Brooke or Emily Dickinson” (140). The question proposed can be answered with many different opinions, as the individual's knowledge and understanding of each poet will impact their decision. In contrast to Rupert Brooke, Emily Dickinson is clearly the superior war poet as she portrays soldiers and the idea of death in an insightful manner, which causes the reader to go beyond their comprehension of the words to recognize the full potential of the poem.

Soldiers are an essential aspect of war poetry, as they play the role of the protagonist through the theme of the poem, generally. Therefore, Dickinson displays soldiers as heroic figures, which should be celebrated and honored, as they sacrifice their lives for the freedom of others. For instance, “This Spartan put away/ What little of Him,” writes Dickinson, “we— possessed/ In Pawn for Liberty” (line 6- 8, “444”); Spartans died heroically in their doomed stand against a huge invasion by the Persian army. Evidently, citizens possess soldiers more as a commodity to be spent for the liberty of civilian safety; Dickinson cleverly highlights this idea within her poem by alluding to the Spartans. Therefore, Dickinson’s ability to represent the soldiers is effective, as her, “inner violence confronted outer violence…

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