They both use repetition of some words. Dickinson repeated the words “we passed”. While Whitman repeated several words such as “waking”, “longing”, “withdraw” and “better”.
They both used descriptive language. Dickinson described the “Dews” that “drew quivering and chill”, her “gown” which was made of “Gossamer”, her “Tippet” which was “only Tulle”. She also gave us a description of the house of death, which was “A swelling of the ground, The roof was scarcely visible, The Cornice in the ground”.
Yet Whitman used more descriptions in his poem. He described the fields of Ohio’s villages in autumn and their beauty. He described the “apples ripe”, the “grapes on the trellis’d vines”, “the sky so calm, so transparent after the rain”. He made us feel as if we were smelling the grapes, the buckwheat and touching them. He made us hear the buzzing of the bees. He also made us experience the awe and misery of the mother by describing her “trembling steps” when she went to read the letter, her “sickly white face and dull in the head”. In addition to her state after her son’s death, she was “presently drest in black”, “her meals untouched”, “fitfully sleeping often waking” and her “deep longing…to be with her dead son”.
Dickinson uses imaginative and somehow figurative language. She personifies death as a gentleman who kindly takes her for a journey in his carriage. She also personifies immortality as a person riding with them in the carriage. She uses paradox “The Cornice in the ground”. Whereas Whitman’s language is poetic and realistic.
Both poems discuss the view of death, but from different perspectives. Dickinson gives us a joyous and happy view of death, which is like a kind gentleman that takes her for a journey. He is so civil, therefore she willingly gives him her “labor” and “leisure too”. She is not afraid of death, she instead receives it calmly.
Whereas Whitman’s view is the contrary. For him death is a horrible thing that comes amid the beauty of nature to destroy the calmness and peace of mind, and to deprive us of our beloved ones. He uses an anecdote to give us this sympathetic experience, so that we can realize the horrors of war.
His poem moves swiftly. It carries us smoothly from one mood to another. From being happy with nature, to an ominous mood, then to feeling sad for the mother.
Dickinson’s poem also transfers us from one mood to another. At first we feel happy and joyous about death, then we contemplate life and its phases, then we finally feel calm. So that at the end we comprehend a happy and calm idea about death.