- Poe's poetry is rhymed, it follows strict formal rules; Whitman uses free verse, there are no rhymes, but it does have a certain melody and the poem Song of Myself reads like a song, uses formal and rhetorical tools such as occasional rhymes, rhetorical questions, adressing the reader, enumeration
- Poe's poetry has a dark tone; Whitman's has a positive, joyful, uplifting tone
- Themes and aspects of Poe's poetry: death, despair, suspense, tragic love, melancholy; Whitman's: soul, beauty of nature, the connection between oneself and nature, positive and quite self loving, importance of understanding oneself, the importance of individual/self, his poetry has a hopeful undertone, he accepts life with its highs and lows and celebrates it in its entirety
- In Poe's poetry every element is planned and has its place in the poem for a reason; Whitman's poetry feels more spontaneous, certain progressions of thoughts seem like streams of associations, his lyrical subject does not stay within one specific environment and situation but their thoughts and ideas recall various images and experiences
- Poe's The Raven is a ballad, Whitman's Song of Myself resembles an ode
- Poe deems death a tragedy and his lyrical subjects mourn those they had lost; Whitman accepts death as something that is a part of the cycle of life
- Poe's lyrical subjects focus on tragic events from the past, there is no hope for them; Whitman focuses on the present, everything important is happening at the moment and it is perfect
- Whitman's poetry is more lyrical, more poetic