Compare and Contrast Poets (two pieces and a specific aspect)

Okay, so here is my problem and if anyone could help me out this would be huge. I read all the poems throughout the semester by these people but not that good at interpreting what each poet is saying which is why I cant do this last essay for my english literature class. My assignment is to compare and contrast two pieces a specific aspect of them like a theme, symbol or so on.

The poets I could basically choose from and any of there material are listed:
-William Blake
-William Wordsworth
-John Keats
-Fredick Douglass
-Walt Whitman
-Emily Dickinson
- Charles Baudelaire "From Paris Spleen"
-Arthur Rimbaud
If any one could get me started this would be really great. Please let me know as soon as possible thank you very much who ever seeks to help me.

Shawn Stroke

Hi Shade.

If i were you i'd choose to write about willian Blake and Willian William Wordsworth since these two poets embrace many themes of the Romantic tradition in their writings. Their poetry displays aspects of nature, emotion, fancy and reason.

As you know, Romantic poetry is based on translating nature and seeing the world through one person, the poet. for that reason, these poets wrote of their own journey usually in the first person, also known as the heroic "I." Blake and Wordsworth are two important poetic figures from the Romantic Era and while most of their poems reflect the themes of romanticism, they have written select poems that involve children either as a theme or as subjects. Children are not images usually connected to the elements of the romantic tradition, but both writers are able to use children to explain their journey and understanding of the world. Blake's "The Lamb" and "The Chimney Sweeper" are two examples of poetry from his collections, Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience that use the theme of children. Wordsworth uses the image of a child as both theme and subject in his poems: "The Thorn" and "We Are Seven."

I found this page where the poems are analized. maybe it can help you:

bestword.ca/William_Blake_The_Tyger_Analysis_01.html

hope this help!
good luck!

okay so basically you are telling me to write about the child that they use to describe through out there poems on the Romanticism era, but one question the link you referred me too is on the tyger neither of the four poems your recommended me. I thank you for the huge help you just helped me out with but could i bother you for one more thing, what do you think my thesis should be if you tell me that i could get started really well off.

thanks
Shawn Stroke

Dear Shade:
if you decide to write about these both authors and develop fully the theme of childhood , innocernce in their poetry. you can consult these book for further ideas:

you can read some ages in google books
Thematic guide to British poetry by Ruth F. Glancy
Children: rights and childhood by David Archard
The Routledge history of literature in English: Britain and Ireland
by Ronald Carter,John McRae
The child in question by Diana Gittins

Please let me know if I can be of any further help.

Hey, you got great advice from Pilar. Welcome, Newwriter!!!

I want to mention that I would use this same strategy... Google the title of a poem and the word "analysis" so that you'll find a whole lot of discussions. You could use the word "theme" instead if you want to.

Google around til you find a great, interesting analysis of a poem. Then, write a few notes about themes and symbols. After that, search for another analysis, and look for that common thread!

Remember to show both similarities and differences.
:-)

Hey thanks both of you guys for the tips really appreciate it