American Literature is a literature created by many successful writers in the United States in the early 18th century. These authors, who created new key literary figures with the desire to produce, have made themselves known with their pioneering movements and quite distinctive works. Many of these authors were influenced by each other. Contrary to many different works that emerged, most of these authors were influenced by each other in situations such as theme, style, content and reflecting the period to the works. And as a result of this influence, they obtained similar and different results among themselves. In this article, "Israfel", "Annabel Lee" and "Thanatopsis", "To A Waterfowl" works of our writers Edgar Allan Poe and William Cullen Bryant, who have left significant marks for American Literature with their numerous works and their unique writing styles, will be illustrated in terms  of their similarity and differences.

       Although the themes of these poets are not exactly the same, their mode and what they feel on the reader are very close to each other. While Israfel poetry meant a poetic apology for Poe, Annabel Lee mourned the death of a beautiful girl, her wife, a recurring subject in her article. In Israfel, the religious theme, which is divine and acts as a desire to reach a supernatural beauty, and the Love of Timelessness theme in Annebel Lee express a rather dark mood. Despite the fact that Annabel Lee is written in a darker mode than Israfel, the feeling they feel for the reader is the same. Similarly, it is quite possible to see Thanatopsis that Bryant, from Puritan and an immigrant family, reflects his view of death in poetry with his own religious background and the desire to search for the divine. Besides the themes,  Poe 's writing style in poetry is as harmonious as the poems of his contemporary Bryant, who is older than him. In addition, while using mystical lyricism forms in Israfel poetry, it must be said that Bryant was the first American lyric poet. Considering that Poe is influenced by Bryant, one of the common points of the two poets can be said to be the use of melody developed due to lyricism. For instance ; “And the giddy stars (so legends tell), ceasing their hymns..” (Poe,Israfel).

       Poe and Bryant, the poets of the same period, are similar to the themes they reflect in their poems, but there are cases when they differ from each other. In addition to themes such as the thought of death and the desire to discover divine power, Bryant in the To a Waterfowl poem embroidered the Nature theme. He also described the first stages of American Romanticism with the existence of God and the relationship of Nature. This poem, which is similar in terms of the search for divine power with the Poet's Thanatopsis poem, seems to be quite different when compared to Poe's poems in terms of Nature theme. While Poe presents the conflict between man and god, Bryant reflects the conflict between nature and god. Unlike his contemporaries, and especially Bryant, Poe's topics and themes are exotic and universal. Everyday and topical occurrences are not in his area of ​​interest. He is a poet who prefers to seek the truth and the logical. This feature is an significant feature that distinguishes it from other poets.

       Apart from all these differences and similarities, the main issue is the contribution of both poets to American Literature with their unique writing styles. The unique influence of both writers and their works, which contributed a lot to the development of American literature, has also brought themselves to the top in some subjects. An example of this is Bryant's first use of lyric style and the increase in his reputation. Especially one of the most remarkable things about the pair of poets is their usage of melody. This usage has brought poetry to a different dimension and caused it to be instrumentalized with the use of instruments. The deep influence of poetry and song on people's souls has increased the love and affection for American literature and its poets. However, the fact that both authors pioneered separate currents contributed to their success and enabled American Literature to reach an important place worldwide. Poe pioneered the Romanticism Movement. Supernatural elements, scary, mysterious and dark side of Romantic imagination have been the most important elements in Poe's works. And since these elements aroused curiosity in people, they constantly expected a new work, and as a result, the demand increased. Unlike Poe, Bryant is a poet of transcendentalism, who defends that divinity covers the whole world and the environment. It is possible to make this inference from the nature, death and human themes that he has already worked on in his works. As themes such as death or seeking divine power lead people to think and question, they likewise love the writer and expected new works. Thus, interest in American Literature has increased thanks to popular works and poets. Thanks to the increasing interest and love, an ever-evolving American Literature has an unforgettable place in people's lives. 

      By depending on all the details given above, one might reach the conclusion that both poets are different from each other while there are some points where they ara similar. It is seen that they have contributed significantly to American Literature thanks to their works and their own style, while each complements the other.