Individuality And Hard Labor: I Hear America Singing

From this poem one can feel the compassion that Whitman has for the common American workingman. He has much respect for him and believes that he is what makes up America and what causes America to keep on moving. He portrays the workers to all be singing to emphasize that they are proud of the work that they do. Whitman and Sandburg both enjoy going through and naming each of the workers separately in order to display the vast number of people who fall into the working class. In the poem above you can see how Whitman talks about how the different workers enjoy their jobs and are happy with the talents that they have in their specialized positions. The last line of part 1 demonstrates how the workers leave their work and are able to relax and enjoy their lives at night when the work day is over. The second part of I hear American Singing is Whitman sending an invitation to all of those who are

In every line of “I Hear America Singing”, the word “singing” appears to help emphasize and describe the melody of the working American citizens, yet there is no song in particular. Perhaps they are singing the National Anthem? America’s people doing American jobs all united by an unidentified melody that shrouds them all. It would seem a bit peculiar for

In “I Hear America Singing,” Walt Whitman’s message of the American identity is that it is diverse and proud. The fact the American identity is diverse is proven best in the first line, which states, “I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear.” In this line, the word “varied” proves that it is diverse because if something is varied it has a variety of things amassing it. The American identity being proud is proven by the line, “Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else.” This line proves that the American identity is proud because it is saying that we celebrate what only we have. This celebration evinces that we are proud of what we gain by working.

The poems “The New Colossus” by Emma Lazarus and “I Hear America Singing” by Walt Whitman, exemplify the idea of American freedom in its purest form. While one poem talks about one most important symbols in American history, and another talks about the average American’s way of life, both poems convey the of American triumph and success.

What do you think this poem is saying, in your own words? This poem is about the different kinds of people that live in America and how they are the reason America is America. It is also saying that no one is the same and that everyone sings their own song.

The love in each poem is real and unique ranging from Walt Whitman's “I hear America singing” to Gregory Djanikian “Sailing to America”. Walt Whitman was born in brooklyn with very limited education during the 1800’s and published many amazing works of literature during his lifetime one of those is I hear America sing

The idea of an equal America exists no more. Regardless of the fact that there is a plethora of varying perspectives dividing the country into two, there are words and phrases that are generally accepted in viewing our country from the rest of the world. First, the American Dream is regularly associated with equal opportunity, prosperity, and liberty. Walt Whitman, as well as many others, have written about this desired America for the socially accepted American. He is often referred to as “America’s Poet,” who amplifies the elegant qualities of America that we believe to be true. It is obvious that Whitman portrays America as an alive and colorful place full of chance and flourishment throughout his work. “I Hear America Singing” is a prime example of an America that is only seen from the surface, where Whitman clearly indicates that the United States is a country where all its citizens are able to achieve equality and liberty. Contradictory, Sharon Olds poem, “On the Subway,” proves the lack of individual liberty, which deteriorates the growth of the country, ultimately opposing the America, where personal freedom is the foundation. Olds’ poem pokes holes in the surface that shows the controversial interior that truly makes up America that Whitman painted beforehand. Olds and Whitman also illustrate varying insight regarding personal liberty and its importance in two opposing poems; one who proclaims it as easily attainable and necessary to the country and the other who

In the 1860's, Walt Whitman came out with the collection of leaves of grass, and in this assemblage of poems, was "I Hear America Singing". This poem talks about all of these different people with their diversity of jobs. While the people are working, they sing. America can only be a great place, if every single one of the people sing their own song., but learns to time together when needed. Also, in all of these different songs, they join together to make one masterpiece known today as America. In addition to this, another poet, by the name of Langston Hughes, wrote a poem titled, "I, Too, Sing America". This is a literary piece than conveys the life of a black man, and how he would get through the struggles, and become strong and independent because of them. He writes about how his owner makes him eat in the kitchen when visitors come, as a result, they will not tell him to leave, but rather see how beautiful he is. In these two texts, it is clear that Hughes saw Whitman as a great influence and wrote, "I, Too, Sing America" in response to "I Hear America Singing".

The people in his poem are common folk without individual names, but in his celebratory verse they are all idealized. Each one finds joy in the dignity of his or her labor. In eleven lines of verse, the word "singing" appears eleven times, or twelve if you include the title. The word is used figuratively to reflect happy pride in performance of labor. This is a poem that voices American democracy. Its language is muscular, its pulse vibrant, its mood exultant. We will hear similar tonalities and exuberance in the free verse of Carl Sandburg, who was 14 when Whitman died.

Both the poem and novel relate to eachother through race and the "invisibily"of the main characters portrayed. "I, too, sing America" is the

– Let America be America again). The poems display images of hardship and frustration. They both speak of a difference within races and also what the life in America is different from the eyes of someone who isn’t white.

Initially, both poems employ parallel structure to culminate a nationalistic spirit and grit within the American worker. For example, in “Chicago” the city “under the terrible burden of destiny” laughs “as a young man laughs”; similarly in “I Hear America Singing” the boatman sings, “what belongs to him on his boat”. Here, displays of undying strength while facing an obstacle as well as displays of personalization during work create a gritty nature within the individual laborer. Moreover, in “Chicago” a worker is described with “dust all over his mouth” albeit still “laughing with white teeth” and in “I Hear America Singing” each worker

Langston Hughes, in the poem, I, Too, voices his response to Walt Whitman’s, I Hear America Singing. The first stanza of the poem conveys that African Americans are also apart of America. It also explains the cultural segregation African Americans experienced during this time. Hughes displays how African Americans were not seen as equals, although slavery was abolished. However, this section continues to show, that although, African Americans are segregated they refuse to be powerless.

“I Hear America Singing” by Walt Whitman, accentuates his inherent attitude toward America which is also an element of his quintessential of human life. Whitman glorifies what America has based its faith on which is the ingeniousness of labor. It expresses Whitman’s love for America, its liveliness, variety, and the monumental achievements due to the ingeniousness of all its people. The poet writes that he hears “varied carols” from all the people contributing to the life and civilization of America. Whitman uses “delicious singing” as a metaphor to dramatize the individual passion and contribution of a mother to their homeland. He also personifies “America singing” in the first line by this it’s taken in as that us or we the people as one

While “I Hear America Singing” champions the work of the people, the words of “I, Too, Sing America” are lined with a deep sense of pride in individual identity. Whitman’s poem includes a number of vocalists with varying professions, such as a carpenter, a hatter, and even a young wife. The words of the piece show that these laborers complete each day’s tasks with pride and singing. Their jubilee is even described as continuing into the night with “strong melodious songs” after the work was done (Whitman 11). They rejoice in their work because their positions represent much more than jobs, but have, in fact, become the people’s resounding contributions to the great machine that is the United States. It is what they are able to offer their country to keep it moving ever forward. Similarly, the narrator in Hughes’s work takes pride in his identity, but in a much different way. It is uncertain whether he is living in a period of widespread slavery or afterwards, but his words clearly convey an environment of inequality. He is, for instance, ordered to “eat in the kitchen” when company comes (Hughes 3). However, the narrator boasts both in what he is and what he will be; he has faith that in the future, he will not be huddled away from the others, but sitting at the table, a citizen. He will be his own man, and the