I Hear America Singing by Walt Whitman: poem analysis

¶ … HEAR AMERICA SINGING" BY WALT WHITMAN: EXPLANATION OF THE POEM

Poetry

"I Hear America Singing" by Walt Whitman: Explanation of the Poem

Walt Whitman was born in 1918 in Long Island, New York. He died in 1892 and is best known for his book of poetry, Leaves of Grass. As a 19th century writer, Leaves of Grass, gained Whitman national attention. At the time, Whitman was the first American poet to gain such tremendous recognition. I Hear America Singing was originally from a cluster of numbered Chants Democratic. Whitman removed it from the cluster, giving the poem its own title. He made several changes to the first line of the poem in 1860. After that, several composers put the poem to music and at some point throughout history; over 300 musical scores would be created to interpret Whitman's poems. He eventually removed the final three lines of the poem and the version of I Hear America Singing that we read today was completed.

Analysis

Whitman is known for altering his repetitions in an attempt to prevent a type of rhythm that would erase any kind of individuality for each singer. Throughout Whitman's poem, I Hear America Singing, Whitman uses various class of workman, implying that each is signing the same song.

"The boatman singing what belongs to him is his boat, the deckhand singing on the steamboat deck."

Within this particular piece, Whitman implies that each individual is singing an individual song or lyrics (by implying, "belongs to him or her"), however, it is also suggested that each individual is part of one large choir. Each choir member is listed by a specific occupation, but for the time the piece was written, each occupation was commonly part of the American labor force. Whitman's repetitive use of the word "singing" throughout the poem gives the reader an action to consider, which is also possessive.

"The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench -- the hatter singing as he stands."

The line about the shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench and the hatter doing the same, but as he stands, also provides great imagery about each individual that is part of the overall choir, so to speak. Even though one man sits for his job and the other man spends his days standing, each is completing the same task; both individuals are getting the day's work done while both are singing individual songs, but songs that are part of one choir or event.

Whitman also changes his writing pattern partially through the poem. Some poets choose to continue the same writing pattern, however, this change of pattern allows the reader to recognize and see the reality of the poem they are reading, while remembering that the poem is fiction and is not reality.

Whitman is famous for his use of lists or catalogs without resorting to conventional rhyme and meter, as other poets do. He is also famous for his use of parallelism to connect the elements in his lists or catalogs. Since the boatman's song is sung while he is on his boat, some feel that the implication is that he will be singing a different song once he leaves his boat. Both the boatman and the woodcutter have implications of ownership in the poem. Everyone on the boat is singing their song and each individual is allowed to sing the song of their choosing, which ultimately created one compiled song or choir-type of atmosphere. We often think of the "owner" being the only individual privileged enough to "sing a song," however, this poem reminds us that in America, we are all considered equal. There are times when an individual may be in a position of power and therefore may be "above" others, but there are also times when that individual will find themselves standing or sitting next to someone equally.

Whitman's consistent use of "I hear" at the beginning of each line stresses to the reader that listening is more valuable than speaking in some cases. The main composition of the poem belongs to the laborer, rather than the owner or the captain of the industry. Whitman writes the poem as the speaker being merely an observer, rather than part of the team or choir, who is singing each man's individual tune or lyrics, while compiling a "song" as a unit.

Conclusion

In his poem, I Hear America Singing, Whitman concentrates on common American laborers who are completing every day, common tasks. Whitman shows how these every day, average people, are happy in their accomplishments, even if those accomplishments are simple and are considered to be common. He also connects the people in the country together, making them into one unit. He accomplishes this by using both the political and economic aspect of many individual's and their lives. Additionally, he outlines a typical day in America and regardless of what the individuals are doing in their day, he speaks of how they are happy and talks with such imagery, that the reader can almost see what he wants them to see.

Whitman not only connects the individuals he describes throughout the poem with the metaphor of song, but he connects them with the fact that they are each doing something different, yet very similar and are ultimately working towards the same goal. Equality was coming about at the time of this poem, but America still had a long ways to go, yet Whitman seemed to be able to see how people could be equal and happy in their own ways.

In all of this equality that Whitman was describing, one can see how men and women were still not on equal ground at the time of the poem. Whitman relates men to their job and work, yet the women seem to only be related to the men and are only very briefly mentioned near the end of the poem. Women are doing household chores, rather than labor, which they will be paid in money for. Their payment is instead the satisfaction of their accomplishments at home and what they can do for their home life.

It's also interesting that the men are the only people having a good time near the end of the day. The way Whitman describes the men makes the reader think of a group of young men sitting in a bar, telling stories and singing jolly songs over a mug of brew. The women are not included in this portion, but perhaps an inclusion of a man and a woman ending their night together happily after a long day of labor would have been a more complete concept for what Whitman was trying to say.

Article Citations

Smith, Sara. Walt Whitman "I Hear America Singing." http://www.saresssmith.com/WaltWhitman.ppt

Hampson, Thomas, and Carla Maria Verdino Sullwold. IHAS Essay: I Hear America Singing. http://www.pbs.org/wnet/ihas/essay.html