I HEAR America singing, the varied carols I hear;
Those of mechanics—each one singing his, as it should be, blithe and
strong;
The carpenter singing his, as he measures his plank or beam,
The mason singing his, as he makes ready for work, or leaves off
work;
The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat—the deckhand
singing on the steamboat deck;
The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench—the hatter singing as
he stands;
The wood-cutter's song—the ploughboy's, on his way in the morning,
or at the noon intermission, or at sundown;
The delicious singing of the mother—or of the young wife at work—or
of the girl sewing or washing—Each singing what belongs to
her, and to none else;
The day what belongs to the day—At night, the party of young
fellows, robust, friendly,
Singing, with open mouths, their strong melodious songs.
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My idea
From guest Sarah (contact)
im sorry but this poem is so boring and i wanna g2 sleep when i read it. i dont understand whats it saying and i usually understand what poems say and mean -
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It's about the many types of people that make up America, of the special qualities of each, and of the America because of them. The song is the ideal by which they live, how each adds to the greatness of the country. It speaks of the great variety that makes up America, from its city and country, different kinds of people, unified by that ideal of how they live their lives, contribute to the wealth of the nation. Each sings his own "song" and yet it combines into one song, the song of America.
My opinion anyway.
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A few points of order...
From guest William (contact)
This poem was not written in 1900, Whitman died in 1892 and the poem was written long before that, 1855. Whitman is not talking about people singing, literally. No, I believe he is saying who you are, what you have passion for, the soul of you...sings. We pick up those vibrations, we are somehow in tune with the essence of each other. Whitman is only speaking, I believe, about America because it is the only land ever that celebrates the individual over the state. He is interested in people. Whitman was far from a racist or a sexist, but you'll have to read his other works to make that decision. Its interesting that those critical of Whitman here are the ones who see the work of women or girls as somehow not being equal to or as good as that of the men or boys. Whitman never makes such judgments but uses his poems to celebrate people for who they are not what they do...man, woman, boy, girl. They are all equal to him, and special to him. If you read his other poems, you will see repeated over and over a celebration of individuals regardless of race, sex, ethnicity, nationality, social standing...they are all precious to him. In fact, Whitman was so far ahead of his time on race and sex and equality that he'd still be far ahead of most Americans living today. -
Another wonderful poem of his. The story of what America was then. Amazing. I absolutely loved it. I truly did.
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From guest Ellyse (contact)
I kinda agree with Cthulhu, but not as aggressively. Although now, if you think about a choir it may have many different people with many different characteristics all contributing to our melting pot of diversity we call america, walt whitman was in a way being racist without purposely trying to do so. At the time the poem was written (which was 1900) America although it had abolished slavery had not really made blacks and whites equal. Walt Whitman is saying what his America is and what it is like using general lifestyles of others around him but of course all of the merchants and wood-cutter, etc. were white. You can even see that the girls/women are not equal to the men because their "job/story" in America was sewing and washing clothes instead of the equal jobs the men had. This is a very onesided poem but that's what history is, his story. Whitman didn't do a good job of including what the story was for all Americans because after all Americans are not just white they are all the people that live in America. However, i dont think it's a bad poem it just excludes others which is why there are response poems such as "I too sing America" to reinclude different cultures/races into "America." -
this poem and how a 9 grader interperets it
From guest Amanda Turner (contact)
i think Cthulhu is wrong it is a well done poem and it shows what america is and what he sees in america what he hears in america and even what he thinks amerca is to americans...even a 9th grader understands what he means better than Cthulhu -
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Whilst debate on this and any other poetry is healthy please DO NOT attack someone just because they hold a different opinion. One persons doggrel is another persons literary masterpiece.
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I may have to reread this again!
The writing is fine and there is different ways of America to sing. I am trying to learn from the best so I can become a better writer and poet. So I may have to read this several times to learn from this particular reading. -
Cthulu, as soon as you become a published poet, then you can criticize Whitman.
After you've read this, read Langston Hughes poem, 'I Too Sing America', which was a response to this poem. -
Well you can make all the excuses you want, it is still doggerel. I never said "singing" was inappropiate
, just that it was not the best choice and I'll leave that to you to figure out why. The beauty of the list having no pattern, #gwarf# ha ha ha, what an excuse for lousy poetry. And of course he was going there but he never arrived because he is mainly a doggrelist and could not establish anything more than a redundant image. -
"America" can, and often is, used in singular making "singing" appropriate.
The beauty of the list is that there is no pattern, reflecting the "melting pot" idea of America.
"singing, with open mouths" is a great image. Imagine your choir. Some are singing but others are really singing open-mouthedand giving it their all. I think that was where Walt was going. -
"I HEAR America singing, the varied carols I hear"
Clever beginning but "singing" should be "sing" if he had wanted to really shine forth. Next comes a list that doesn't show any great pattern except, carpenters - masons, boatman - deckhand, shoemaker - hatter, wood-cutter - ploughboy, mother - young wife - girl (not particularlygood if you think about it). Then the night and the young fellows "singing, with open mouths", and that is an atrocious piece of poetry. How else is one suppose to sing but with an open mouth? He should have thought about it a little harder. Walt, your poem is not very good. -
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