The Analaysis of "I Hear America Singing" by Walt Whitman (1860)

Poem Text

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 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 him or 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.


Theme Analysis
Individualism

When Walt Whitman express his awe at these Americans singing, he is making a statement about human greatness by telling the reader that human achievement is not measured by what one does, but instead by how one goes about doing it. He inspires admiration for these people, not by stating outright that he thinks they do great things, but by giving brief, specific images of each one tending ti his or her own business and combining their individual jobs with "singing," which we usually associate with cheerfulness and lightness of spirit. It only one case does the poem direct the reader's thought by using a specific, judgmental adjective (the positive word "delicious"), but we can assume that this anomaly says more about Whitman's lack of knowlegde concerning domestic life than any change of strategy. This assumption is supported by his vague mention of the young wife "at work," indicating that he just could not come up with any specific details about what women do, in the way he provided information about such jobs of the carpenter, mason, and boatman. This poem uses opposites to show how wide the range of Americans and their work environments are: male and female, ashore and on water, preparing or finishing work in the morning, afternoon, or evening.

According to the poem, the independence that all of these different types display in their work is left aside at the end of the day, when they come together as a "party of young fellows" (reflecting the social practices of the day, the females in this poem do not socialize with the males). Here, the corporate mentality that dominates the late-twentieth century is shown to us in its mirror image: While today we think of people working together all day to enjoy "free time" to pursue individual interest at the day's end, Whitman shows individuals who choose to spend their leisure time by uniting with other people. Perhaps the American way of life has changed this much since the poem was written. Then again, it is possible that the shift in the workplace, from manual labor to manipulating information, has made American jobs less individualistic, or that the rise of self-sufficient leisure activities, such as television and computer games, has given contemporary Americans less incentive to gather with others when the day is through. It could be, though, that the workers in Whitman's poem reflect an ideal that was just as unreal then as today, while being just as admired today as then. His workers are responsible and proud of their accomplishments and are also friendly and sociable. It is not easy to tell whether these admired traits were more common then, or Whitman just brought his vision to life in particularly effective way.

Style Analysis

"I Hear America Singing," like much of Whitman's poetry, is written in free verse. Free verse is characterized bu no regular pattern of meter and, is in this poem, usually incorporates no pattern of rhyme.

The major poetic device employed in the poem is its controlling metaphor. A metaphor is simply a figure of speech in which one thing is substituted for or used to identify another. A controlling metaphor impacts, controls, or unifies the entire poem. The expression "I Hear America Singing" substitutes "America" for "American people," and the effect is to identify the two--as well as the pople the poem depicts--as one in the same. This distinction, while subtle, is important because the rest of the poem builds on this metaphor by offering examples of the sorts of persons the speaker thinks quintessentially "American."

Similarly, references to "Singing," "song," and "carols" also serve as metaphors in the poem. "The varied carols" the speaker hears suggest the uniqueness of the persons singing them, and they become metaphors for individuality. Finally, when read in light of controlling metaphor, such references appear to allude to "American" individualism in particular.