I hear America Singing

Project About the poem I hear America Singing by Walt Whitman

1. I hear America Singing By: Christian Bridges

2. Walt Whitman Born May 31 st , 1819 in West Hills, New York Whitman grew up poor with 8 brothers and sisters. His family moved a lot, and he described his childhood as restless and unhappy. When Whitman was 14, he became a Whig for a newspaper in Brooklyn, New York . At age 16, Whitman quit his job and became a typesetter in New York City. Due to a fire and economic collapse in 1836, Whitman lost his job and moved back to his hometown, where he became a teacher, even though he did not enjoy it. He gave up teaching after a while and founded his own newspaper. After a while, he gave up the newspaper and sold it to someone else. In 1846, Whitman moved back to New York City, where he had many jobs working for newspapers. In the early 1850’s, Whitman decided he wanted to be a poet. He wrote his first poem in 1855, called Leaves of Grass . In the 1860’s during the civil war, Whitman wrote poetic battle cries for the Union army. Then, in 1862, he saw in a newspaper that his brother had died in the war. He made his way south, and found his brother alive with only a minor wound. After that, Whitman swore he would never go back to New York City. So he settled in Washington, D.C. After settling in D.C., he got a job as a government clerk. During this time, one of his brothers died of tuberculosis, he sent one to an insane asylum, and another was captured by the confederate army. After the civil war, Whitman continued to write many poems. But, in the 1870’s his health began to worsen, and he had a stroke in 1873. Even as his health worsened, he made a name for himself as a poet. When he finally dies in 1892, over a thousand people attended his funeral

3. I hear America Singing 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.

4. Recording of the poem https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=snICjHsrzfc

5. Summary The poem is a joyful list of people working away. Then, Whitman states that he can hear America singing and then he describes all the people that make up America. He says that each worker sings what belongs to him or her. In the first few lines of the poem, the speaker says I hear America singing, which he is referring to the American people. The poem is pretty much what it talks about. When the speaker says that he hears America singing, he literally hears all of the people in America singing. This poem is a free verse poem, which means that is doesn't have any rhyme or meter, and the poem is pretty straightforward.

6. Analysis The poem is about singing and working, which to Whitman symbolized both uniqueness and the universal. Which basically means that we can sing alone, or together as a group. Whitman also symbolized that singing brings America together. Walt Whitman loved to write in free verse, and to him free verse meant freedom. Even though it is free verse, the poem is very organized. Most of the poem actually appears as a list. The speaker in the poem is a person who sounds a lot like Whitman himself. Apparently, this isn’t a good thing. The speaker loves A mericans. He loves all the regular people going about their regular lives. He finds joy in everyday work. He especially loves people who do hard work and then don’t get acknowledged for it. The setting of the story is anywhere work is being done across America. Throughout the poem, it keeps building excitement, until it peaks out at the line “singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs”. The title of this poem is very straightforward. It is exactly what the poem is about. Americans singing while they work.

7. Themes Work: The first theme of the poem is work. In the poem, Whitman celebrates labor. He glorifies the labor that often gets unnoticed, like the hatters, deckhands, and carpenters. But, Whitman only acknowledges the hard labor. He doesn’t acknowledge the white-collared jobs like lawyers and politicians. Visions of America: Whitman's visions of America involve lots of work, just like the last theme. Again, Whitman's visions of America involve celebrating the work that goes unnoticed. Whitman really did not like work going unnoticed. The poem basically says that America was built by all the hard laborers, not the lawyers and the business men. (remember, this poem was written in the 1860’s) Music: the final theme of this poem is music. In the poem, everyone is singing- which represents their uniqueness and also their togetherness. It also represents working to build America.

8. Literary elements Even though the poem is free verse, there are lots of examples of literary elements. Anaphora: Whitman's lines get longer as the poem goes on. They also have repetition at the beginning of the lines assonance: there is assonance in the final line of the poem, with the words strong and song. Alliteration: There is also alliteration in the poem, with a lot of the words beginning with “s”

9. Original poem I feel a change coming My body glows red with the morning light and shines like the fire of a witch burning innocent children I feel a change coming A loud noise escapes my mouth Like the scream of an antelope being crushed by a garage door I feel a change coming A light flashes out of my eyes Blinding everyone like a deer standing in front of an oncoming train And then, like a lightning bolt striking a tree I have changed

10. Translated poem Ich fühle eine Veränderung kommen Mein Körper leuchtet rot, mit dem Morgenlicht und glänzt wie das Feuer eines Hexenverbrennung unschuldige Kinder Ich fühle eine Veränderung kommen Ein lautes Geräusch entgeht meinem Mund Wie der Schrei einer Antilope von einem Garagentor zerquetscht Ich fühle eine Veränderung kommen Ein Lichtblitze aus den Augen Blendende jeder wie ein Hirsch, der vor einem entgegenkommenden Zug Und dann, wie ein Blitz einen Baum fällt Ich habe mich verändert