Anaphoric Lists
Walt Whitman sure did love a good list. Lists are all over his poems and "I Hear America Singing" is no different. The poem uses a particularly list-friendly poetic device: anaphora. Anaphora is the repetition of words or phrases at the beginning lines of poetry. For example:
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. (3-5)
Each of these lines begins with a "the," followed by a worker—the carpenter, the mason, the boatman, and then the word "singing." Whitman loved a good anaphoric list. Lists offer a feeling of plentitude, and Whitman's lists make us feel that they could go on forever until he's detailed the profession of every last American worker. American workers: collect 'em all.