If there were a "Mr. Nineteenth-Century America" contest, Walt Whitman would win it for sure. He loved our fair land and spilled a whole lot of ink describing and celebrating America and its inhabitants in his poems. (Also, we can't resist that serious beard). In "I Hear America Singing," Whitman's vision of America involves workers—likes mechanics, carpenters, washerwomen, and ploughboys—all of whom work to make this nation great. For Whitman, there's nothing more honorable than an American's hard day's work, and his poem celebrates those people whose work so often goes unacknowledged. America was built not just by politicians and lawyers, but by masons, mothers, carpenters, and seamstresses, too.
Questions About Visions of America
- Does Whitman's vision of America have room for anything other than work?
- How do you feel about Whitman's intense patriotism? Is there any questioning of America's values in the poem?
- Is the poem's focus on work a result of Whitman's idiosyncratic pride in it? Or does America always endorse the importance of labor?
Chew on This
Whitman's vision of America is a teensy bit narrow-minded; after all, our country is made up of a lot more than just physical laborers.
"I Hear America Singing" is not just a product of Whitman's mind; it reinforces our country's centuries-long obsession with work.