Comparison of Two Poems: I Hear America Singing by Walt Whitman and I, Too by Langston Hughes - Essay Example

Comparison of Two Poems Walt Whitman is a legendary, American but is specifically remembered as a poet. He embraced humanistic values and helped to usher in the bridge between transcendence and realism. Whitman is acknowledged in the American canon and is often referred to as the father of “free verse”. Similarly, the writer Langston Hughes has become a poetic legend. Hughes is best known for his involvement in the Harlem Renaissance. The purpose of this paper, is to compare and contrast a poem by Walt Whitman and a poem by Langston Hughes. The two works being discussed are I Hear America Singing by Walt Whitman and I, Too by Langston Hughes. Specifically, the two pieces will be compared to illustrate that though Whitman’s piece celebrates a broad aspect of American culture (working men and women), he has not done so thoroughly enough as his piece seems to virtually categorize individuals by their occupations. Even though he intends to portray a multi layered strata of individuals which make up a larger group, he has perhaps forgotten about the “darker brother” which Hughes’ piece reminds us to consider. In the piece entitled I Hear America Sing, Whitman essentially discusses laborers of different trades, all working at their respective jobs but yet working in unison. This is done somewhat, through the personification of the group as a whole versus the individuals which make up the group. This can be almost attributed to a communist type of thought where everyone is a member of the overall big picture. It is a well known fact that Whitman embraced the idea of preserving and celebrating humanity, and thus it makes sense for some of his work to reflect a lot of this ideology. Whitman is obviously displaying an empathetic view point towards the working man and woman which as a unit, compose America as he knew it. The poet Langston Hughes reflects a response to Whitman’s poem with his won entitled I, Too. There is no doubt that Hughes intended to get his point across to his readers by catching them in the first line of the first stanza, “I, too sing America”(Hughes, 1). This line is a response to Whitman’s first line of I Hear America Sing which reads, “I hear America sing”(Whitman, 1). The next line of Hughes’ piece declares, “I am the darker brother”(Hughes, 2). With this line, Hughes reminds his readers that an observation of America as a whole, will reveal that there is a sense of forgotten culture or ethnicity which is comprised of African Americans. In other words, Hughes grabs his readers’ attention by pointing out that perhaps the first image one may conjure when they think of America, is one void of any blacks. This is also a reminder that America is not America without the cultural diversity which at that time, was not celebrated in any way. With even more breadth, Hughes continues his poem by explaining that he is directed to eat in the kitchen, when guests are present at his employers’ home. Hughes goes on to almost mock the ignorance of racism and segregation by declaring that he will not only eat in the kitchen, but he will do so and enjoy his meal while supplying strength to his body, “They send me to eat in the kitchen When company comes, But I laugh, And eat well, And grow strong.”(Hughes, 3-7). Whitman’s piece however, simply enters in to the listing of various occupations held by the American working person. Whitman does not discuss color or ethnicity, but he discusses the entirety of the working population. Whitman lived during the 1800s and therefore saw slavery as well as the lean availability of job positions for African Americans. Had he intended to mention African Americans along with the overall working class, he would have had to have done so by discussing the few job positions of a select few African Americans. This obviously has created a sense of exclusion, which is most likely the motive for Hughes’ poem which essentially responds to Whitman’s. The next few lines of Whitman’s piece simply name different occupations held by Americans of the working class, “Those of mechanics, Each one sing 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”(Whitman, 3-6). These couple of lines are actually a stark contrast to the brief description of what an African American worker, would entail. He is noting the inhumanity of shuffling a servant off to the kitchen when there are guests. It is within the second stanza however, that Hughes changes his voice altogether and exclaims that he will defy this injustice by defying it, “Tomorrow, Ill be at the table When company comes. Nobodyll dare Say to me, "Eat in the kitchen," Then“(Hughes, 8-14). Whitman on the other hand, does not generate such a voice through his piece. In fact, he maintains the same voice and emphasis throughout. His piece can be summed up easily by mentioning that he is celebrating the group as a whole which is composed of different people. Whitman however, has simply not bothered to mention that America’s population is not just white men at white men jobs, “Whitman uses nouns that denote labor and industry such as: mechanics, mason, work, deckhand, shoemaker, hatter, woodcutter, ploughboy, and mother. These words conjure images of the working class society. This is the majority of Americans”(Brock, 2008). Both Whitman and Hughes share a purpose which is to acknowledge a group of people who perhaps are forgotten or taken advantage of. Whitman has obviously done so for the working class but not to the tune of truly remembering all of America and those which shed sweat and tears like everyone else. Hughes is embarking on a poem that reaches far deeper than Whitman’s piece, as it recognizes the oppression and treatment of blacks living in America at that time. Certainly, many different pieces were written by many black writers, depicting the injustice and trechery of how blacks were treated. These works are menat to perhaps instigate the human side of their readers while recording the suffering which was endured by blacks at the time. An elment of Whitman’s pice which is easily unrecognizable, is that during the nineteenth century, virtually every one was a working man. There were few jobs of prestige which compare to many that exist today. For one to be a working man, was not in any way uncommon and was a way of life. In today’s society, it is easy to view a distinct class system in America which consists of the blue collar worker who works all of his/her life just to survive. There is also however, educational oppertunities and high paying positions to be acquired with the right background and schooling. This leaves a very distinct line in class systems of today that were not as present during the time in which Whitman wrote this piece. In hind site, it is as though Whitman missed the larger picture and was overshadowed by the poem entitled I, Too by Langston Hughes. Certainly, Hughes displays a more altruistic purpose for his piece as he is pointing out something so greatly important that even though Whitman’s poem attempted to do something similar, it was really not the entirety of the overall picture. Whitman does not recant the hard and tedious work put into America by blacks, which in most cases, were indentured servants and therefore worked with no pay. Clearly, both pieces grasp at an understanding of the plight of many Americans, but not with the same message or delivery which Hughes utilizes. Hughes reminds us of a time when the black individual was hardly even acknowledged as human let alone in a poem celebrating one’s hard work. Works Cited: Brock, Wendy. (2008) “Poetry Analysis: I Hear America Sing”, Helium.com, retrieved 15 July, 2008 from website at: http://www.helium.com/items/1114994-walt-whitman-i-hear-america-sing- poetry-analysis-theme-connotation-industry-poem Hughes, Langston, I, Too”, retrieved 15 July, 2008 from website at: http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/i-too/ Rhynes, Martha E., (2002) “I, Too Sing America, the Story of Langston Hughes”, Morgan Reynolds Inc., Greensboro, North Carolina. Whitman, Walt, “I Hear America Sing”, retrieved 15 July, 2008 from website at: http://www.welcometonewyork.com.cn/forum/frame.php?frameon=yes&ref erer=http%3A//www.welcometonewyork.com.cn/forum/viewthread.php%3 Ftid%3D4393 Read More