Walt Whitman

I Hear America Singing

Varied carols metaphor

Whitman uses 'carols' to suggest work as a form of personal song or expression. Each worker creates their own musical contribution to national identity.

I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear;
Those of mechanics - each one singing his, as it should be,

Democratic labor portrait

Notice how Whitman lists workers from different trades, emphasizing dignity of labor across social classes.

blithe and strong;
The carpenter singing his, as he measures his plank and 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 streamboat 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

Gendered work representation

Whitman includes women's labor—mothers, wives, girls—alongside male workers, unusual for 1860s poetry.

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 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.
Source Wikipedia Poetry Foundation

Reading Notes

Whitman's Democratic Poetics

This poem is a foundational text of American democratic poetry. Whitman reimagines national identity not through grand political gestures, but through the everyday labor of ordinary people.

By presenting workers as singers, Whitman elevates manual labor to an art form. Each profession becomes a unique voice in a collective national chorus—carpenter, mason, shoemaker all contribute equally to America's song.

Performing National Identity

[HISTORICAL CONTEXT: Written pre-Civil War, when national unity was fragile] Whitman constructs America as a harmonious community through this poem, suggesting national identity emerges from shared work, not just shared geography.

The poem's rhythmic, list-like structure mirrors the collaborative, interconnected nature of labor itself. Each worker 'sings' their own part, but contributes to a larger, collective melody.