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 deckhandsinging on the steamboat deck,The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the hatter singing ashe 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 youngfellows, robust, friendly,Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs.
Words in this poem
- blithe a.
- Gay; merry; sprightly; joyous; glad; cheerful; as, a blithe spirit. [AS. bli blithe, kind; akin to Goth. blei kind, Icel. bli mild, gentle, Dan. & Sw. blid gentle, D. blijd blithe, OHG. blidi kind, blithe.]
- boatman n.
- A man who manages a boat; a rower of a boat.
- shoemaker n.
- One whose occupation it is to make shoes and boots.
- hatter v. t.
- To tire or worry; -- out. [Prov. E., to entangle; cf. LG. verhaddern, verheddern, verhiddern.]
- sundown n.
- The setting of the sun; sunset.
Definitions and etymologies from Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913.
About this text
I Hear America Singing is in the public domain. This text is taken from Leaves of Grass, Project Gutenberg ebook #1322; the transcription's header, footer and licence were removed and nothing else was changed. You may copy, print and reuse it freely.
Cite as: Walt Whitman, I Hear America Singing, in Leaves of Grass (1855–1892), text of Project Gutenberg ebook #1322, Laurel, https://laurelpoetry.com/poem/whitman-leaves/i-hear-america-singing.html, id L03840.
Form and metre
I Hear America Singing is 16 lines in a single stanza. 79% of its stressed syllables fall where the metre puts the beat. The lines average 12.9 syllables. 3 lines end on an unstressed syllable, a feminine ending. 19% of the lines run on without a stop at the line end.
Measured by Laurel's pipeline, not copied from a handbook: how stress and metre are counted, how rhyme is lettered, how a drifted rhyme is found. Where the dictionary cannot confirm a rhyme the letter is withheld, not guessed.
Rhyme words, stanza by stanza
The word that ends each line, lettered by the rhyme it makes; a dash is a line whose rhyme the dictionary could not confirm.
- 1 ---A------AB-B-- hear · strong · beam · workA · deckhand · deck · as · stands · morning · sundown · workA · washingB · else · youngB · friendly · songs
Scansion, line by line
Each line with its syllable count and the stresses the words themselves fix: / stressed, ˘ unstressed, · a syllable the word leaves free and the metre decides. How this is done.
| Line | Syl. | Stress |
|---|---|---|
| I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear, | 15 | ··˘/˘˘/˘·/˘/˘·· |
| Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong, | 17 | ··˘/˘··/˘········ |
| The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam, | 15 | ·/˘˘/˘···/˘···· |
| The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work, | 17 | ·/˘/˘····/˘······ |
| The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat, the deckhand | 16 | ·/˘/˘·˘/········ |
| singing on the steamboat deck, | 7 | /˘··/·· |
| The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the hatter singing as | 18 | ·/·˘/˘·······/˘/˘· |
| he stands, | 2 | ·· |
| The wood-cutter’s song, the ploughboy’s on his way in the morning, | 15 | ··/˘·········/˘ |
| or at noon intermission or at sundown, | 11 | ····˘/˘··/· |
| The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at work, | 17 | ·˘/˘/˘··/˘······· |
| or of the girl sewing or washing, | 9 | ····/˘·/˘ |
| Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else, | 14 | ·/˘·˘/········ |
| The day what belongs to the day--at night the party of young | 15 | ···˘/······/˘·· |
| fellows, robust, friendly, | 6 | /˘˘//˘ |
| Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs. | 13 | /˘·/˘···˘/˘˘· |
The reader shows the same poem with its rhymes coloured and a stress row above each line, the notes beside their stanzas, and any word's definition on a tap; the analysis page takes the whole book apart. How every part of this site was made.