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Home: Poetry: Walt Whitman: I Hear America Singing
| I HEAR AMERICA SINGING |
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a poem by Walt Whitman
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- 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 deckhand singing on the steamboat 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 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 young fellows, robust, friendly,
- Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs.
| "I Hear America Singing" is reprinted from Leaves of Grass. Walt Whitman. Brooklyn: Fowler & Wells, 1856. |
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