Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Walt Whitman: one of the first to utilize free verse

He serves as a prelude to modernist poets such as Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot

  • 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 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.
  • America
  • Centre of equal daughters, equal sons,
  • All, all alike endear’d, grown, ungrown, young or old,
  • Strong, ample, fair, enduring, capable, rich,
  • Perennial with the Earth, with Freedom, Law and Love,
  • A grand, sane, towering, seated Mother,
  • Chair’d in the adamant of Time.
  • For You, O Democracy
  • Come, I will make the continent indissoluble,
  • I will make the most splendid race the sun ever shone upon, 
  • I will make divine magnetic lands, 
  •                    With the love of comrades, 
  •                       With the life-long love of comrades.
  • I will plant companionship thick as trees along all the rivers of America, and along the shores of the great lakes, and all over the prairies, 
  • I will make inseparable cities with their arms about each other’s necks, 
  •                    By the love of comrades, 
  •                       By the manly love of comrades.
  • For you these from me, O Democracy, to serve you ma femme! 
  • For you, for you I am trilling these songs.
Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman (1819-1892) was one of the premier poets of American verse, and one of the most influential poets in both American and world literature. One of the first poets to utilize free verse – poetry that employs neither a strict rhyme scheme nor a strict metrical or stanza pattern – Whitman serves as a prelude to modernist poets such as Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot. Whitman collected his poems in a single volume, Leaves of Grass, which celebrates humanity in all its forms and occupations, and also sang the praises of the unique contributions which American democracy and republicanism have made to human freedom and human dignity.

Sponsored
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

At Comedor Nishi a world of cuisines meet for brunch

A Mexican eatery with Japanese and French influences
Next Article

Rapper Wax wishes his name looked like an email password

“You gotta be search-engine optimized these days”
  • 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 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.
  • America
  • Centre of equal daughters, equal sons,
  • All, all alike endear’d, grown, ungrown, young or old,
  • Strong, ample, fair, enduring, capable, rich,
  • Perennial with the Earth, with Freedom, Law and Love,
  • A grand, sane, towering, seated Mother,
  • Chair’d in the adamant of Time.
  • For You, O Democracy
  • Come, I will make the continent indissoluble,
  • I will make the most splendid race the sun ever shone upon, 
  • I will make divine magnetic lands, 
  •                    With the love of comrades, 
  •                       With the life-long love of comrades.
  • I will plant companionship thick as trees along all the rivers of America, and along the shores of the great lakes, and all over the prairies, 
  • I will make inseparable cities with their arms about each other’s necks, 
  •                    By the love of comrades, 
  •                       By the manly love of comrades.
  • For you these from me, O Democracy, to serve you ma femme! 
  • For you, for you I am trilling these songs.
Walt Whitman

Walt Whitman (1819-1892) was one of the premier poets of American verse, and one of the most influential poets in both American and world literature. One of the first poets to utilize free verse – poetry that employs neither a strict rhyme scheme nor a strict metrical or stanza pattern – Whitman serves as a prelude to modernist poets such as Ezra Pound and T.S. Eliot. Whitman collected his poems in a single volume, Leaves of Grass, which celebrates humanity in all its forms and occupations, and also sang the praises of the unique contributions which American democracy and republicanism have made to human freedom and human dignity.

Sponsored
Sponsored
Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Gonzo Report: Hockey Dad brings UCSD vets and Australians to the Quartyard

Bending the stage barriers in East Village
Next Article

Big kited bluefin on the Red Rooster III

Lake fishing heating up as the weather cools
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader