Analysis of I Hear America Singing

Walt Whitman 1819 (West Hills) – 1892 (Camden)



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 the 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 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.


Scheme ABCDEFGHIJ
Poetic Form
Metre 110100100101011 11010111011111101 010010111101111 01010111110111111 010101011101101101011 0101011111101010111 01110111100101101010111 00101010101101111110110110110101100111 011011011101011100110 1011011101001
Characters 873
Words 147
Sentences 2
Stanzas 1
Stanza Lengths 10
Lines Amount 10
Letters per line (avg) 66
Words per line (avg) 15
Letters per stanza (avg) 659
Words per stanza (avg) 145
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Submitted on May 13, 2011

Modified on April 24, 2023

44 sec read
310

Walt Whitman

Walter "Walt" Whitman was an American poet, essayist and journalist. more…

All Walt Whitman poems | Walt Whitman Books

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