“I Hear America Singing,” “I Sit and Look Out,” & from “Song of Myself” Walt Whitman

“I Hear America Singing” …has neither meter nor rhyme. Free verse sounds more like “natural speech” than does traditional verse. Free verse adds to the spontaneous conversational tone of the poem.

“I Hear America Singing” The repetition of the word singing unifies the poem’s imagery. It emphasizes the idea of the entire population singing together.

“I Sit and Look Out” Whitman’s poem is a catalog of sorrows and injustices. With “I Hear…,” this poem depicts the duality of human existence: the joy and the sorrow the harmony and the despair the independence and helplessness

from “Song of Myself” The speaker is a representative of humanity. This song of himself is also a song of everyone. Everyone is closely connected on a cosmic level.

from “Song of Myself” What metaphors does the speaker use to describe what grass means to him? “the flag of my disposition” “the handkerchief of the lord” “a child, the unpronounced babe “uniform hieroglyphic” “uncut hair of graves”

from “Song of Myself” Death is not an end but a change to something else. Life and death are complementary forces. From death comes new life. Grass from graves.

from “Song of Myself” “I sound my barbaric yawp…” The speaker is uncivilized, unafraid to express himself. The speaker is natural and free.

from “Song of Myself” The lack of regular rhythms and rhymes of formal poetry is natural, bold, and free, and perhaps seen as barbaric.