Walt Whitman’s “I Hear America Singing” and Langston Hughes’ “I, Too” both share similarities. Whitman’s poem is about the citizens of America each doing their own duties to keep America thriving. Hughes’ poem is in the perspective of an African American who works as a servant in a household that tells him to go to the kitchen to eat because they are ashamed of him. Both poems compare singing to a profession. In “I Hear America Singing”, Whitman uses singing as a way to bring the people together to celebrate America through their hard work at their job. This was clearly mentioned in the last line of his poem, “Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs”.
The same line also portrays America’s pride for their job and how the working class truly wants to be represented. In “I, Too”, Hughes’ also uses singing as a way to show his profession and his hard work as a servant. The first line of “I, Too” further emphasizes Hughes’ pride as an African American worker in America, “I, too, sing America”. The line shows that Hughes’, too, takes pride in his job as a servant, but unfortunately isn’t getting recognised as a person in the working class and wishes to be. Hughes’ wishes to be represented is signified in the last line of the poem, which states, “I, too, am America”. There are also many differences between Whitman and Hughes’ poems.
Despite the similarities, there are various differences in “I, too” and “I Hear America Singing”. The most obvious difference between the two poems is that Hughes’ “I, too” is in the perspective of an African American worker while Whitman’s “I Hear America Singing” fails to acknowledge African Americans. Walt Whitman’s poem was written in 1855, which was ten years before the thirteenth amendment was passed. This means that African Americans were still considered slaves and were heavily oppressed. Langston Hughes’ poem was written in 1925 which was before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that stopped segregation.
