How Poetry Can Describe America

Since America gained its independence in 1776 it has become one of the best countries to live in, because of the values built on. These values include patriotism, bravery, hard work, and freedom. Walt Whitman is an American poet who is known as one of the biggest influences in American literature (“Walt Whitman Biography”). Whitman, who lived to witness the civil war, was always a big fan of the freedoms and liberties that were offered to American citizens (“Walt Whitman Biography”). He even wrote pieces about them a few times. ee cummings is also known as a great influence on American literature, and is known for his abnormal writing structure (“ee cummings biography”). In Walt Whitman’s “I Hear America Singing” and e.e. cummings’ “next to of course god america i”, the two great poets give their opinions on how they think America is and what it should be. Both poets do this through giving great insight on the differing views of what it means to live by true American patriotism. Walt Whitman follows the traditional view of patriotism, and describes how being a patriot is all about hard work and the pursuit of happiness. On the other hand, cummings gives a differing approach on how the traditional views of patriotism have been abused through his writing.

Whitman portrays ideas of hard work and the use of one’s freedoms to express his beliefs on patriotism in “I Hear American Singing”. An example of this is how each working person described is singing their own songs. By working hard and staying determined, people believe they can achieve success in America. This describes the American dream in nutshell, and it is an idea that America was founded on. Whitman’s poem maintained an upbeat mood throughout the text, while cummings’ poem took a different route to get his ideas across.

cummings sets his poem in the midst of a war to explain how he feels patriotism has been abused in “next to of course god america i”. The poem harshly says “these happy heroic dead / who rushed like lions to the roaring slaughter / they did not stop to think they died” (10-12). These lines are very powerful, because they describe how hard American’s fight to get the freedoms and liberties that every person should be entitled to. The way cummings intended it to be, however, shows how people in America have abused patriotism through what they do during war. The slaughtering and killing of others is not the something a true patriot would do according to cummings. cummings’ also had a sarcastic tone when describing the events taking place during the war in his poem, and it goes hand in hand with his pessimistic views on patriotism. However, the ideas of the text aren’t the only way that these poems differ in getting their points across.

The structure of the text is another key detail between these poems that separates them from each other. Walt Whitman’s poem does not use a rhyme scheme, but he gets his ideas off in other creative ways through language and structure. Personification is seen in “I Hear America Singing” within the title to help give readers an idea about what the poem is going to be about. Whitman’s use of the word strong multiple times throughout the poem shows a lot about what he thinks of America. He believes that the strong, hard working, and dedicated people in this country are the reason why America is so great. Whitman also uses the repetition of ‘The (insert profession)’ to start many of his lines. This is important, because it shows how all of these different American workers come together to create something much bigger than themselves. This shows his idea of what true American patriotism is in itself.

The structure of “next to of course god america i” is very unorthodox and attributes to the meaning of the poem in several ways. Some of the lines sing the same melody as the “Star Spangled Banner” by Francis Scott Key and “My Country, Tis of Thee” by Samuel Francis Scott. Examples of this are when cummings states “…say can you see by the dawn’s early…” and “my country ‘tis of…” (3-4). This odd choice of referencing only parts of lines from these songs helps readers feel the sarcastic mood of this poem a lot stronger. It takes the patriotic meaning out of the lines by cutting them short, and cummings does this to express how things have changed since these songs have been written. cummings’ poem is also unique from Whitman’s because he only uses one capital letter throughout the entire work, and it is the last line which is separated from the rest of the text. This irregular structure combined with well-placed enjambment helps form a very unique piece of literature. This style is used to show the sarcasm in this particular poem. Cummings feels that patriotism is not put into action how it used to or should be. Killing people and acting like savages is not what America is about, and people need to realize this before our country becomes the opposite of what it was created it for.

Overall, Whitman and cummings works can be compared and contrasted to describe how America is and what it should be. Whitman’s work shows the more optimistic side of patriotism while cummings shows the hidden, more pessimistic side of how patriotism has been abused. In all, both of these sides show the true ideals of America and how we have dealt with becoming the country we are today.

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