A Textual History of Walt Whitman’s Poem I Hear America Singing
In American literary history, Walt Whiteman remains one of the most revered poets. As an editor in the 19th century, Whitman effectively managed to gain his place as one of the renowned poets in the American history with his patriotic-themed poems that illuminated and rallied the American society after the devastating American Civil War. The poem, I Hear America Singing was published in 1860 after Whitman handwrote it. Since there was no advanced technology that could have aided the typing of the work, the first copy of the poem manifested through a handwritten format. Though the poem I Hear America Singing has emerged as one of the most significant literary pieces in the world, its publication under the broader poetic collection Leaves of Grass started in 1855. However, the publication of the manuscript hit a snag, with both the critics and renowned poetic scholars giving it a wide berth. However, through revisions and multiple deletions, the poem remains one of the outstanding works. The traditional typewriters type the current existing manuscripts, but the handwritten samples of the poem are out of reach as the endless revisions of the works translated to discarding the previous versions of the works in most instances. However, the manuscripts of the poem could be found in different libraries, with the notable place remaining at the Congress Library.
The Subsequent Publication History of This Work
Before the publication of this work, Whitman had been harboring aspiration to establish himself as one of the influential poets in the American society and to be among the contender of the title of the Great American Poet (Allen, 14). However, after the creation of the poem, there was no positive response received from the critics and in the marketplace. The development did not only spell momentary doom for Whitman but also illustrated the steps he needed to become a polished poet during those periods. Under the broader Leaves of Grass collections, Whitman personally published the poem and other collections of poems in 1855 (Allen, 20). The lack of support or a critical review of the poem was a signal that more work needed to be done. Subsequently, Whitman embarked on a series of revisions, an aspect that garnered the support of Ralph Waldo Emerson (Allen, 52). During that period, a positive comment from the renowned poets and scholars like Waldo was seen as not only instrumental but also as a key that could have unlocked the full potentiality of the individual. Despite the positive comment from Waldo, the subsequent publications underwent multiple changes that, according to Whitman, reflected his ever-evolving life that needed to be captured periodically (Yoneyama, 130). The following publications of the manuscripts are estimated to be the works of over six revisions.
Notable Differences in Different Editions
As opposed to most of the writers during his time that ensured that their manuscripts remained unchanged after their first publications, Whitman engaged continuously in the revisions of his manuscripts to align to the issues he needed captured and attain a given threshold for quality (Allen, 85). These revisions were characterized by rewriting and subsequently re-issuing the works that were previously published and ensuring that the information captured there are new and effectively achieved the desired literacy demands and reflected upon the personal experiences of the poet (Yoneyama, 130). According to Whitman, the Leaves of Grass, the collection of poems that housed the poem I Hear America Singing, did not equate to a book but was rather a reflection of the life of a man (Allen, 46). Thus, any aspect of the collection of the poems, just like the poem in the discussion, was bound to change immensely.
The first notable change was the title of the poem that shifted from the title Song of Myself in 1855 to the American Mouth Songs in 1860 to the I Hear America Singing in 1867 which remained until it was finally printed as a complete version of the work (Allen, 34). During the changes from the title Song of Myself to I Hear America Singing, Whitman removed the poem from the collection that was mostly known as the Chants Democratic denoted by number 20 and gave it the title that remained until it was eventually published independently as the polished work (Allen, 36). According to Whitman, the changes represented the changes that the country experienced after the wake of the America Civil War. After removal the poem from the cluster of poems under the Chants Democratic, Whitman embarked on several rewriting changes of the first line of the first version to the one with a dactylic meter and giving it a carol sense, an aspect that immensely prompted various musical compositions to be anchored on the poem (Yoneyama, 130). The other notable change is the introduction of the first line of the poem with words such as “I Hear America Singing, the varied carols I hear” (Barnes, 1). The line was gravely absent in the initial version of the poem. The other notable change when the poem was revised from the American Mouth Songs to I Hear America Singing is the deletion of the second stanza of the poem after line nine of the first stanza. Initially, in the American Mouth Songs, the poem had a supposed two verses with the last stanza made of only three lines (Allen, 62). The lines in the second stanza was a rallying call for the American who was still whining about the past to come and join hands and effectively help in rebuilding the nation. “Come! Some of you! Still be flooding The States with hundreds and thousands of mouth-songs fit for The States only” (Allen, 11). The changes are not evident in the final manuscript of the poem after it underwent six revisions.
In these changes before the final publication of the poem, Whitman and not the editor, made the changes as he deemed necessary to polish the work and make it relatively reflective of the experiences of his everyday encounter in life. According to Whitman, the changes in the poem were reminiscent of the changes in the life of an individual daily (Allen, 23). Therefore, the changes in the poem were instrumental in capturing Whitman’s experience that was evolving in different ways, and it was only prudent that the poem is continuously revised to capture multiple experiences of the poet.
The Intended Audiences of the Editions of the Poem
Since the first manuscript, Whitman’s poem, I Hear America Singing, was grounded in representing multiple individuals in the working class in American society. In the poem, Whitman refers to the working-class individuals in the American society by mentioning different individuals such as the woodcutter, the mason, shoemaker, and women knitting in the nation (Allen, 203). Conspicuously absent in the poem are the elite class or the rich in society. Despite the six revisions and the alteration of the poem from 1855 to when it was established, Whitman regularly maintained the intended audience of his work and ignored the perceived contributions of the elite and affluent individuals in the society (Yoneyama, 131). Therefore, the intended audience in the poem is the working class in the US, and their representation in the poetry remains unchanged throughout in a bid that is seen as many as Whitman’s vision that rebuilding the American society after the civil war is immensely reliant on the working class ((Yoneyama, 133). The belief as espoused in the first manuscript of the poem remains unchanged in the subsequent versions of the poem as the intending audience remains.
On the other hand, the words that were used during that time have not changed but workhad an immense contribution during that particular era. For instance, Whitman selectively uses the words that refer to the working class in the American society to motivate them towards improving the economy of the country after the bloody American civil war (Nielsen, 90). In the poem, Whitman consciously portrays men as the working class in American society, an aspect that truly reflected the reality on the ground during such period. In the 19th century, when the poem was created, women’s roles in the society were minimized, and their contributions towards nation-building were immensely curtailed by the patriarchal society (Nielsen, 94). Therefore, by Whitman portraying the role of women through the description “The delicious singing of the mother, or the young wife at work, or of the girl sewing or washing,” he uses the words correctly to portray the actual role of women in the American society by then (Barnes, 1). However, phrases like “delicious singing” could be an infringement of the parameters of grammar as espoused in the Oxford dictionary, but in this case, the aspect of poetic license arises.
Annotated Bibliography
Yoneyama, Masafumi. “Whitman’s “America”: An Explication of “I Hear America Singing”.” 外国文学 51 (2002): 129-135.
The author of the article explains the poem from the patriotic perspective and highlights the conspicuous neglect of the ruling and elite class that constituted the American society. According to the article, Whitman consciously left behind the ruling class to unify the people, show them they hold the future of the country, and to motivate them to effectively work in realizing the dreams of the country after the American Civil War.
Allen, Gay Wilson. “The New Walt Whitman Handbook.” (1975): 2-410.
The material equates Whitman’s autobiography as it examines the life of the poet from based on the existing information about the journalist turned poet. The book asserts that Walt’s poem I Hear America Sing remains one of the essential poetic works since it catapulted Whitman in the literary scene in unexpected ways.
Barnes, Ruth A. I hear America singing: an anthology of folk poetry. Winston, 1937: 1.
Though the journal has multiple poetry in the given anthology, it also contains Whitman’s poem from a scholarly perspective. The poem is portrayed as having strictly nine lines, an aspect that shows that it highlights the final version of the poem.
Nielsen, Fred. “Singing American history.” Teaching History: A Journal of Methods 26.2 (2001): 89-98.
According to the article, Whitman’s poem, I hear American Singing is a perfect reflection of the history of America. The report notes that out of pride for his country and great vision, Whitman foresaw an American future that is propelled by the working class and the elites doing less.
Works Cited
Allen, Gay Wilson. “The New Walt Whitman Handbook.” (1975): 2-410.
Barnes, Ruth A. I hear America singing: an anthology of folk poetry. Winston, 1937: 1.
Nielsen, Fred. “Singing American history.” Teaching History: A Journal of Methods 26.2 (2001): 89-98.
Yoneyama, Masafumi. “Whitman’s “America”: An Explication of “I Hear America Singing”.” 外国文学 51 (2002): 129-135.