Compare and contrast two poems: "I Hear America Singing" by Walt Whitman, and "I Too Sing America" by Langston Hughes.

In "I, Too," Langston Hughes is obviously in conversation
with the earlier poem, Walt Whitman's "I Hear America Singing." Both poems explore the
idea of American identity -- who and what is an American? What characterizes the people
of this nation? The two poets, however, reach somewhat different conclusions in response
to these questions.

Whitman is known as the quintessential
American poet, in part due to poems like this one. Whitman's "Song of Myself" positions
the individual at the center, and the individual (at least Whitman as the individual) is
a multi-faceted, inclusive being. In "I Hear America Singing," Whitman refers to "the
varied carols" of different workers ("mechanics" [2]), "the carpenter" [3],  " the
mason" [4],  "the boatman" and "the deckman" [5], "the shoemaker" and "the hatter" [6],
"the wood-cutter" and "the ploughboy" [7]). Whitman includes workers of both genders,
listing "the mother," "the young wife at work," and "the girl sewing or washing" in line
8. These Americans at work are "singing what belongs to him or her and to none else,"
according to line 9. Whitman identifies each person with his or her task; the work is
what defines the person here. He then briefly mentions "the party of young fellows" at
night, presumably after work, who also sing "strong melodious songs" (11-12). Whitman's
various examples seem to be meant to cover many professions and both genders. The lines
of Whitman's poem are long and full of descriptive detail. There is no rhyme scheme or
attempt to break lines into stanzas. The poem flows freely, a stylistic reflection of
Whitman's central theme  -- the freedom of the
individual.

Hughes's "I,Too," however, seeks to point out
at least one blind spot in Whitman's ideal vision of America. Hughes begins by saying,
"I, too, sing America," which is an immediately recognizable allusion to Whitman's poem
and also implies that Whitman did not speak for Hughes. As Hughes's poem progresses, the
speaker describes himself as "the darker brother" (2). Here, in claiming a voice for
"the darker brother," Hughes suggests that this segment of the American population was
not covered in Whitman's vision. Hughes's speaker does not believe he was spoken for in
"I Hear America Singing" and must now speak up for himself. The speaker refers to being
sent "to eat in the kitchen," a form of racial segregation. Despite the shame implicit
in such an order, Hughes's speaker sees his time in the kitchen as a time to prepare ("I
laugh,/ And eat well,/ And grow strong" [5-7]) for "Tomorrow" (8). Hughes's speaker
recognizes his current oppression but intends to overcome it in the future. He envisions
not the present, as Whitman does, but a better future, one in which "Nobody'll dare/ Say
to me, 'Eat in the kitchen,'" (11-13). The speaker further argues that it is not he who
will be ashamed  but those who oppressed him, once they "see how beautiful [he is]"
(16). In the final line of the poem, Hughes revises slightly the phrasing of the opening
line: "I, too, am America" (18). This simple change of verb, from "sing" to "am" expands
Hughes's vision to a more inclusive one, one that more strongly asserts his identity as
an American. Stylistically, Hughes's poem is strikingly different than Whitman's. The
lines are short and are read in a staccato style. There are more stops and starts, and
the rhythm is more abrupt (not free-flowing like Whitman's). Hughes's speaker's vision
is, perhaps, as ambitious as Whitman's, but he is more realistic and he makes his point
with fewer words. This choice reflects the content of the poem in the sense that the
speaker, in the present at least, is not permitted the freedom to speak, to sing, or to
be in the way that Whitman's speaker is. 

While both poems
meditate on the American identity, different historical contexts and different facets of
identity (namely, race) result in different ideas about who is an American. Whitman's
vision is broad, and Hughes's is more specific; Hughes's poem suggests, though, that
even in its broadness, Whitman's vision is limited.