Read Walt Whitman's poem "I Hear America Singing."
Unlike Hughes in "I. Too, Sing America", Whitman avoids
mentioning
race.
gender.
professions.
skills.
I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,
Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be
blithe and strong,
The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or
beam,
The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or
leaves off work,
The boatman singing what belongs to him in his boat, the
deckhand
singing on the steamboat deck,
The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the hatter
singing as he stands,
The wood-cutter's song, the ploughboy's on his way in the
morning, or
at noon intermission or at sundown.
The delicious singing of the mother, or of the young wife at
work, or of
Mark this and return
Save and Exit
Samnet