Compare the two poems below:
1) What is similar and what is different in the two poems dedicated to the same theme
State the theme. establish similarities first and then talk about the differences.
You may also use one of these guides to apply
Apply one or several of the attached methods of analyzing poetry:
1) Charles Bernstein’s “Poem profiler”
2) Read and then use “Basic definition” (see attached below)
Later we will try also Helen Vendler’s “Step-by-Step method to thoroughly explicating the poem
To decide in what ways these two poems are similar and different
Walt Whitman (1819-1892)
I Hear America Singing (1867)
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 deck-
hand singing on the steamboat deck,
The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the hatter singing
as he stands,
The woodcutter’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 the girl sewing or washing,
Each singing what belongs to him or her and to none else,
The day what belongs to the day—at night the party of young
fellows, robust, friendly,
Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs.
Langston Hughes
I, Too, Sing America (1926)
I am the darker brother
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong,
Tomorrow,
I’ll sit at the table
When company comes,
Nobody’ll dare
Say to me.
“Eat in the kitchen,”
Then.
Besides,
They’ll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed–
I, too, am America
Apply one or several of the attached methods of analyzing poetry:
1) Charles Bernstein’s “Poem profiler”
2) Read and then use “Basic definition”
Later we will try also Helen Vendler’s “Step-by-Step method to thoroughly explicating the poem
To decide in what ways these two poems are similar and different