Compare And Contrast Langston Hughes And Walt Whitman

Born ten years after the death of Walt Whitman, there was no possible way for Langston Hughes to ever meet or communication with Whitman, but that did not mean Hughes could not establish a connection to him, or at least his work. In 1925, Hughes wrote a poem titled “I, Too” was inspired by and directed in response to the poem “I Hear America Singing”, which was composed by Whitman much earlier. Whitman’s poem consisted of a variety of different American laborers who “sing” as they do their jobs. This well-known poem never specifically addresses the ethnicity of these singing laborers of the American population, but Hughes sets about to rectify that omission.

No two poets have the same exact influences when they begin writing. William Wordsworth and Langston Hughes grew up in different times and lived quite different lives. When you compare the poems, “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud” by William Wordsworth and “Mother to Son” by Langston Hughes, you can see they had unique influences in their writing. The poems may seem quite different but they also share some similarities. Hughes and Wordsworth use two different styles to develop a similar topic. The poems have similarities and differences in their structure, tone, ideas, and literary elements used in the poems.

Langston Hughes was a poet with many artistic abilities. His writing and drawings established the lifestyles of many African Americans during this time. In a poem called “I, Too” Hughes express his feelings as an African American, a brother, and someone who deserves to fit in society. He states “I, too sing America” (1039). Hughes saw himself as an individual who has a voice in America even though his skin is a little darker. In a poem called “Democracy” Hughes states: “I have as much right as the other fellow has to stand on my own two feet and own the land” (1043). Hughes was speaking for every African American whom were still dealing with segregation, racism, and freedom.

        One of the most noticable similarities between the two pieces of poetry, "I Hear America Singing", and "I, Too, Sing America", is the theme of unity. Both poems express what America is, and that is the people in America. Whitman's poem however, doesn't include blacks in his poem, but all other kinds of people. Hughes', poem makes it so that he is included. For example, Whitman's poem celebrates, "The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam,

In this paper I will be talking about the similarities and differences in the two different poems. The two poems were written by two incredible poets and were probably one of the best in their lifetimes. The first poem is written by Walt Whitman and is called “ I Hear America Singing”. The other poem is by Langston Hughes and is called “I, Too, Sing America” .Many people believe that Langston Hughes wrote his poem “I, Too, Sing America” in response to Walt Whitman's poem “ I Hear America Singing”. Some people have a completely opposite opinion and say that the two poems have nothing to with each other. Langston Hughes did many things in his life. Some of them include being an American poet, social activist, novelist, playwright, and a

Langston Hughes wrote a poem that some believe is in response to a poem Walt Whitman made. Walt Whitman’s poem “I hear America Singing” is basically a description of the people who made up America at the time. The mothers, the carpenters, the masons, the shoemakers, the wood cutters, etc, were all the different types of people that made up what America, said of the poem. With Langston Hughes's poem “I, Too, Sing America”, the poem is making a sort of claim that Hughes’s and blacks alike also have a right to feel patriotic towards and be a part of America. Both poems are pretty similar to what they’re subject is (America), but they are quite different when it comes to what exactly the two poems are mainly focusing on.

“When I Heard the Learn’d Astronomer” by Walt Whitman is the recollection of a speaker that attended an astronomer’s lecture only to be bored and leaves the room to enjoy the stars without scientific analyzation hindering their natural beauty. On the other hand, “324” by Emily Dickinson demonstrates the role of nature in the speaker’s personal connection to religion and God instead of attending Church and sermons. Although their topics seem so unlike, the poetic devices within them have both similarities and differences. Whitman’s and Dickinson’s poems bear many differences, including structure, meter, and rhyme, while remaining alike in their use of imagery to convey like attitudes towards traditionalism and nature.

Thirdly, Both writers use a lot of imagery in their poems, they use a big amount of imagination to tell their experiences. Each poem is developed out of

In Walt Whitman's poem he talks about the American jobs and all the difference tunes they play while in Langston Hughes poem he talks about African Americans and how the future will be different. One may not be able to notice at first but these two poems share a lot of similarities. Both these poems state phrases such as “ I, Too am America”, or “ I hear America” in which both poets answer the question to who or what they think is America. Both poets reach different answers to this question as they explore this topic in their writing. Walt Whitman's poem shows a unified America all working together as one from the mechanic whose singing is blithe and strong to the delicious singing of the mother. In Langston Hughes poem it shows the injustice in not letting African Americans be part of this unified America, so it’s essentially an argument between the two poets as they argue back and

The painting’s message that Native Americans were accepting of Catholicism and French rule after the French arrived is, as partially explained above, reinforced by the house and the church and the clothing of the Native American. The house and the church being built in the same style in the (what I’m assuming would be a larger village that simply isn’t depicted) village shows that the Native Americans accepted Catholicism into their everyday lives; the clothing being worn by the Native American is decorated by the same French fleur-de-lis symbol present on the French Queen’s garment, and in conjunction with the Native American’s kneeling, shows that they accepted French rule. Essentially, the above items communicate that the Native Americans

Langston Hughes and Walt whitman’s poems were written in different time periods but, they are connected in a way that was unique ways. But Langston Hughes did study some of Whitman's work. Both poems are alike because speaks about America and how great it is and it seems like they were trying to get the same purpose of writing their poems. That's what I like about them and how they're using different poem styles but they come out looking like

Walt Whitman's "Song of Myself" is a vision of the American spirit, a vision of Whitman himself. It is his cry for democracy, giving each of us a voice through his poetry. Each of us has a voice and desires, and this is Whitman's representation of our voices, the voice of America. America, the great melting pot, was founded for freedom and democracy, and this poem is his way of re-instilling these lost American ideals. In this passage from "Song of Myself" Whitman speaks through his fellow man and speaks for his fellow man when his voice is not socially acceptable to be heard.

Langston Hughes a poet writes towards the struggling side of America he writes “I, too, am America” illustrating that America is seeming to forget about the lower class as it pursuits foreign affairs and war efforts. Langston Hughes through his poems shown that the average citizen during early 20th century has given up on waiting for help. He writes “What happens to a dream deferred?” and “I won't need my freedom when I am dead”(Langston Hughes) shows that not only is racial injustice still occurring but the large amount of oppression on society is still there seems to counter the argument that some say as this was the “Roaring Time” of our country as were benefiting from trading and our nation as a whole was striving but the focus was not set to those who were the working men in this country. As the American Government used a opportunistic view in creating a network with the trust to be able to grow the nation they seem to pass the idea that the working class was in oppression and needed

America has been home to many ever since the colonization of the British, but we all know that there were people here way before anyone else was and it’s important to recognize just that, this country is a melting pot of nationalities, beliefs, ideas, and religions, a broad spectrum of freedoms. However, the country that we love didn’t always use to be this way, where everyone was free, because we believed that it was a good thing to have slaves that worked for us and did all the work that we couldn’t do, but there was some practicality to this since plantations required vast numbers to keep them going. Even after slavery was gone after the end of the Civil War, there was still racist bias and discrimination towards a race that we didn’t think deserved to have the same rights as we did, it took a while, but soon this race gained the rights that they needed and deserved after protesting and the occasional violent outcries. This paper is centered in a time where African Americans were largely discriminated against and there was an abundance of racism spreading through a country that believed largely in freedom, which is why the Revolutionary War was fought. The main focus is one two beloved and famous poets, Walt Whitman and Langston Hughes, both great in their writings, however different in their nationalities, Walt Whitman, American, Langston Hughes, African American. “I Hear America Singing” by Walt Whitman and “I, Too, Sing America” by Langston Hughes are very much

Walt Whitman is regarded as one of the most influential poets in American history while Allen Ginsberg was and still is considered a leading figure of the Beat Generation. Both of these poets have similar poetic tendencies even though they were almost a century apart from each other. Walt Whitman helped to inspire many literary descendants ranging from writers to poets alike. One of his most famous poems is in his book, “Leaves of Grass”, called “Song of Myself”. Allen Ginsberg can be considered one of Walt Whitman’s literary descendants due to the numerous similarities between “Song of Myself” and Ginsberg’s “Howl”, which is about the real experiences of Americans after World War II.