I Hear America Singing.

Walt Whitman (1819-1892)

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 morn-

ing, 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.

The above version of the poem is as it appeared in the 1867 edition of Leaves of Grass. It can be found in:

Whitman, Walt. Leaves of Grass: Comprehensive Reader's Edition. Harold W.Blodgett & Sculley Bradley, eds.
New York:New York University Press, 1965.The original version of the poem was number 20 in the section
Chants Democratic in the 1860 edition of Leaves of Grass, and can be found in:

Whitman, Walt. Leaves of Grass. Boston: Thayer and Eldridge, 1860. (as found in the facsimile edition printed
Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1961.)
 I, Too BY LANGSTON HUGHES
I, too, sing America.

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 be 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.

Langston Hughes, “I, Too” from Collected Poems. Copyright © 1994 by The Estate of Langston Hughes.
Reprinted with the permission of Harold Ober Associates Incorporated.
Source: The Collected Poems of Langston Hughes (Vintage Books, 2004)
"next to of course god america i"
E.E. Cummings

next to of course god america i

love you land of the pilgrims' and so forth oh
say can you see by the dawn's early my
country 'tis of centuries come and go
and are no more what of it we should worry
in every language even deaf and dumb
thy sons acclaim your glorious name by gorry
by jingo by gee by gosh by gum
why talk of beauty what could be more beaut-
iful than these heroic happy dead
who rushed like lions to the roaring slaughter
they did not stop to think they died instead
then shall the voice of liberty be mute?

He spoke. And drank rapidly a glass of water

 The White House
Claude McKay, 1889 - 1948

Your door is shut against my tightened face,

And I am sharp as steel with discontent;
But I possess the courage and the grace
To bear my anger proudly and unbent.
The pavement slabs burn loose beneath my feet,
And passion rends my vitals as I pass,
A chafing savage, down the decent street;
Where boldly shines your shuttered door of glass.
Oh, I must search for wisdom every hour,
Deep in my wrathful bosom sore and raw,
And find in it the superhuman power
To hold me to the letter of your law!
Oh, I must keep my heart inviolate
Against the potent poison of your hate.