Comparsion of I Hear America Singing and Dover Beach

In this poem “I Hear America Singing” the people are given the freedom no matter the job to be able to sing the songs they want and still have a say. This poem describes people that make up America today such as carpenters, wife, mothers, shoemakers, and many more. The songs that people sing about out loud and strong as the work through situations.

After analyzing this poem one can see there are many different themes such as work, vision of America, and Music. When looking at the theme work we see that all these jobs that American’s have is so they can pay bills, but in the poem the poet looks at it as a way of life. In this poem we celebrate the freedom or idea of labor. The people he uses to represent in this poem are people who hardly ever get chosen to be in the paper let alone a poem. We can see that having these jobs makes us who we are today. Looking at the next theme Vision in America you can see a hard day of work that goes without being acknowledged. America’s vision was not created just for lawyers, doctors, and politicians but was created for mothers, carpenters, and mechanics too. Finally, we can talk about the most important theme of it all it is music. When we take a look at the title it says, “I Hear America Singing” the poet should have written the title with an exclamation mark because when we think of singing we are proud of it. American’s want to share the song of freedom. When American’s sing it brings them closer together as a community, a world, and a nation.

In the poem in lines 1-2 it says, “I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear, those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong.” As I stated in my thesis statement above this poem allows all American’s to be free to sing wherever they would like to sing and when ever. After researching I found an article that relates back to our discussion on people having freedom to sing when they want to sing no matter where they are. In this article it happens to be “ let the church sing” ministers, pastors, youth leaders and many more just want to sing loud and strong just as this poet wrote about in his poem.

The next poem to talk about is “Dover Beach”. In this poem the main idea is it takes place on a beach that is quiet and peaceful but there is a catch that the couple sees by the end of the poem. The couple is clinging to each other with love but in a world of violence and pain. This poem is very interesting because of the form and the meter of the poem. When looking at the poem you can see that in lines 34-35, they are a perfectly iambic pentameter.

“Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,

Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain;”

Not only does this poem have some parts that are iambic pentameter but it also has parts of it which rhyme’s a lot but the pattern does not follow a regular pattern or make sense. In this poem Dover Beach in stanza two when reading you can tell there is somewhat of a pattern but it doesn’t make sense.

“Sophocles long ago

Heard it on the Ægean, and it brought

Into his mind the turbid ebb and flow

Of human misery; we

Find also in the sound a thought,

Hearing it by this distant northern sea.”

Lines 1 and 3 rhyme but 2 and 5 rhyme and finally 4 and 6 rhyme. As you can see from above you can tell why the poem doesn’t make sense in ABC order. In this poem they are many themes but what is confusing is that some are sad, happy, and gives hope. In this poem I think the biggest theme is life, existence, and counsiness. Dover Beach is like you either go big or go home. In just a short 37 lines he takes you in and lets you see the human existence.

This poem also has a ton of symbolism as well as imagery. For example, the sea is a symbol of everywhere. Sometimes the sea is a visual that we can see and picture but other times we can’t see it because it acts like a metaphor. Even though Dover Beach shows up in many spots you can feel the power all over the place. Another symbol in this poem is the tide. It shows up repeatedly but it is a sign of eternity. The tide is like a movement that goes in and out multiple times.

In the article, “Eternity to Season” it also talks about the dark water with tides that rises and falls while bracing and hauls eternity in a powerful measure. This is just like the poem Dover Beach. The powerful tides me so much in the poem hint the reason for being able to see the tide.

Between both of these poems there are many things the reader needs to remember. Remember that with “I Hear America Sing” one can do whatever they would like to do at job and sing wherever they would like. When looking at “Dover Beach” one should remind oneself of the sea and the tide allows one to see everything inside and out. Sometimes we may not be able to see it but we can picture it in our mind.