Comparison of Hughes's "I, Too, Sing America" to Whitman's "I Hear America Singing"

Critical opinion differs about Langston Hughes’ poem, “I, Too, Sing America.” Certainly it’s reflective of Walt Whitman’s poem, “I Hear America Singing” because Hughes’ title clearly alludes to Whitman’s work. However, Hughes’ is a poet of great talent in his own right and should not be depicted as a Whitman imitator. I agree and disagree with points expressed by the authors of the critical articles I read about Hughes’ work. I do not; agree with Gohar and Nadell assertion that Hughes’ is referring to the institution of slavery in this work (Gohar2) (Nadell1). Rather, I believe he’s referring to the position of most African Americans in the period following the Great Depression.

In “Subverting the History of Slavery and Colonization in poetry of Langston Hughes,” Saddik Gohar claims that Langston Hughes poetically engages the history of racism and colonization linking the African American literary traditions with its counterparts in the United States. I disagree with Gohar because Langston Hughes’ poetry is an expression of events that were occurring at the time that included his political view on the situation. Hughes’ poem “I, Too, Sing America” is a poem written during the Great Depression in which Hughes informs his readers of his views of America and its politics. “But I laugh, and eat well, and grow strong but tomorrow I’ll be at the table when company comes” refers to the problems that occur in politics, and to social improvements as economic conditions improve. He’s referring to hardship at that time, and “I’ll be at the table when company comes” demonstrates the overcoming of those struggles through time.

The first stanza of “I, Too, Sing America” is a prospective view illustrating Hughes’ thoughts of what he believed would occur if the economic and political issues worsened. In the second stanza the poem’s direction of events reverses, conditions improve and Hughes writes about the positive outcome which reflects the work of Franklin D. Roosevelt in overturning the economy for the better. Hughes is a political poet who expresses politics through his works (Gipson 1). Therefore I disagree with Gohar’s critical evaluation.

In contrast to article one, article two evaluates Hughes’ work, “I, Too, Sing America” in an accepting and idealistic tone agreeing with the figurative meaning of the poem. In article two Martha Nadell argues the meaning of the poem is directed toward some type of economic issue, which Hughes chooses to express poetically. I agree with Nadell’s evaluation because based on the time period the poem was written the economy and politics were troubled; therefore knowing Hughes was a political individual who expressed events poetically I determined he was referring to the events occurring at that moment in time.

Nadell’s claim was brought up by her analysis of the Harlem Renaissance and what the people from there all had in common in their works (Commander 2). “This formulates a unified theory of image and text relations, rather than employing approach of the African American literacy movement,” (Gipson 2) which is relevant because this give me a view of Hughes’ thoughts about the Harlem Renaissance which influenced him to poetically approach political issues.

The Good Black Poet and Good Grey Poet discuss Hughes’ inspiration in poetry, why he wrote the poems he did, and the evaluation of his work. In this article Gipson argues that Hughes was inspired by Whitman and they share very similar views on society in different time periods. Gipson says Hughes and Whitman share common attitudes and certain feelings. I’d agree based on my research which shows both artists wrote jazzy poetry about the political events occurring through their time periods. “Yet had Whitman not written, Hughes would not be a part of great poet’s history.” (Gipson 3) I disagree with Gipson in this area because Hughes has many works of his own that he created, and even if Hughes admires Whitman, Hughes work reflects his views of American social and political institutions during his lifetime. Although most poems Langston Hughes has written are similar or share common thoughts of Whitman we can not conclude that he modeled his literary work after Whitman. “Whitman and Hughes are Democrats to the bone” (Gipson2). This quote is an example of how people compare the two poets, which I believe is irrelevant because they are two different poets who share common thoughts. Therefore I partly agree and disagree because some opinions are presented that differ with my analysis of Hughes work.

Near the end of Whitman’s poem, “I Hear America Singing.” Whitman writes, “Each singing what belongs to her, and to none else.” I believe this line states well my opinion of Hughes’ poem. Although Hughes’ clearly acknowledges his debt to Whitman, Hughes sings his own song and his writing reflects both his literary talent and his views on the social and economic position of America and of African American’s during his life