I Too, Sing America by Langston Hughes

The very powerful poem, I Too, Sing America by Langston Hughes is a relatively short piece, but it is overflowing with emotion. At first glance, the poem appears to be so short that one cannot help but doubt that it could hold much substance. This couldn’t be further from the truth, and Hughes’ ability to say so much by saying so little is pretty remarkable. This fact can be better seen by taking an in-depth look at the poem, examining each line carefully. By closely analyzing the word choice and poetic/literary devices at work, it becomes much more possible to get to the heart of what Langston Hughes was aiming to express with this particular piece.

The beginning of the poem starts off with a powerful line that instantly pulls the reader in. “I, too, sing America” is immediately striking, and it seems to open up a number of possible interpretations. For example, what exactly does it mean to “sing America?” This particular usage of the verb “sing” is interesting for a couple of different reasons. Number one, poetry and music have much in common as they both often rely on rhythm and beat. At the same time, Hughes could also be using the word “sing” here as a way of implying that he too loves America. Hughes could have just as easily used to the word “speak” instead of “sing” here, but he clearly chose the word “sing” for a specific reason (Hughes, 1). To simply say “I, too, speak America” would change the emotional impact and power of the line. The word “speak” would come across as rather boring and mundane in this sense. However, to “sing” America is something altogether different that comes across as being more emotional, and as a way of exalting America and/or the author’s feelings/experience(s).

After understanding the intended power of this line, the next question one might ask is “why too?” Why does the author say “I, too sing America?” Some have suggested that Hughes may have been alluding to a Walt Whitman poem entitled “I Hear America Singing”, a poem in which Whitman describes all of the many different types of people that make up America (Whitman, pg. 82). This naturally leads to the assumption that perhaps Hughes was attempting to add black Americans to the list of people Whitman mentioned. Given the time period when this poem was written, combined with the fact that Hughes was an African-American, the second line is pretty self-explanatory. The second stanza states quite simply: “I am the darker brother” (Hughes, 2). In this particular era in American history, Black Americans were clearly treated as second-class citizens who rarely were given a voice at all. Hughes also uses the word “brother” here, which seems to symbolize a sort of shared brotherhood that all Americans are a part of, with the author acknowledging that there is still a distinction in American society between a regular brother and “darker” brothers. Hughes goes even further in illustrating the second-class nature of his character in lines 3 and 4.

Lines three and four go on to explain a little more about what life is like for the aforementioned African-American. The lines state “They send me to eat in the kitchen when company comes” (Hughes, 3). When reading this line, it is hard not to instantly get the impression of slavery, or of some sort of indentured servitude, in which the blacks were treated more like animals than human beings with dignity. Since this poem was written after the days of slavery, however, it seems as though Hughes is alluding to the fact that even though slavery has ended, blacks in America are still nowhere near being treated equally. Despite the harsh and unfair treatment of blacks in America, the author writes: “But I laugh, and eat well, and grow strong” (Hughes, 5-7). Upon first uttering these lines they seem peculiar. After all, why would someone that is constantly mistreated and disrespected be so seemingly positive and hopeful about their situation? The answer seems to be because there is no other choice.

Even though Hughes uses the word “I” inline 5, one gets the feeling that he might even be attempting to speak on behalf of this entire race. Line 8 simply states “Tomorrow”, which right off the bat implies that perhaps the direction of this whole thing is about to shift. Lines 8 through 10 run together to say “Tomorrow, I’ll be at the table when company comes” (Hughes, 8-10). It is hard to know for sure, but based on the previous lines, it seems as though Hughes is using the word tomorrow to actually symbolize the future in general. Lines 8 through 10 really seem to be implying that one-day things will change for blacks in America, and they will perhaps be treated as equals rather than as being inferior to whites (who sit at the table).

Lines 11 and 12 run together and offer a surprising revelation. At this point, the speaker says: “Nobody’ll dare say to me”, which once again seems to imply a belief that in the future blacks will be seen as equal and that mistreatment will not be tolerated (Hughes, 11-12). Add lines 13 and 14 to the mix which state “Eat in the kitchen, then” (Hughes, 13-14), and it becomes clear that the author is stating that not only will blacks be eating at the same table as whites, but nobody will even “dare” to question the new order. The fourth stanza states that “Besides, they’ll see how beautiful I am and be ashamed” (Hughes 15-17). Here, the speaker seems to be saying that in this future in which blacks are treated as equal human beings, there will be many that will see the error in their ways and feel ashamed for the way that they were.

The final line states: “I, too, am America” (Hughes, 18). The word that stands out here from the first line of the poem is “am”, which of course replace the word “sing” from the opening line. By doing this, the author has shown a huge progression from the speaker simply singing or speaking about America, to one day being the very definition of America.

Works Cited

Hughes, Langston. Poetry for Young People. New York: Sterling Publishing Company. 2013. Print.

Kennedy, X. J., and Dana Gioia. Backpack Literature: An Introduction to Fiction, Poetry, Drama, and Writing. 4th Ed. New York: Longman, 2012. Print.

Whitman, Walt. Walt Whitman: Selected Poems 1855-1892. Ed. Gary Schmidgall. New York: St. Martin’s Griffen. 2013. Print.