Poem Discussion (Comparison)

There is a lot of folklore surrounding the past of the United States of America. Different perspectives on the remarkable journey the country has taken since gaining freedom are explained by various literary forms. These literary works highlight the problems that the nation’s citizens dealt with on a daily basis and how those problems affected living at the time. These concerns include immigration, racism, and loyalty.

The author of Chicago explains how other people view the city in his poem. They describe the many names given to the city as a description of the nature of the city’s occupants and even ascribe these qualities to other people of different cities. The persona also lauds the virtues of the people and describes their nature as hard workers and patriots that despite negative perceptions from other people still strive to better their lives and the nation as a whole. This is further exemplified in the poem I hear America singing where the persona describes a vibrant and hardworking society that shares a deep love for the nation. Today, this is likened to the love for America expressed by her citizens in their various socioeconomic activities. This is despite differences in social status as all people work for the betterment of their lives and the nation at large. Negative perceptions towards various groups has not hindered this development much as the people use these unique attributes between them for the betterment of the whole country despite their ideological and social differences.

Whitman, in his poem I hear America singing portrays the vibrancy of the nation’s people in their different occupations and ways of life. He further shows their unity in proclaiming the one thing they all share; their country. This shows the patriotism towards America that all her people share and how essential it is to the well-being of the entire nation. On the other hand, Hughes in his poem describes a citizen of this same country who is a servant. The servant is discriminated against despite being a free citizen of America. This does not diminish their love for the country though as they too proclaim their love for America. They too insist that they share the same patriotism as their fellow citizens. The persona also states their hope that eventually they too will be regarded as equal citizens of the United States. These themes of patriotism and racial discrimination are still very evident in the present socioeconomic landscape of America with minority groups advocating for equal treatment as their fellow citizens who constitute the majority as they are all equally as hardworking and patriotic to the United States of America as their fellow citizens.

The United States of America was founded to give freedom to everyone that was oppressed by any authority either within her borders or beyond. This is as described in the poem The New Colossus. The poem is dedicated to the Statue of Liberty as a symbol to welcome all who want to share in their freedom. This is however disputed by Aldrich in his work The Unguarded Gates where he describes the monument as an irresponsible guard that has allowed the entry of various social and cultural ‘poisons’ that have hindered the development of the nation. These conflicting conservative and liberal views on immigration are still evident in the present social landscape of America with the former attributing immigration to threatening the nation’s well-being while the latter attributing the nation’s success and rise to glory to immigration especially in the provision of manual and non-technical labor.

The United States of America has made great steps in development since independence and remains a pioneer in many aspects such as governance and economics. Much of this success is attributed to the unwavering love for the country every citizen shares that propels them to working and striving to develop the nation. Different people have different views on the state of the nation and this has been evident from independence till present time. These different views are due to the many individual differences in outlook between humans and is essential in forming the bigger picture relevant for the propulsion of the country forward.