I Hear America Singing

Walt Whitman(1819–1892)

Leaves of Grass, 1860

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 deckhand singing on the steamboat deck,The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench, the hatter singing as he stands,The wood-cutter's song, the ploughboy's on his way in the morning, 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 elseThe day what belongs to the day—at night the party of young fellows, robust, friendly,Singing with open mouths their strong melodious songs.

De Leaves of Grass (1882), a partir de la transcripción de Wikisource en inglés.

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Sobre el poema

Whitman oye cantar a América: no un himno, sino muchas voces a la vez —el mecánico, el carpintero, el albañil, el barquero, el zapatero, la madre, la joven que cose—, cada una entonando «lo suyo» mientras trabaja.

El poema es un catálogo, la figura preferida de Whitman: enumerar oficios y personas hasta que la suma dé un retrato del país. Lo que canta cada quien es distinto y propio, y esa variedad —no la unidad— es lo que para Whitman suena a democracia. De día los oficios; de noche, el coro de los muchachos.

El verso se queda en inglés. Traducirlo de paso sería cambiar la obra por una paráfrasis de la obra.