To a Common Prostitute
&
Langston Hughes’
I, Too
and
Democracy
Whitman and Slavery
Contradictory attitude towards
slavery
Included black people in his
vision in Leaves of Grass as
equals among human beings
Had racial prejudices and opposed
abolitionism
Social Darwinism
You Felons on Trial in Courts
You felons on trial in courts,
You convicts in prison-cells, you sentenced assassins chain'd and
handcuff'd with iron,
Who am I too that I am not on trial or in prison?
Me ruthless and devilish as any, that my wrists are not chain'd with
iron, or my ankles with iron?
You prostitutes flaunting over the trottoirs or obscene in your rooms,
Who am I that I should call you more obscene than myself?
O culpable! I acknowledge--I expose!
(O admirers, praise not me--compliment not me--you make me wince,
I see what you do not--I know what you do not.)
Inside these breast-bones I lie smutch'd and choked,
Beneath this face that appears so impassive hell's tides continually run,
Lusts and wickedness are acceptable to me,
I walk with delinquents with passionate love,
I feel I am of them--I belong to those convicts and prostitutes myself,
And henceforth I will not deny them--for how can I deny myself?
To a Common Prostitute
Be composed--be at ease with me--I am Walt Whitman, liberal and
lusty as Nature,
Not till the sun excludes you do I exclude you,
Not till the waters refuse to glisten for you and the leaves to
rustle for you, do my words refuse to glisten and rustle for you.
My girl I appoint with you an appointment, and I charge you that you
make preparation to be worthy to meet me,
And I charge you that you be patient and perfect till I come.
Till then I salute you with a significant look that you do not forget me.
Questions
●
●
●
Do you think everybody belongs to the
wrongdoers Whitman is talking about?
Would Whitman consider sex with a
prostitute as such a wrongdoing?
How do you judge the morality of
advocating equality verbally without
striving for it activly?
Langston Hughes
James Mercer Langston Hughes
1902 – 1964
American poet, social activist,
novelist, playwright, and columnist
A leader of the Harlem Renaissance
Portrayal of working-class blacks,
their struggles and joys in life
Black pride
Influenced by Walt Whitman
I, Too vs. I Hear America
Singing
I Hear America Singing.
I, too, sing America.
I am the darker brother.
They send me to eat in the kitchen
When company comes,
But I laugh,
And eat well,
And grow strong.
Tomorrow,
I'll be at the table
When company comes.
Nobody'll dare
Say to me,
"Eat in the kitchen,“
Then.
Besides,
They'll see how beautiful I am
And be ashamed–
I, too, am America.
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 deck-hand singing
on the steamboat
deck,
The shoemaker singing as he sits on his bench,
the hatter singing as he
stands,
The woodcutter'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 else,
The day what belongs to the day — at night the
party of young fellows,
robust, friendly,
Singing with open mouths their strong melodious
songs.
Democracy
Democracy will not come
Today, this year
Nor ever
Through compromise and fear.
I have as much right
As the other fellow has
To stand
On my two feet
And own the land.
I tire so of hearing people say,
Let things take their course.
Tomorrow is another day.
I do not need my freedom when I'm dead.
I cannot live on tomorrow's bread.
Freedom
Is a strong seed
Planted
In a great need.
I live here, too.
I want freedom
Just as you.
Questions
•
To what extent does Hughes “I,too”
allude to Whitman's “I Hear America
Singing”?
Give textual
evidence.
• Why will nobody dare to say “'Eat in the
kitchen', then”?
• What do you think: are democracy and
compromise separable from each other?
Links
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Langston_Hughes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harlem_Renaissance
http://www.whitmanarchive.org/criticism/current/encyclopedia/entry_51.html
http://www.whitmanarchive.org/criticism/current/encyclopedia/entry_44.html
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/LangstonHughes.jpg
http://www.brooklynmuseum.org/features/whitman/images/whitman-portraitl.jpg