I Am the People, the Mob

“To the States“ by Walt Whitman (1892)

“To the States” has undergone some revisions in the various editions of Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass. However, this 1892 version demonstrates an early working class disenchantment with the political system. Whitman’s poem is also indicative of the developing American Realist style of poetry that abandoned stiff structure and antiquated poetic language in favor of free verse forms and familiar words. The structure of “To the States,” in fact, shares a lot of similarities with Sandburg’s later poem. Most notably, the lines are structured as complete thoughts, almost as if they were lines of prose.

“The Gift Outright” by Robert Frost (1923)

Robert Frost’s “The Gift Outright” shares many ideas and concerns with Sandburg’s poem—particularly in its emphasis on a collective American identity and its relationship to land. Instead of foreshadowing a revolution, however, Frost’s poem looks back to the problematic origins of America and land ownership. It is important to note that Frost’s poem makes no mention of the indigenous peoples of America, and is perhaps less sensitive to the plight of the oppressed than Sandburg’s work. Frost’s “The Gift Outright” is nonetheless indicative of an American identity—so much so that Frost read it at John F.