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When Whitman wrote “I Hear America Singing,” he experimented with a free-verse form that abandoned traditional meter. The poem therefore doesn’t follow a rigid metrical structure, which makes it unproductive to analyze the language using traditional scansion. Instead of looking for patterns of metrical feet like iambs, trochees, and so on, the key to understanding Whitman’s use of meter lies in how he plays with line length. Upon first glancing at the poem on the page, what stands out most is the sheer length of the lines, especially in the middle third. Whereas the shortest line in the poem (line 11) consists of thirteen syllables, the longest lines (lines 7 and 8) consist of twenty-six syllables. Compare the length of these lines to that of more traditional English poetic lines. For instance, a line of strict iambic pentameter contains just ten syllables. Even the shortest line in Whitman’s poem is three syllables longer than that, a fact that makes the twenty-six-syllable lines seem even more gargantuan! Whitman therefore breaks from English-language poetic tradition. In doing so, he introduces a long-line technique that gives his poetry a liberating sense of expansiveness. This expansiveness echoes the limitless possibilities of America itself.

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