This Independence Day, take a look back at American literary history with these Fourth of July poems.
Frederick Douglass
Abolitionist and civil rights leader Frederick Douglass gave his powerful “What to the Slave is the Fourth of July?” 172 years ago.
The speech was a powerful illustration of the disparity between the American Constitution’s ideals and the actual experience of economic exploitation suffered by Black people in the United States.
“To [the slave], your celebration is a sham; your boasted liberty, an unholy license; your national greatness, swelling vanity; your sounds of rejoicing are empty and heartless; your denunciations of tyrants, brass fronted impudence; your shouts of liberty and equality, hollow mockery; your prayers and hymns, your sermons and thanksgivings, with all your religious parade, and solemnity, are, to him, mere bombast, fraud, deception, impiety, and hypocrisy—a thin veil to cover up crimes which would disgrace a nation of savages. There is not a nation on the earth guilty of practices, more shocking and bloody, than are the people of these United States, at this very hour.”
Douglass’ speech marked a critical moment in American political and social history. The full text of that oration can be found here.
Walt Whitman
Walt Whitman wrote his Fourth of July poem “I Hear America Singing” eight years later. It was published alongside several other influential compositions in his poetry collection “Leaves of Grass.”
“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 the 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 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.”
Emma Lazarus
Just over two decades later, poet Emma Lazarus wrote the “New Colossus” sonnet, a composition to fundraise for the construction of the Statue of Liberty. A plaque bearing the poem can still be found inside the statue today.
“Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,With conquering limbs astride from land to land;Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall standA mighty woman with a torch, whose flameIs the imprisoned lightning, and her nameMother of Exiles. From her beacon-handGlows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes commandThe air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame. “Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries sheWith silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
