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Richard Blanco's Poem 'One Today'

503 Words3 Pages

America Poems In his poem, “One Today”, Richard Blanco uses repetition and collective pronouns to convey the idea that unity strengthens a diverse society. Blanco uses repetition to appeal to various different groups of people. For instance “Hear the doors we open / for each other all day, saying: hello, shalom, / boon giorno, howdy, namaste, or buenos días” (Blanco, stanza 6). Blanco’s repetition of the same phrase in 6 different languages emphasizes his desire to unify different groups of people. By acknowledging a variety of cultures, he is confronting the fact that America is made up of a diverse population. This being said, Blanco’s use of repetition in this context brings attention to the unity and commonality among people …show more content…

In her poem, “The Hill We Climb”, Gorman writes “That even as we grieved, we grew / That even as we hurt, we hoped / That even as we tired, we tried” (Gorman, stanza 2). Amanda Gorman’s incorporation of anaphora stresses the collective action and determination of the people she is addressing, suggesting they are all working together. Within the anaphora, Gorman includes the collective pronoun “we”, creating a sense of inclusivity and shared responsibility. Overall, her use of anaphora reinforces the idea that we are all part of a larger community and can create positive change to build a more inclusive society. Much like Gorman’s use of anaphora in “The Hill We Climb”, Walt Whitman’s uses anaphora to convey a sense of unity and shared purpose. In his poem, “I hear America Singing”, Whitman describes workers as they go about daily tasks, singing while they work, “The carpenter singing[…] / The mason singing[…] / The boatman singing[…] / The shoemaker singing” (Whitman, lines 3-6). He uses anaphora to emphasize that despite their different jobs and backgrounds, the workers are part of a larger community. This pattern of repetition highlights the interconnectedness of these workers, along with their collective contribution to American society. Whitman is suggesting that America is made up of a diverse group of people, all of whom contribute to society

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The unity and connection between us can be broken by nothing or no one, not even the great expanse of space, “We head home: through the gloss of rain or weight/ of snow, or the plum blush of dusk, but always—home,/ always under one sky, our sky. And always one moon/ like a silent drum tapping on every rooftop/ and every window, of one country—all of us—/facing the stars/ hope—a new constellation/ waiting for us to map it,/ waiting for us to name it—together” (Blanco, Lines 61-69). Blanco specifically uses the wordage of “we”, “our”, and “us” to further build the sense of unity he started at the beginning of the poem. Also, the beginning and end of the poem are set up in a parallel structure. The beginning of the poem starts with the sun rising and the different aspects of the continental USA; The Great Lakes, Smokies, and Rockies.

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